Not sure if it was something in the air or the water, but I find it truly odd or coincidental that arguably two of the most admired progressive rock bands took such astoundingly similar trajectory or parallel paths through the music of the 1970's without the interchanging of key members or personal.
Both bands add new members and come out in 1971 with albums that were a huge leaps from their previous releases. Both had two prior albums, interesting but far cries from The Yes Album and Nursery Cryme.
Both bands in particular bring in what will become legendary groundbreaking guitar players in 71 (Hackett and Howe)
Both bands make a run of six fantastic albums
Genesis:
Nursery Cryme 71
Foxtrot 72
Selling England by the Pound 73
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 74
Trick of the Tail 76
Wind and Wuthering 76
YES:
The Yes Album 71
Fragile 71
Close to the Edge 72
Tales from Topographic Oceans 73
Relayer 74
Going for the One 77
After this run, both bands clearly run out of steam with albums that are certainly lesser siblings with
(Then it was over) and (Tormato Soup) Both of these records come out in 78.
Both bands offer up
over the top epics within months of one another with double concept albums "Tales" and "The Lamb"
Both Tales and Lamb create inner turmoil, enough that key members jump ship (Gabriel and Wakeman)
Both are replaced without much of a blink and both comeback (ditching the double albums) with stellar releases (Trick of the Tail and Relayer)
They both make one more iconic album (Going for the One, Wind and Wuthering) before artistically imploding (this isn't about album sales)
I never got the feeling that they were listening closely to one another musically or conceptually. (I do get the feeling Starcastle members all had every YES album).
Both drummers (Bruford and Collins) needed even further artistic freedom, venturing off into even more eclectic pastures with King Crimson and Brand X.
All in all, these two bands eventually solidify themselves as the #1 and #2 (if you took a general consensus of prog fans) pillars of progressive rock.
I find this all much more mystically compelling than playing DSOTM while watching Wizard of Oz
Was it the English water (Ale)? British Air (herb)?
Bookmarks