Awaken

And so, dear reader, our journey through my top 8 songs (as per the Desert Island Disc format) comes to a close, with 15 minutes and 31 seconds of prog rock joy courtesy of Yes. You can listen to the song here.


I've blogged previously about my thoughts on both the soap opera that is the regular changes in the Yes line-up here and what I think of their last album here.

In the same way that much of my affection for 1970's music was acquired, by listening to albums over and over again at a friends house, I first remember listening to Yes following my friend Nigel having a Damascus Road type conversion to their music. This was after "The Old Grey Whistle Test" (a British rock show) broadcast a 1975 concert. The gig was live at QPR's football stadium and Nigel went straight out and bought "Yessongs" the band's triple live album from a previous tour and played it to us at every opportunity. As it was six sides of music, there was always a side to listen to, that we hadn't heard for a couple of days!

Awaken comes from the band's 1977 album "Going for the one" (GFTO), which was the band's first new release since I became a "fan" and it was issued on 7/7/77 which was just before I started work! This meant that I had money and could actually buy the album some weeks later rather tape someone else's. In fact I could also go and buy the two 12" singles released at the same time, which still have pride of place in my vinyl collection.

GTFO was very much a re-launch for Yes, as it marked the return to the line-up of keyboard player, Rick Wakeman, who had found the excesses of Tales of Topographic Oceans, too much. but when he heard the working demo's for this album, returned reinvigorated! It was also the first album for five plus years not produced by Eddie Offord (the band produced it themselves) and the album cover was by design company Hipnosis (best known for their work with Pink Floyd), not long time album artist, Roger Dean. It was also recorded in Montreux, at Mountain Studios, which Queen would later use to record among other songs, Under Pressure, with local resident David Bowie!

GFTO is a fairly short (39 minutes) five track album, but in my view, it is the high point in the Yes canon.  I will never tire of listening to it and Awaken as the last track brings the album to a stunning climax.

If someone asked me to play them a song that for me defined "prog rock", I would be hard pressed to play them a better example than Awaken. For a start is effectively two pieces of music, moulded together with an introductory and end section that bookend the piece superbly. The song starts with Wakeman on the piano showing off and then leads into Anderson singing about "high vibrations" over ethereal keyboards and guitar. This then leads to a guitar track that starts the the first half of the song which is a rock workout with Steve Howe's guitar work showing what a great player he is. Over the top Jon Anderson sings about "the workings of man" and bass and drums thunder around with a church organ in the mix as well!

It's the second half of the song, however, that takes it to epic proportions. In the mix, Yes add, timbrels and harp, with the church organ now quietly over the top. This church organ part builds as Rick Wakeman puts the organ at Eglise des Planches, Montreux through it's paces. Added to this then comes Howe with some beautifully fluid guitar soloing. The rest of band join in, with again some great soloing from Howe and Anderson's voice adds his falsetto/angelic magic (including the lyric from which this blog gets its name!) and then the church choir (yes really) put a choral harmony over the top to which Wakeman now playing thunderous organ takes the whole experience to a truly spiritual level. Howe then solos for his country and the songs just builds and builds until THE chord change at 12' 48" just makes you punch the air. The track finishes with the choir and Anderson reprising the beginning of the song in a gentle angelic way that finishes the track and album off perfectly.

Music like this just makes the world a wonderful place.

The Prophet's song

There's a theory regularly expressed on the excellent Word podcast that you develop your taste in music by the time that you're in your late teens. These last two entries in my Desert Island Disc series confirm that that was indeed the case for me.

The penultimate entry comes from Queen's 1975 magnum opus, "A Night at the Opera". On the back of a career defining single, Bohemian Rhapsody, ANATO (as it is known by Queen fans) lifted the band several levels in rocks hierarchy and for me this was the stand out track on it.

Before, however, I talk about this song, I feel that I should explain exactly how important Queen were to me as I navigated my way through my mid-teens.

I first really became aware of them, when they performed Seven Seas of Rhye on Top of the Pops. I think my mate Gray bought that single and then Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack were bought by school mates, sorry I can't remember who had what and as one did, we hung out and played them to death. Very soon Queen were my favourite band and any edition of Sounds, Melody Maker or NME (1970's music papers that had any article or interview was purchased and read and re-read. Similarly any appearance on Top of the Pops was to be watched and the sheer joy of the bands live performance, even in the TOTP studio, kept me going for weeks. My best mate Gray and I would discuss them for hours, what songs meant, what they were wearing and why Freddie wearing black nail polish didn't mean that he was gay!

Then one Sunday afternoon while writing an essay for my homework and listening to Annie Nightingale (I think), she played the new Queen single. Didn't catch the title and wasn't listening properly so actually thought that she had messed up and played two album tracks! That was of course "Bo Rhap" and when the album came out, my friend Ian bought it and we listened to it over and over while playing Risk and Colditz.

I distinctly remember their 1975 Christmas concert being broadcast live on BBC2 and a bank of cassette players being set up in front of Gray's parents TV while we tried to record it for prosperity. Even now any clip of that great concert brings that night in his lounge back to me like it was yesterday!

The Prophet's Song opens side 2 of the album and you can listen to it here if you have Spotify. At 8 minutes 21 seconds it is the longest studio song that the band recorded and to me it sums up why I love Queen. Firstly it has a great guitar work, it has great lyrics (biblical references always a good thing), Freddie sings his heart out, the choral bit is exactly right for the song and the end is a stunning climax, including a stereo effect that bounced across the speakers. Very lame in these days of 5.1 surround sound, but at the time, to my teenage ears, it was the very cutting edge of audio technology. It is probably the closest to prog rock that the band came, which also explains my love for this song!

The first 5 Queen albums are faultless in my view and I will never tire of hearing any of them, but this track is, to me, the high water mark.

Ára bátur

My sixth track for Desert Island Discs comes from what may prove to be the last album by Sigur Rós, the fabulously named "Meõ suõ í eyrum viõ spilum endalaust"! In English it means, "With a buzz in our ears we play Endlessly" I say last as the band are on a "hiatus" so who knows if they'll record together again?

The title to the song means "Row boat" and you can listen to it here. It is as glorious a 9 minutes of music to which you can hope to listen.

The album came out in June 2008 and I bought it and listened to it first in around November that year. This co-incided with my Dad being in hospital and one night I hit play on my iPod in the car after I had dropped my Mum off home. She lives about 10 minutes from my house with quiet roads. I was a bit emotional as Dad was fairly poorly and slowly as the song built on the journey home so did my spirits. At the final crescendo when Orchestra and Choir go into overdrive, I was driving down the slip road to the motorway with the most wonderful sunset view across Hampshire in front of me and the meeting of sound and vision was just heart stopping.

The song now always reminds me of my Dad, who died the following February, but as a result of that journey home, in a good, uplifting way.

Miserere mei, Deus

This is D I D track 5 and you can listen to it here.

I don't listen to enough classical music, but this is a piece that always gives me goosebumps listening to it.

It's for that reason alone that it's included.

Enjoy.