Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Wonderous Stories

I think I'm going to lay off the heartbreak love songs songs for awhile and keep on working on a more positive attitude. I'm gonna need it to get me through the holidays. That's when my depression hits me the worst. So today, I'll introduce "Wonderous Stories" by Yes.

Taken from their 1977 release, Going for the One, Wonderous Stories is one of my favorite tracks from the album. The tunes may be shorter than the stuff that were on the previous albums, but they are all good. Songs like Going for the One features guitarist, Steve Howe, on the slide and vocalist Jon Anderson on the harp on the tune Awaken. This album also marks the return of keyboard extraordinaire, Rick Wakeman into the fold, who blew me away on the church organ on Parellels.

With this tune, I can imagine myself at a campfire, listening to a wizard telling me stories and fables of the ancient. Sorta like the Lord of the Rings thing. Tunes like The Battle of Evermore by Led Zeppelin, The Wizard by Uriah Heep, and Kings and Queens from Aerosmith come to my mind...

8 comments:

TAD said...

Drew: U're absolutely right. This is definitely 1 of Yes's overlooked greats, & U're right, it DOES sound like it coulda bn sung around a campfire -- but mayB a campfire located on some far-off, cosmic, kinder, gentler planet than R's. Great vocals & harmonies, nice bubbly cosmic guitars, cool keyboards, & I thot when it came out that it sounded enuf like "Your Move" 2 actually get some radio airplay. & I was wrong. Was a pretty big hit in Britain, I've read.
NEway, I was just writing about this song a few days ago at my blog, how it shoulda gotten played more & etc. Good choice! Keep rockin! -- TAD.

HLiza said...

Sending positive wishes to you Drew..sorry I can't play this video as I'm short of time but just want you to know that you're in my thoughts.

Perplexio said...

I'll have to check that one out, thanks for the recommendation. I'm not really that big into Yes. I really like their material in small doses. But a little Jon Anderson goes a long way. My favorite Yes album is actually Drama with Trevor Horn on lead vocals instead of Anderson. But then again, I'm a bit of an Asia fan and I consider Drama to be kind of a prequel to Asia's debut album (considering 1/2 of Asia were in Yes at the time--Steve Howe & Geoff Downes).

bearockr said...

Steve Howe has been one heck of a guitar player... He plays classical guitar so fast, and that's probably the reason I don't much listen to him ! I prefer more of hard rock though, but I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't heard it even once ...

drewzepmeister said...

Tad-I'm glad that we agree on this!

HLiza-Thanks for the positive wishes! I appreciate your thoughts!

Perplexo-You won't be sorry that you checked this album out. It's great! Drama is a descent album. I really liked Machine Messiah and Tempus Fugit off of the record. Yes, I think Asia's first album rocked!

Arjit-Steve Howe is awesome! When I heard him play The Clap my jaw dropped!

TAD said...

Drew: BTW, the Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock (now basically useless compared 2 how good it was in the late-'70s) in4ms me that "Wonderous Stories" reached #7 as a British single. Not bad.
There's a lotta good stuff on GOING FOR THE ONE -- I've always bn a sucker 4 "Turn of the Century" -- w/ that U get the rocking stuff, the ornate delicate moody stuff, & that glorious guitar&chorus finale. R U planning NE analysis of that 1 in the near future?
But my fave Yes album is still YESSONGS -- love all the fiery live per4mances. It's so great U can almost toss 1 of the discs out (in its original 3-disc format) & never miss it.... -- TAD.

drewzepmeister said...

Tad-I plan on doing MANY songs in the future, after all, rock and roll is in my blood!

BTW-Yessongs is a great album!

TAD said...

Drew: U R much 2 kind 2 add my blog 2 yr blogroll. I will B doing the same w/ yours ASAP. Thanx & keep rockin, & keep fightin this heartbreak stuff. U'll mend. Just crank up the music a little louder.... -- TAD.