Musical Musings From the Wild: Ranking the Yes Epic-Length Songs!

[@georgelamie7001]

1. Close to the Edge 2. Gates of Delirium 3. Heart of the Sunrise 4. Machine Messiah 5. And You and I 6. all the rest

[@HockeyDudeJames2]

1. Awaken 2. Close to the edge 3. Heart of the Sunrise 4. Gates of Delirium 5. And You and I

[@darcyska]

Great list! Considering what was at the bottom of your list, though mine are different, you know that Yes are the MASTERS of the epic! Would gladly listen to these songs all day everyday

[@Leo-ci9kc]

Love this topic! Thanks for doing Yes, one of my favorite bands! Looking forward to you doing Floyd, Rush, Zeppelin in the future!

[@mikeychrisanthus9948]

My ranking: 18: The Solution (the weird super long track from Open Your Eyes) 17-16: Endless Dream, The Ancient 15-13: In the Presence Of, Mirror to the Sky, Mind Drive 12-11: The remembering, The Revealing ----------------------------- 10: Fly From Here 9: Ritual 8: Dreamtime 7: That That is 6.5: America (apparently we both forgot about this one) 6: Gates of Delirium --------------------------------- 5: Awaken 4.5: Brother of Mine (the ABWH song) 4: Heart of the Sunrise 3: Close to the Edge 2: Machine Messiah 1: And You and I "Be the One" and especially "Yours is No Disgrace" would have ranked highly for me, but are both 10-20 seconds too short.

[@CoreyArsenault-c8t]

Im ready to have one of my favorites The Ancient shit on again

[@thekivster]

I really like it too

[@johnmedland3399]

The Ancient is awesome.

[@roberteustace7821]

Tales of Topographic Oceans is the one YES album, I will never get tired of... So multidimensional, textured, atmospheric, philosophical, epic!!!

[@CoreyArsenault-c8t]

@@roberteustace7821 Its his opinion so its cool but he rated my favorite yes song even lower then the ancient. The remembering is one of the most pure artistic expressions in music its woven so well and that climax is pure extacy. Oh well.

[@mellotronin54]

I love all of Topographic Oceans never dumped on by me.

[@arnaudb.7669]

The Flower Kings is the perfect band for this show.

[@iceclimbers22]

You’d basically end up ranking every single song of theirs lol

[@johnw706]

A good ranking . Here's my top epics , starting with my favourite : Heart of the Sunrise Close to the Edge And You & I America. ( from Deluxe Fragile album ) The Gates of Delerium Awaken Revealing Science of God Machine Messiah Cheers !

[@wishiwishi1000]

19. The Solution 18. Fly from here 17. Endless Dream 16. In The Presence Of 15. That, that is 14. Mirror to the sky 13. Mind Drive 12. America 11. The Ancient 10. Dreamtime 9. Gates of Delírium 8. Machine Messiah 7. The Revealing 6. The remembering 5. Awaken 4. And you and I 3. Heart of the sunrise 2. Ritual 1. Close to the Edge

[@FrankLang-i3n]

1. Close To The Edge 2. Awaken 3. And You And I 4. Heart Of The Sunrise 5. The Gates Of Delirium

[@DavidLewis-ur2ej]

Great topic! My top 8 are: 1. The Revealing Science of God 2. Ritual 3. Close to the Edge 4. The Remembering 5. Heart of the Sunrise 6. Gates of Delirium 7. The Ancient 8. And You and I

[@cbn6635]

The 1-2-3 punch of 'Close to the Edge', 'Awaken' and 'Heart of the Sunrise' is virtually unmatched as far as prog.-rock 'epics' goes, and to a great extent the reason why YES, along with Black Sabbath, probably is my favorite band of all time. I mean, you could write a 20+ page thesis on the compositional perfection of 'Close to the Edge' alone! 👌

[@kamranmalik8546]

1. Close to the Edge 2. Heart of the Sunrise 3. The Gates of Delirium 4. And You and I 5. The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn) 6. Machine Messiah 7. Awaken 8. Mirror to the Sky

[@ChromeDestiny]

Top 10 Yes Ten Minute Plus Songs: 10. Mind Drive 09. That That Is 08. Awaken (I often go back to the Union Tour live version) 07. Ritual 06. The Revealing Science of God 05. And You And I 04. Machine Messiah 03. Heart of The Sunrise (The song that made me a fan in the first place) 02. Close to the Edge 01. Gates of Delirium

[@michaelfavreau7617]

Fantastic track list. I think I`ll give this a quick listen.

