Re: Entwistle and Squire (mostly Squire)

Jim, Re:

> If you want to hear some great Squire, listen to HEART OF THE SUNRISE (from
> FRAGILE; I have a great boot from 1991 of Yes that features an excellent
> version of this song).  This is Squire's bass at its most trebly and
> distinctive--the bass drives the song.

While I acknowledge a technically very profound bass playing here, I wouldn't
say that the bass drives the song.  Yes, during the high-speed sequences, the
bass dictates tempo and melody, but it doesn't drive the whole thing like, e.g,
JAE's bass in `Substitute'.

But this might be a problem of the respective musical genres.  Whereas in good
Who songs, everything fits together and all instruments are bouncing off of
each other, popular Yes songs often contain a lot of loosely connected soloing.
Personally, I prefer the former.

> Also, his melodic bass is critical to SOUND CHASER from RELAYER.  See also
> PARALLELS from GOING FOR THE ONE for more melodic bass, esp. toward the
> song's end.  And don't forget TEMPUS FUGIT from the Anderson-less DRAMA.

Sorry, I don't know these songs well enough, but I have taken some notes of
your recommendations for future reference.  Maybe I will return to this subject
within a few weeks.

> Sorry Bernd that you don't like Yes.

No need to be sorry.  I have enough music around me that I really like.

> "Wailing"?  Never heard their stuff referred to in that manner.

It's just a personal impression.  There are a lot of things I don't like about
Yes:  Anderson's voice, the very prominent keyboards as opposed to the rather
under-mixed guitar, the emphasis on solos, the lyrical topics.  `Wailing' is an
attempt to describe my impression.

> I don't see that it's necessary to only search out Yes stuff where Squire is
> "superior" to JAE.

Well, that wasn't my idea but Kevin's.

> Chris's stuff is almost always excellent in its own right.

Agreed.

> These two are the distinctive bassists of the rock era.

Hm.  Whereas JAE is clearly a rock bassist, I'd say that CS is just a
technically brillant bassist I haven't had the opportunity yet to connect with
something that really `rocks'.

Cheers,

Bernd