Of all the questions posed by pop music over the years — Will you love me tomorrow? Should I stay or should I go? — among the toughest is this: When is a famous band no longer itself?
Yes added another layer: can the same guys be a different band? Because they did that twice.
The original Yes shed members throughout the 70s before splitting entirely in 1980. Drummer Bill Bruford was replaced by Alan White, guitarist Peter Banks was replaced by Steve Howe, keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman joined and left and joined and left. The only constant member had been bassist Chris Squire. Right at the end, they briefly pulled in Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, of the Buggles… who were the entirety of the Buggles… long enough for Horn to replace lead singer Jon Anderson on exactly one album.
A few years later, after supergroup Asia earned precisely the reputation you just thought of, Squire was pulling together a project called Cinema, and basically fell ass-backwards into a reunion with Anderson and White. Their record label asked why they weren’t just Yes again and they didn’t have a good answer. If you’ve ever wondered why 90125 is so different from all the noodly prog rock albums, there you go.
A few more years later, Anderson was tired of Squire’s shit, again, and fucked off to record with Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe. They called this project Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Together they released one album, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Perhaps not the best sales pitch to say this was a revival of their creative freedom independent of the only guy who never quit Yes. During this period, Yes only existed on paper. Squire had two keyboardists who quietly hated each other and a guitarist who was just happy to be there. A lot of people asked why ABWH wasn’t just Yes again, and in a drastically different sense, they didn’t have a good answer.
Philosophically complicating the question while pragmatically simplifying it, both projects were smooshed together for the album Union.
Yes added another layer: can the same guys be a different band? Because they did that twice.
The original Yes shed members throughout the 70s before splitting entirely in 1980. Drummer Bill Bruford was replaced by Alan White, guitarist Peter Banks was replaced by Steve Howe, keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman joined and left and joined and left. The only constant member had been bassist Chris Squire. Right at the end, they briefly pulled in Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, of the Buggles… who were the entirety of the Buggles… long enough for Horn to replace lead singer Jon Anderson on exactly one album.
A few years later, after supergroup Asia earned precisely the reputation you just thought of, Squire was pulling together a project called Cinema, and basically fell ass-backwards into a reunion with Anderson and White. Their record label asked why they weren’t just Yes again and they didn’t have a good answer. If you’ve ever wondered why 90125 is so different from all the noodly prog rock albums, there you go.
A few more years later, Anderson was tired of Squire’s shit, again, and fucked off to record with Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe. They called this project Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Together they released one album, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Perhaps not the best sales pitch to say this was a revival of their creative freedom independent of the only guy who never quit Yes. During this period, Yes only existed on paper. Squire had two keyboardists who quietly hated each other and a guitarist who was just happy to be there. A lot of people asked why ABWH wasn’t just Yes again, and in a drastically different sense, they didn’t have a good answer.
Philosophically complicating the question while pragmatically simplifying it, both projects were smooshed together for the album Union.