[@michaelbenz8092]

1. Close to the Edge 2. Awaken 3. The Gates of Delerium 4. Ritual 5. The Revealing Science of God 6. Heart of the Sunrise 7. And You and I 8. Machine Messiah 9. The Ancient 10. Dreamtime 11. The Remembering 12. Mind Drive 13. In the Presence Of 14. That, That Is 15. Fly From Here 16. Endless Sky 17. Mirror to the Sky HM. America

[@justamops]

Good one, Pete! Your ranking matches my own very closely. I think I’d put That, That Is a little lower, and The Revealing Science of God and Fly From Here a notch higher. And I’d have included America and ranked it high, just above Machine Messiah. I love Howe’s guitar on America.

[@JoelPrice253]

1. Heart of the sunrise 2. And you and i 3. Machine messiah 4. Close to the edge 5. Mirror to the sky 6. Awaken 7. The gates of delirium 8. four Topographic Oceans songs 9. looks like 6 later songs i doubt i've heard

[@747jono]

Very interesting video Pete thank you

[@dylanhewitt2616]

Top 5: 1. Gates Of Delirium 2. And You And I 3. Heart of The Sunrise 4. Close To The Edge 5. Awaken HM: Machine Messiah

[@johnmedland3399]

Revealing Science of God has long been my top Yes song of all time, especially Wakeman's contributions. Close second is Gates of Delerium. Third is Close to the Edge, which I was lucky to see performed live way back in the day 1979 in Toronto. Cheers!

[@trainguy7276]

My Top 10 Yes Epics: 1. And You And I 2. Ritual 3. Close To The Edge 4. Awaken 5. Gates Of Delirium 6. Machine Messiah 7. Heart Of The Sunrise 8. Revealing Science Of God 9. Mind Drive 10. In The Presence Of...

[@eduardovalle2146]

1 - Awaken 2 - Machine Messiah 3 - Heart of The Sunrise 4 - Siberian Khatru 5 - Close To The Edge 6- On The Silent Wings of Freedom 7 - Going For The One 8 - The Remembering 9 - And You And I 10 - Turn of The Century. But I will probably change my mind 🙂

[@thedarkwizardroom]

Great episode discussion Pete. YES up there with great length long tracks that one gets into to love that makes the listening so enjoyable . Thank you. We need nice insightful music talk, Have a good day .

[@3bwana]

AWAKEN

[@NigelSmith66]

Not a massive Yes fan but my top three is: 3. Close To The Edge 2. The Revealing Science Of God 1. Awaken

[@WarhawkBeyond2040]

This was very enjoyable and its pretty amazing to see just how many epic pieces Yes have put out especially as some of them are the greatest songs they ever made. Love to see The Flower Kings get discussed next as they've done a lot of epic tracks. Looking forward to the next one. Here are my top ten epic Yes tracks 1. Awaken 2. Fly From Here 3. The Gates Of Delerium 4. Machine Messiah 5. Endless Dream 6. That, That Is 7. The Solution 8. Close To The Edge 9. And You And I 10. Mirror To The Sky

[@jeffschielka7845]

YES❣️❣️❣️The greatest band on this or any other planet❗️❗️❗️🛸🪐🚀👍😎

[@GilesScrott]

I have just done the six side long epics: (1) Gates Of Delirium (2) Close To The Edge (3) Nous Sommes Du Soleil (4) Dance Of The Dawn (5) The Remembering High The Memory (6) The Ancient

[@Austin-31557]

Top 8: 10+ Minutes 1. The Gates of Delirium 2. Heart of the Sunrise 3. The Revealing Science of God 4. Ritual 5. Awaken 6. Close to the Edge 7. Endless Dream 8. And You & I Honorable Mentions: 7-9 Minutes 9. Siberian Khatru 10. Sound Chaser 11. To Be Over 12. Homeworld (The Ladder)

[@robalford4417]

Gates to delirium is my favorite….. and Roundabout is my honorable mention

[@mbgaomo]

My top 5 1 Close To The Edge 2 The Revealing Science Of God 3 Heart Of The Sunrise 4 And You And I 5 Ritual From The Yes Album to TFTO is Yes at their best.

