I really don’t know what the kids are listening to these days. I walk into the Commissary and have come to the conclusion that everything they play in there is autotuned to the maximum possible level of autotuning known to man. Seriously. The moment I hear an autotuned song in the place, I do the equivalent of a dive for cover as I go for my earbuds. Can’t get them in and turned on fast enough.
So here’s the part where I shake my fist and proclaim, “You kids these days don’t know good music!” Although I suspect you do. You just need old guys like me to show you where to find it..
And so, here you go. A history lesson. Yes were a group of extremely-talented musicians who were at the height of their popularity in the 70s and 80s. I like their mid-early stuff — Close to the Edge and Fragile are both excellent albums. They started getting a little “poppier” in the 80s with what might be considered their top albums — 90125 and Big Generator, and this is where I left them. Believe it or not, nearly half a century after they started, some form of the band still exists, playing the old nostalgia circuits with the likes of Styx and Foreigner I’m sure. Except, they were so much better than Styx and Foreigner.
Anyway, when things get a little noisy around the office (not in my office, but the walls are thin and sometimes the neighbors can be loud), I’ll throw on the headphones and bring up some background music. This morning was a “Yes” morning, and one of the songs that rolled up was one of their best — “And You and I” from their album Close to the Edge (50 years old this year). If you compare the composition and musicianship with just about anything even close to the genre today, you’ll see the difference. I hope you have the 10 minutes to give it justice…
I listened and then went on to Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon