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E.L.P. vs. Yes. Who's the best ?

Nigel said:
Can I just say, I've actually touched Keith Emerson's bottom!

Preston Guildhall. Keith was in the crowd with his Moog ribbon controller. When he walked down the centre aisle, members of the crowd were patting him on the back. I had a centre aisle seat so when it came to my opportunity, I thought yes, I'll have some of that. However, at my moment, he decided to run back to the stage. His forward dash meant I missed his back and slapped his backside instead.
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Sounds like a new thread...I've ruffled Peter Gabriels hair ! Lancaster Poly 1979 when he did a walkabout. I was on the balcony.
 
But to follow the OP I would say Yes by a long mile. I listen to their music again and again, especially TFTO. ELP only occasionly when I feel ike a bit of a blast.
 
Yes for me, I should have seen them at Stoke City football ground in 1975 but got wrongly arrested by the Police on that day.
 
As someone who liked both as a 13-14 year old school kid I’d argue a perfectly respectable ELP collection can be assembled by owning side 1 of Tarkus. I honestly don’t think I need anything else (I know it, I’d just not want to play it). Yes takes rather more effort, in fact I think I’d want about six albums there; Yes, Yes Album, Fragile, Tales, Relayer, the title track of GFTO and some bits of CTTE (no church organs).
 
It may be sacrilege, but I get by with a Best of... collection covering the classic period of each band. (I also need a copy of 90215.) I have a thing for Pictures at an Exhibition because it was an album my older brother played, but I can't imagine listening to it from beginning to end these days.

As for the original question, I prefer Yes by quite a lot.
 
I saw ELP on the Brain Salad Surgery tour at what used to be called the Empire Pool Wembley April 1974 on my 14th birthday. My clearest memory was an endless drum solo during which the drum set revolved 360 vertically. They were supported by Back Door who I remember being quite impressed by.


Pure_Carbon said:
When I as at school , mid 1970's , those that were "into" music, carried their favourite LPs under their arms like a trophy.
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In 1972- 3 I'd have been carrying Doors records - and certainly had their lyrics on all of my schoolbooks. I was much more into American music than English even then.

I did have copies of Tarkus and The Yes Album but both were far from my faves even then and neither really feature in the nostalgia soundtrack for my teenage years.

I've dipped into ELP and Yes while browsing this thread over the past few days. Yes don't seem to have dated quite as badly as ELP.
 
Yes were too twee, especially Jon Anderson's voice which sounded like Rocky the Flying Squirrel. ELP were too ugly sounding. I can stand one ELP song, "Knife Edge", and can't tolerate any Yes, especially after Bruford left. Time has not been kind to the recordings of either band.

I was into this shit back when I was at university, but gravitated more toward Crimson and Gentle Giant. Then 1976/77 came along and give my musical preferences a much-needed enema.

I did see ELP live once, but I was really there just for "Knife Edge" and "Nutrocker".
 
Yank said:
I was into this shit back when I was at university, but gravitated more toward Crimson and Gentle Giant. Then 1976/77 came along and give my musical preferences a much-needed enema.
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I’m a bit younger so punk happened when I was 14-15. My taste at that time was everything, which I think is my natural state; Hawkwind, Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Man, Nektar, bits of Krautrock (I certainly had Autobahn and Rubycon by then) mixed with Pistols, Devo, Television, TRB, Patti Smith, Stranglers, Blondie, Elvis Costello etc. It was later on I ended up seriously purging my record collection and hoofed the prog. I was broke and couldn’t afford to buy all the amazing new-wave stuff that was coming out in 80-81 so I traded in almost everything I had. I’ve bought the vast majority back since. A wise move in hindsight as the stuff I bought new at that time is worth far more than the stuff I sold, so I’m definitely ahead!
 
As I've mentioned before, IMHO Emerson was a peerless musician, who provided me with a gateway to the world of both classical and jazz music forms. But what set ELP side to me was the sheer aggressive nature of much of their music, something the other big prog acts never really matched. Yes have always been my number two band, but whilst I loved their more longer pieces when I was younger, now I return to the shorter songs that contain such great melodies and wonderful playing.
 
ELP, only because if I was a professional boxer or dart player I’d have ‘Fanfare For The Common Man’ as my walk on music. I’m partial to their version of Peter Gunn too. Otherwise I have no skin in this fight.

Cheers BB
 
I think it's better to ask which band people prefer to listen to. I would listen to both depending on my mood. When I went to the CanAmp headphone show last year I was delighted to find Zach had some Yes tracks in his limited catalogue to listen to when trying out his ZMF phones.
 
Both bands had exceptionally talented members. The main difference for me was Yes were completely focused on producing works for others to enjoy.
Whereas, ELP were far more self indulgent.
At the top of their game both were excellent but Yes were at that point more than ELP.
 
Yes far more interesting to me than ELP. I give them a blast every so often. Such a shame that the SQ of their albums (even the remixes) is so monumentally shit.
 
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