[@ronmurvihill5317]

1gates 2awaken 3messiah 4close 5sunrise 6u+i 7revealing 8ancient 9fly 10that is, 11remembering 12dreamtime 13presence of, 14endless 15ritual 16mind [mirror]

[@btfvinylmagic1180]

1. Close to the edge 2. Gates of delirium 3. Awaken 4. Heart of Sunrise 5. Revealing science of God 6. Endless dream 7. Machine messiah 8. And you and I 9. Ritual 10.That, that is

[@philipalbanese]

Great review as always…I would put “Gates..” a little higher myself. Also: Alan White does the live (and in my opinion the definitive version), but on Fragile it’s Bruford on drums :)

[@stevesmith3990]

Awaken, The Revealing, Gates, Close To The Edge, The Ancient, The Remembering, Ritual, Heart Of The Sunrise, And You And I.

[@rattyfus8218]

If you could do this for Glass Hammer and Porcupine Tree then that would be very cool beans indeed. 😊

[@glerp10000000000]

Epic length songs ranking video lasting 18 minutes and 41 seconds which is pretty much the length of a side long epic song. Nice conceptual continuity Mr Pardo.

[@keithbk]

I probably rank Awaken as the best Yes song ever produced. It holds my #1 spot. The most listened to song by Yes from the epic tracks? Probably "Fly From Here" from Return Trip. It may not be the best Yes song, but it is easily the most accessible Yes epic ever made. Even my kids like it. I have to be in a mood to listen to "Gates of Delirium" because it wipes me out; it's chaotic, it's great, but by the end I'm worn out. Mind Drive is my absolute favorite later-Yes epic. Wow, what a track! While I love "And you and I" and "Heart of the Sunrise," I think of them as "longer songs" but not epics. Don't know why--they are both great--but I don't put them in my Epic list. From Topographic Oceans, "The Revealing Science of God" is my absolute favorite track, from the opening chant to the last note. My least favorite is "The Ancient" and I simply cannot stand the opening guitar piece on this song. Likewise, I never liked the opening of Close to the Edge, even though the rest of the song is perfection, and for this reason alone, I seldom revisit this song (and yes, I know every note and lyric... and no, no matter how many times I cross from side to side, I never hear the total mass retain).

[@kennbrown4638]

1. Heart of the Sunrise 2. Close to the Edge 3. America 4. The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun) 5. Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil) 6. And You and I 7. Gates of Delirium 8. Machine Messiah 9. The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn) 10. Awaken 11. The Rembering (High the Memory) 12. Mirror to the Sky 13. Mind Drive 14. That, That Is 15. Endless Dream 16. The Solution 17. In the Presence of 18. Dreamtime

[@lancep4164]

Good list.

[@JoelLappi]

I think The Endless Dream is really underappreciated, imo it's fantastic. Awaken is great but it didn't click with me the same way it did with a lot of other people. Close to the Edge and Gates of Delirium are my absolute favorites still.

[@mellotronin54]

Close to the edge As it is the most Quintessential epic Awaken - The most spiritual piece of music. Gates of Delirium- Utterly bonkers and beautiful in equal parts. Topographic Oceans in it's entirety A must listen from front to back the most genius piece of music that you have to invest yourself in. Machine Messiah. When Yes changed but not for the worst. The rest yeah. good but not in the the same wheel house to me.

[@Gerasimos-o9g]

For me close to the edge ,awaken,gates of delerium,and you and i,heart of thesunrize,anchient.

[@purpletemple1]

Gates of Delirium, CttE, And You & I, Heart of the Sunrise, Ritual.

