Steve Howe once said that, unlike the more dynamic live version on 'Yesshows,' the studio version of "Parallels" had a "disgraceful" amount of echo on it because the acoustics of the room it was mixed in didn't permit Yes to properly adjust the sound. - Alan Farley
I was 16 when I bought this album in 1977, and GFTO was my first rock concert. Having been living the (very) wild life of the 70s, Parallels was an important message!
I was 17 when I got it. What an era for great music. Unlike some people I'm a big fan of Tormato as well. Knowing Justin as I think I do I think he will enjoy at least 80% of it. Circus Of Heaven is the one I have been waiting on forever for him to hear lol. Should be interesting
One of my fav tracks off this album! A few things you might appreciate Justin... 1. One of the first times Squire strayed from his beloved Ricky. He actually used a Jass bass that belonged to the studio for this track. (Search Yes - Parallels rehearsal). 2. Wakeman was playing a church pipe organ at St. Martin's cathedral in Switzerland, and the sound was actually sent over TELEPHONE LINES to the studio where the rest of the band recorded the foundational tracks.
My second favorite track on the album after Awaken. I generally love the songs Yes does with pipe organ played in a church or cathedral. I love that they figured in 1977 that the Swiss telephone system would allow them to record music in high definition at a remote site. I always wondered what Bruford's approach would be to playing drums on this song, if it had ended up on Fish out of Water. By the same token, it's hard to imagine the song without those nice guitar arpeggios running throughout.
I think the reason this one and especially Awaken hits me in a sweet spot is because my mother was/still is at 86 a pianist/organist. Of course growing up in church and her playing every week and playing at home accompanied by my dad's beautiful voice was something I never appreciated as a youngster. Now at 63 with my dad gone now for two years and my mom still doing her thing I really really appreciate it. Back in the late 70's still living at home and blasting music in my room the only music she would ever ask me to turn up was some Yes and Rick Wakeman's solo albums of which I have quite a few. She always says she isn't and never was a "gifted" player but could play the notes on the page but she knew gifted musicians when she heard them. There is a difference apparently...
_I awoke this morning, Love laid me down by the river, Drifting I turned on upstream, Bound for my forgiver._ Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself! 😊"Parallels" is a great track. Yes used this to open all their concerts during 1977. Well, this and "Firebird Suite", which began all Yes concerts throughout the 70s. And I can see why it was such a great choice. "Parallels" has high energy and really rocks which is excellent for ramping up the crowd.
I was a teenager in the 70's and loved The Yes Album, most of Fragile and Close To The Edge (although it took 20-30 years to figure out what I was listening too! LOL). But I passed on the next two. When I heard the song Going For The One on the radio I couldn't wait to scrap up enough money to buy album. Love evry bit of it!
While I liked this song when I heard it on Going For The One, over the years, as I began to try to "rank" my favorite YES songs, I would notice 'imperfections' (to my ears) that I would cite to justify a lower ranking for some YES songs compared to others. Re: Parallels, it was noticeable to me that the bass sound was "off" in that it lacked the impact that always impressed me with their earlier work. When I found out that Chris was using a Fender Jazz Bass on this song, I think it helped explain what the overall sound of the song was lacking (to my ears). The song seems like one that had a lot of potential to be "great" if the choice of sounds had been better...
Another fav. I like the pipe organ...Wakeman went to a church to play the organ parts. Sweet blond Fender Jazz...Have to say, that the few Parallel lyrics convey a lot and meld so well with the arrangement.
Your comment on the recording is interesting. Many years ago I read an interview with Steve Howe, in which he felt, in retrospect, that there was a.bit too much reverb on GFTO
Fender Jazz on this one, but yeah -- this is 'blues-y' the way the last album was 'funky' 😄. There's footage of Chris, Steve and Alan bashing away in the studio in Montreaux, putting down the bed track. I think they used the church organ because... they could! 😀 Some feel this would have been a better single for 1977 than "Wonderous Stories", but even though it wasn't Yes still made it their concert opener for the following tour. I think this song also exemplifies why there were 'discussions' about the use of echo on this album. I can see Chris arguing against it, but giving in in order to maintain consistency across the entire album.
When Chris mentioned blues orienated bass playing maybe he meant his overall style of play and not this particular track? Just asking. I'm not a musician so I don't/can't break down songs in such detail. Ignorance can be bliss! After this album they seemed to go into a more commercial direction. In fact, the song Going For The One would have fit perfectly on 90210. But again, like most of my comments, it's said from a position of experience (60+ years of hearing/listening to music), not knowledge! LOL I'm looking forward to the last two. Cheers.
Like a few others have mentioned, I think this song would be improved in the production of it by lowering the organ a few levels with the exception of the organ solo near the middle. Outside of that I think it is a good song, but not in my top 20 of Yes songs.
Least favorite song on this album due to the main Poppy vocal melody and the intense overriding organ throughout but love the way it climaxes towards the end..When they replaced SIBERIAN KHATRU with this as the Live intro to introduce this new music, I was disappointed😅.
Hey All - we're getting close to Tormato, which had a mixed reception among Yes fans (I love the album) - In preparation, I'd like to hear who is thumbs up/down on Tormato and do you think Justin will like it or not?
I have always loved Tormato. I think 80% of Tormato he will at least like. We already know about On The Silent Wings Of Freedom but Circus Of Heaven is the one I am really looking forward to good or bad lol
I love YES. I love this album. I love Steve Howe. But on occasion, he plays too much. I don't know if you can blame that on the production or if Steve plays too many notes. 🤷♂️
This used to be my favourite track on the album, but now it's my least. Re. sound - SO IT"S NOT JUST ME. As I was saying I find the sound to be too 'bright' (you said shiny/shimmery) and too dense at times - the reverb/delays done't help. There are a bunch of studio videos (one of the few relatively good quality videos of the band) on RU-vid showing the development of the tracks for this album -- great documentary pieces.
Although it's a pretty good song, the mix hinders it. This is the only song on this album I could do without. There's a better version of it on the live album, Yesshows.
Love this record, but I've never liked Parallels. The church organ is like an air horn over everything else throughout the whole song (a bit like -Oh we have access to a real church organ now, we might as well run it on the whole song), I miss the dynamics in this song, which Yes was otherwise a master of
Too much organ. Just too much. It pierces my ears. Even Jon's register, I've noticed, on this album is really "up there". The whole album sounds like its smothered in reverb. The title track is fantastic, but the rest of the album is meh.
