Yesmen outside Yes
Ratings from Gnosis

Contents

Last updated: 19 Jan 01

Gnosis is an ambitious project to have a group of experts in progressive rock rate a vast array of albums. It may thus be of help to the Yes fan exploring the work of Yes members outisde the band. The project is still young and many albums have yet to be rated; Gnosis also concentrates on prog rock and some Yes-related albums in other styles are not covered.

The Gnosis raters score an album out of 15: e.g. 14 'virtual masterpiece', 11 'great albums', 8 'a good album; above average', 7 'an average album', 4 'frisbees'. I am quoting the median scores for each album. The recommendations below always have a score of at least 8 (i.e. above average on the Gnosis rating scale); suggestions to be avoided always have a score less than 7 (below average). I am excluding Yes albums, which scored from 14 (Close to the Edge) to 6 (Talk). Tales from Yesterday, the Yes tribute album, scored 9.5.

In the lists of recommendations, bold indicates a major contribution: a solo album, a band member and so forth. Not bold can be any contribution: like a guest appearance or a production credit. Italics indicates that <6 raters in Gnosis have scored the album.



Jon Anderson
Results from 19 Jan 01

Recommended:
1. Lizard (13) [King Crimson]
2. Heaven & Hell (10) [Vangelis]
3. Olias of Sunhillow (9)
4. Opera Sauvage (9) [Vangelis]
5. Outbound (9) [Bela Fleck & the Flecktones]
6. Crises (9) [Mike Oldfield]
7. Animation (9)

Avoid:
1. Ramshackled (6) [Alan White]
2. Colin Scot (6) [Colin Scot]

Olias of Sunhillow is available on CD in Japan and Europe. Animation has only been released on vinyl (although one song was on the Affirmative: The Yes Solo Family Album CD) and has long since been discontinued.


Chris Squire
Results from 20 Aug 01

Recommended:
1. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (11) [Rick Wakeman]
2. Fish Out of Water (10) [Chris Squire]
3= Criminal Record (9) [Rick Wakeman]
3= Euphoria (9) [World Trade]

Avoid:
1. The Classical Connection II (6) [Rick Wakeman]

Fish out of Water has been released on CD domestically in Europe and Japan. Criminal Record is out of print (see under Wakeman), although all of the tracks with Squire are included on the compilation Recollections. The Six Wives of Henry VIII is readily available.


Bill Bruford
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1= Larks' Tongues in Aspic (13) [King Crimson]
1= Red (13) [King Crimson]
1= The Great Deceiver (13) [King Crimson]
4= Starless and Bible Black (12) [King Crimson]
4= The Nightwatch (12) [King Crimson]
4= Live at the Jazz Café (12) [King Crimson: ProjeKct One]
4= Missing Pieces (12) [National Health]
4= Cloud About Mercury (12) [David Torn]

Avoid:
-

The lowest rated album with Bruford was At the Sound of the Bell (8) by Pavlov's Dog. All the recommended albums are readily available.


Tony Kaye
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1= Flash (10) [Flash]
1= Station to Station (10) [David Bowie]
3. One Live Badger (8) [Badger]

Avoid:
-

The lowest rated album was Badger's White Lady (7). Note that Kaye only appears on bonus tracks of the first CD remaster of Bowie's Station to Station album, but the Gnosis ratings do not differentiate between release versions of the album.


Peter Banks
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1= Flash (10) [Flash]
1= In the Can (10) [Flash]
3= Out of Our Hands (9) [Flash]
3= The Two Sides of Peter Banks (9) [Peter Banks]

Avoid:
-

The lowest rated album was Jabberwocky (7) by Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman. All four recommended albums have been released on CD, but have all since been discontinued.


Steve Howe
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (11) [Rick Wakeman]
2= Beginnings (9)
2= The Steve Howe Album (9)
2= Turbulence (9)
2= In the Grand Scheme of Things (9)
2= Not Necessarily Acoustic (9)
2= Quantum Guitar (9)
2= Tomorrow (9) [Tomorrow]
2= Guitar Speak: Volume 1 (9)
2= Age of Impact (9) [Explorer's Club]

Avoid:
Ramshackled (6) [Alan White]

All the recommended albums are readily available. Note that The Steve Howe Album and Beginnings are available in a remastered form.



Rick Wakeman
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1= The Six Wives of Henry VIII (11)
1= From the Witchwood (11) [The Strawbs]
3= Criminal Record (10)
3= Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios (10) [The Strawbs]
3= Man of Words/Space Oddity (10) [David Bowie]
3= Two Weeks Last Summer (10) [Dave Cousins]
3= Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (10) [Black Sabbath]

Avoid:
1. Colin Scot (5) [Colin Scot]

Most of these albums are readily available, but Criminal Record was only released on CD in Japan briefly.



Alan White
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (11) [Rick Wakeman]
2. Criminal Record (10) [Rick Wakeman]
3= Beginnings (9) [Steve Howe]
3= The Steve Howe Album (9) [Steve Howe]

Avoid:
Ramshackled (6)


Patrick Moraz
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1. Refugee (11) [Refugee]
2. Fish Out of Water (10) [Chris Squire]
3. Windows of Time (9.5)

Avoid:
-

The lowest score for any solo album by Moraz covered by Gnosis was 8.


Trevor Horn
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1= Adventures in Modern Recording (8.5) [The Buggles]
1= Tubular Bells II (8.5) [Mike Oldfield]

Avoid:
-

Little of Horn's work is covered by Gnosis.


Geoff Downes
Results from 29 Jun 00

Recommended:
1. The Dreaming (10) [Kate Bush]
2. Adventures in Modern Recording (8.5) [The Buggles]

Avoid:
1= Alpha (6) [Asia]
1= Astra (6) [Asia]

Gnosis does not cover any of Downes' solo efforts.


Trevor Rabin
Results from 29 Jun 00

Recommended:
1. Three Ships (8.5) [Jon Anderson]
2. Return to the Centre of the Earth (8) [Rick Wakeman]

Avoid:
-

None of Rabin's solo or soundtrack albums are covered by Gnosis. The above are the only two albums with Rabin in Gnosis.


Billy Sherwood
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
-

Avoid:
-

The only album with Sherwood rated by Gnosis is the debut World Trade (7.5; 4 votes).


Igor Khoroshev
Results from 2 Nov 00

No albums with Khoroshev are yet rated in Gnosis.


Tony Levin
Results from 2 Nov 00

Recommended:
1. Cloud About Mercury (12) [David Torn]
2. Discipline (11) [King Crimson]

Avoid:
-

Levin's lowest score was 8 for Peter Gabriel's So and Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason.



Overall

Recommended:
1= Larks' Tongues in Aspic (13) [King Crimson]
1= Red (13) [King Crimson]
1= The Great Deceiver (13) [King Crimson]
1= Lizard (13) [King Crimson]

Avoid:
1. Colin Scot (5) [Colin Scot]
2. Ramshackled (6) [Alan White]



Return to the a.m.y. polls on recommended albums.

Any comments, please e-mail Henry Potts.