[@b2tall239]

I'm gonna "pull a Pardo" (figuratively) and include a 9:29 song.....my favorite Yes song, "Starship Trooper". Thanks, Pete. Love these random videos in between the scheduled daily vids.

[@rattyfus8218]

I know I’m a bit of a lone voice on this, but The Remembering is my favourite side of TFTO. It may well come in as my number 3 epic after Close and Gates.

[@iluvpepi]

For proggies, 10 minutes is a GOOD start. Great picks, Pete.

[@roydemarais]

I don't know how long "South Side of the Sky" is, but I think it's their greatest moment and the perfect length....by the way, Pete, Alan White wasn't in Yes yet when they recorded "Heart of the Sunrise"...I'm mean, that was SUCH a Bruford tune...unless you were referring to a live recording, but you weren't.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

I got the olds…of course it’s Bruford.

[@yesacoustic]

So many extraordinary Yes songs that are between 8 and 10 minutes so didn't get a mention, but you've got to draw the line somewhere. The Gate of Delirium wins my vote for best 10+.

[@jeremybravo9345]

Would love to see a Dream Theater ranking the epics with Mike Portnoy, but wait till the new album is about to come out, so you hopefully can include an epic from the new dream theater album.

[@747jono]

Dream Theater perfect choice

[@TJJamesmusic]

Wondering what’s happened to Martin Popoff? Is he still on the shows? Haven’t seen him recently

[@Cam-uv5sc]

1. And You and I 2. Close to the Edge 3. Heart of the Sunrise 4. Awaken 5. The Gates of Delirium 6. I don't listen to anything past the 70s

[@Fritha71]

Not ranking anything on 'Tales' since for the life of me I can't get into any of it... Also don't know the later epics at all. The songs I know well are: 1. CTTE (unsurpassable!) 2. Awaken (blissful!) 3. And You and I (glorious!) 4. Machine Messiah (powerful!) 5. Gates of Delirium (wild!) 6. Mind Drive (grand!) 7. Heart of the Sunrise (ambitious)

[@seansheppard8635]

Totally agree about Awaken when experienced at a concert. I have been at two cconcerts where it was performed, one of which was the tales lineup, and on both occasions it was magic. Especially the middle instrumental section with church organs and all that.

[@peterock4210]

All hail Pete Pardo. The kind of vid that will make me binge on YES for weeks.

[@holydiver73]

Here’s my list, I think the ten minute cut off is fair. 17. Mirror to the Sky 16. Dreamtime 15. In the Presence of 14. Fly from Here 13. Mind Drive 12. That That Is 11. The Ancient 10. Endless Dreams 9. Machine Messiah 8. The Remembering 7. Ritual 6. Heart of the Sunrise 5. And You and I 4. The Revealing Science of God 3. Close to the Edge 2. The Gates of Delirium 1. Awaken

[@harryturnbull4781]

Funnily enough I never listened to Topgraphic all those years ago.

[@powrnap]

Well done. Grateful Dead might also work well, considering 10 minute + songs on their studio and contemporary live albums (which of course often took the place of studio releases) there are about 15,choices. Here is my order! The Other One Terrapin Station Morning Dew Dark Star Eyes Of The World Help on the Way/Slipknot/Franklin’s Tower Bird Song China Cat/Rider Truckin Weather Report Suite Turn On Your Lovelight Viola Lee Blues Smokestack Lightning Alligator Death Don’t Have No Merxy

[@simpleman5688]

Jackson said it best:Beat It!

[@wolf1977]

The 26 minute live "St Stephen" (Phil Lesh/Love Will See You Through) & the 25 minutes "Save Mother Earth" (Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders/Garcialive Volume 15: May 21St, 1971 Keystone Korner) kinda stand out for me in terms of lengthy live tracks from the Dead 'family'. As to the Dead themselves: the live medley "China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider/High Time/Dire Wolf" off 30 Days Of The Dead (23 mins/1970) is cool, as well as live "Scarlet Begonias/Fire On The Mountain" (20 mins) from 1980 off that same set

[@powrnap]

Yes but I’m only including contemporary live albums (otherwise there would be countless choices with medlies, etc.) As per Wikipedia:

[@peerayuthcharnsethikul5122]

#18 The Solution 😀

[@stevewhiteside4525]

On the one hand with a band such as Yes I wouldn't include anything that wouldn't comfortably completely, or almost - you'd have to count Awaken, fill a side of vinyl. On the other hand, if you're going to go for 10 minutes I would have cheated a bit and snuck in Yours Is No Disgrace and Starship Trooper.

[@toddc28]

Great ranking. I’m sure you’re getting some criticism for putting some songs above the epics from Tales. But I agree with your ranking. I too would put the two epics from Keystudio above Tales. I’m sure we’re in the minority but I think the Keystudio material is very underrated. And Talk is very underrated too.

[@donaldanderson6604]

Howe certainly thought the stuff on Keys is underrated.

[@peterr1001]

3 bands you might consider are ELP, King Crimson, obviously, & Focus, perhaps less so.

[@christianhaynes1954]

I'm not a prog guy , but I swear I love these prog related shows for some reason. Must be Peter making it educational and entertaining 👍thanks much Pete 🤟

[@kiplambert64]

Have you ever done favorite female singers?

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Yes...I did a whole month of that.

[@kiplambert64]

@@seaoftranquilityprog I either missed it or forgot , so..Thanks

[@charlieo.possum5501]

How episodes with Rush and Budgie?! 🤘

[@PipeMan1792]

In my opinion, with the exception of Yes Drama album, a song without Jon Anderson, is not a Yes song.

[@robertthompson3239]

Love these Yes videos but Steve used a lap steel more than a pedal steel. Big difference.

[@thekivster]

Yours Is No Disgrace and Starship Trooper just miss the cut

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

What are the parameters on this one? Is it 9 minutes or more? What's the minimum length?

[@Rmesick-hm6yq]

I was wondering that too. If an EPIC starts at 8 minutes, it's gonna be a long show. Lol

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

10

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

​@@seaoftranquilityprogDamn There goes the two great Yes album songs Yours is no disgrace in starship trooper LOL missed by just a few seconds

[@webbvandiver9139]

George knows…my list would be same but move up Heart of Sunrise to #1.

[@simpleman5688]

Pay attention, even if you can’t pay Mommy s rent.

[@mellotronin54]

If you apply the Chris Squire method that an epic has to be over 15 minutes your top 3/4 are moot. YES to me were always the most uplifting band. Never been a fan of god but this band do give me a lift into spirituality and make me feel like there is more than the s88t we have to put up with.

[@DEwillie22]

Pete, I'll give you a pass on ascribing the drums on Heart of the Sunrise to White because I know that you know it was Bruford. 😀 Gates of Delirium certainly deserves to be ranked high. Having said that, I much prefer the Yesshows live version to the studio version. I find the "battleground" noises on the Relayer version kind of distracting and the live version just flows much better imho. I would have ranked Endless Dream higher.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Of course.

[@3ggshe11s]

You left out "America."

[@stephennorris2524]

Dream Theater next??

[@ivanfortuny2244]

Great Show My top 5 epic songs Starship Trooper, to be Over, Perpetual Change, Sound Chaser, Gates of Delirium .

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Most of the ones you mentioned don't meet the criteria of 10+ minutes in length.

[@charleswagner2984]

​@@seaoftranquilityprogHi Pete, I'm sorry to inform you that the Heart Of The Sunrise on Fragile includes the We Have Heaven reprise in the running time of the track Heart Of The Sunrise. So, when you stop the clock at the end of Heart Of The Sunrise proper, the clock is less than 10 minutes, and doesn't qualify for ranking songs 10 minutes plus. If you make the minimum 9 minutes instead of 10, you include Yours Is No Disgrace, Sound Chaser, To Be Over, Siberian Khatru, and Into The Lens.

[@roberteustace7821]

The 4 LP side length songs that comprise the YES 2LP 'Masterpiece' - Tales of Topographic Oceans!

[@johnfoster5295]

Even though it's a cover, I wish you had included America.

[@p0rridge]

I know people love Yes's classic era, but to me Endless Dream will always be my #1 Yes epic. It's perfection in musical form.

[@btfvinylmagic1180]

gates of delirium is so much better than And you and I...

[@wolf1977]

More 'epic' take on this theme: Live Yes songs of length 18(+) mins: Ritual (26+ mins) - from Songs From Tsongas & (24+ mins) from Topographic Drama: Live Across America Gates Of Delirium (22+ mins) - from Live At Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey 1976 The Revealing Science Of God (22 mins) - from Topographic Drama: Live Across America Close To The Edge: The Solid Time Of Change/Total Mass Retain/I Get Up I Get Down/Seasons Of Man (20 mins) - from An Evening Of Yes Music Plus Awaken (19+ mins) - from Union 30 Live A good band to feature next: Transatlantic. Mostly 'long' songs, I count a total of 15 tracks (incl live versions) with lengths of 15+ minutes in my library, plus 8 more of 10+ minutes. The grand daddy: The live version of "The Whirlwind" off More Never Is Enough at 79 min 46 sec (which stretches the capacity of cd to its limit in a single track)

[@mellotronin54]

to me the Keystudio albums were the end of the creative band for me. Wakeman did nothing and they were all left overs from previous projects all very lame.

[@MickFerris-e1n]

1. Close To The Edge 2. Siberian Khatru 3. And You And I 4. Heart Of The Sunrise 5. Awaken 6. Machine Messiah 7. Perpetual Change (Yessongs version) 8. Mind Drive 9. Endless Dream 10. That That Is Nothing after Keys To Ascencion because whatever Howe wants to call it, it ain’t Yes. Also nothing from …Topographic Oceans or are layer because the first is the sound of four egotists (and Rick) disappearing up their own backsides (not Rick’s) and the second is The Emperor’s New Clothes of prog and the second most overrated album ever. Five egotists all doing their own thing, ignoring what playing in an ensemble means. And Howe’s guitar sound is hideous.

[@btfvinylmagic1180]

Mindrive and That, tat is (really great9 higher than Revealing science of God and Ritual???? Cant' be seen....

[@nectarinedreams7208]

For me, a song has to be at least 15 minutes to be considered a prog epic. 10 minutes is almost average for prog.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Well, then you are significantly reducing the playing field.

[@DonnieToys]

I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:5) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:7) When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Mark 2:17)

[@ghj290]

Track from Drama ahead of anything on Topographic Oceans is just plain wrong. Every track on Topographic Oceans is better than anything on Drama. Excluding the two albums by The Steve Howe Band (it's not Yes) Drama is the worst album of the Yes discography.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Nope...sorry, not for me, but you can rank them any way you like them.

[@ghj290]

@seaoftranquilityprog for me the difference is the quality of the musicianship; on Topographic Oceans it's superior. Wakeman Is a better musician than Downs and Anderson is a better vocalist than Horn. And they both are better song writers than Horn/Downes. Machine Messiah is the best track on Drama but technically it's still not as good as any on Topographic Oceans in my opinion. Although when performed live by the classic Yes line up it's up there with the best of Yes.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Drama worst album? Below stinkers like Open Your Eyes, The Quest, The Ladder, and subpar albums like Big Generator, Union, The Mirror, And Fly From Here? Surely you jest. As for your comment about musicianship…no one will deny that Tales has some amazing playing, but all the songs are way too long and ramble on and on in my opinion. The songs on Drama are tighter and instantly memorable.

[@ghj290]

@@seaoftranquilityprog Fly From Here is a Steve Howe Band track, but the others you mention have Jon Anderson so are automatically better then anything on Drama. In my opinion of course, and The Ladder is one of my favourite Yes albums. I "discovered" Yes when Close to The Edge was released (yes I'm old 🙂) and, in my opinion, there is something magic that happens when that line up gets together. Something that is missing when there are substitutes. Although Moratz and Kooroshev both a did well for standardins for Wakeman.

[@garyjoyce2160]

Awesome series. Looking forward to the other Epics. “. Thanks once again Pete for your time 👍💯

[@paultrate4855]

1. Close To The Edge 2. Awaken 3. Gates Of Delirium 4. Heart Of The Sunrise 5. And You And I