Walls (Yes song)

Last updated
"Walls"
Yes Walls Single.jpg
Promotional single by Yes
from the album Talk
ReleasedJune 1994 (1994-06) (US promo)
Genre Rock
Length4:57
Label Victory Music
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Trevor Rabin
Yes singles chronology
"The Calling"
(1994)
"Walls"
(1994)
"Open Your Eyes"
(1997)

"Walls" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1994 album Talk . Roger Hodgson, the songwriter formerly of fellow progressive rock band Supertramp, wrote "Walls" with Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin. It was a rock radio hit for the band, reaching number 24 on Billboard 's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It also became Yes’ second-to-last charting single. [1]

Details

An earlier single, "Saving My Heart" from 1991's Union , was also originally intended as a collaboration between Trevor Rabin and Roger Hodgson. [2] According to Rabin, "Walls" was the last track to be finished for the album. [3]

Rabin and Hodgson wrote a lot of material together and became close friends. [1]

"Walls" reached number 24 on the Mainstream Rock chart in 1994. [4]

Rabin later included a pre-Yes version of the song on his album of demo recordings, 2003's 90124 , where it is titled "Walls Demo 1990". [5] Hodgson shares vocals with Rabin on the demo as well.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yes (band)</span> English progressive rock band

Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and drummer Bill Bruford. The band has undergone numerous lineup changes throughout their history, during which 20 musicians have been full-time members. Since February 2023, the band has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes, bassist Billy Sherwood, singer Jon Davison, and drummer Jay Schellen. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Rabin</span> South African musician (born 1954)

Trevor Charles Rabin is a South African musician, songwriter, and film composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and producing with a variety of artists. In 1972, he joined the rock band Rabbitt, which enjoyed considerable success in South Africa, and released his first solo album, Beginnings. In 1978, Rabin moved to London to further his career, working as a solo artist and a producer for various artists including Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

<i>90125</i> 1983 studio album by Yes

90125 is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 11 November 1983 by Atco Records. After Yes disbanded in 1981, following the Drama (1980) tour, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White formed Cinema, and began recording an album with guitarist and singer-songwriter Trevor Rabin and original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye, who had been fired in 1971. They adopted a more commercial and pop-oriented musical direction as the result of their new material, much of which derived from Rabin's demos, with former Yes singer Trevor Horn as their producer. During the mixing stage, former Yes singer Jon Anderson, who had left in 1980, accepted the invitation to return and record the lead vocals, and subsequently Cinema became the new lineup of Yes.

<i>Union</i> (Yes album) 1991 studio album by Yes

Union is the thirteenth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 30 April 1991 by Arista Records. Production began following the amalgamation of two bands that featured previous and then-current members of Yes: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH), consisting of vocalist Jon Anderson, drummer Bill Bruford, keyboardist Rick Wakeman and guitarist Steve Howe, and Yes, comprised at that time of bassist and vocalist Chris Squire, guitarist and vocalist Trevor Rabin, keyboardist Tony Kaye and drummer Alan White. The eight musicians signed with Arista and a combination of unfinished tracks by both groups were selected for Union. The album's sessions were problematic from the start, including disagreements between some of the musicians regarding the "merger" of the two bands, strained relations during the recording process, and decisions by the production team of Anderson and producer Jonathan Elias to bring in session musicians to re-record parts that Wakeman and Howe had originally completed.

<i>Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe is the only studio album by English progressive rock band Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, released in June 1989 on Arista Records.

<i>Big Generator</i> 1987 studio album by Yes

Big Generator is the twelfth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 21 September 1987 by Atco Records. After touring in support of their previous album, 90125 (1983), which saw the band move from progressive rock towards a pop-oriented and commercially accessible direction, Yes started work on a follow-up in 1985 with producer Trevor Horn. It was a laborious album to make; recording began at Carimate, Italy, but internal and creative differences resulted in production to resume in London, where Horn ended his time with the band due to continuing problems. The album was completed in Los Angeles in 1987 by Trevor Rabin and producer Paul DeVilliers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Hodgson</span> English singer and songwriter (born 1950)

Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson is an English singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the former co-frontman and founding member of the progressive rock band Supertramp. Hodgson composed and sang the majority of the band’s hits, including "Dreamer", "Give a Little Bit", "Take the Long Way Home", "The Logical Song", "It's Raining Again", and "Breakfast in America."

<i>Talk</i> (Yes album) 1994 studio album by Yes

Talk is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes. It was released on 21 March 1994 by Victory Music, and is their last studio album to feature guitarist Trevor Rabin and keyboardist Tony Kaye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owner of a Lonely Heart</span> 1983 single by Yes

"Owner of a Lonely Heart" is a song by British progressive rock band Yes. It is the first track and single from their eleventh studio album, 90125 (1983), and was released on 24 October 1983. Written primarily by guitarist and singer Trevor Rabin, contributions were made to the final version by singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, and producer Trevor Horn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Make It Easy</span> 1991 single by Yes

"Make It Easy" is a 1991 song by the progressive rock band Yes. An early version of this song from 1981 was written and sung by Trevor Rabin, originally as a demo titled "Don't Give In". It was later re-worked by Yes which included Chris Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye after Jon Anderson made his departure from the band.

<i>90124</i> 2003 compilation album by Trevor Rabin

90124 is a compilation album by South African musician Trevor Rabin, released in 2003 on Voiceprint Records. It contains previously unreleased demos and songs that he wrote as a solo artist, some of which were recorded by Yes when he joined the band in 1983. The album's title and artwork is a direct reference to 90125 (1983), the first Yes album to feature Rabin that was produced mainly from his demos included on 90124.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hold On (Yes song)</span> 1983 song by Yes

"Hold On" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1983 album, 90125. It reached number 43 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart in 1984. Later, the live version from 9012Live: The Solos reached number 27 in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It Can Happen</span> 1984 single by Yes

"It Can Happen" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1983 album 90125. It was released as the third single from that album, reaching number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984. It also reached number 5 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

"Changes" is a song by English band Yes, from their 1983 album, 90125. It reached number 6 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart in 1984.

"Cinema" is an instrumental by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1983 album, 90125. In 1985 it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, the band's only Grammy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Will Find a Way (Yes song)</span> 1987 single by Yes

"Love Will Find a Way" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1987 album Big Generator. It was released as the first single from that album, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late 1987. It also topped the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart, holding onto the number one spot for three weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lift Me Up (Yes song)</span> 1991 single by Yes

"Lift Me Up" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes. It was the first single released from their 1991 album Union. It reached the number-one spot on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in May 1991, and stayed in this position for six weeks. It also charted on the Billboard Hot 100, their last single to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saving My Heart</span> 1991 single by Yes

"Saving My Heart" is a song by British rock band Yes, written and produced by Yes vocalist and guitarist Trevor Rabin. It was the second single released from their 1991 "reunion" album Union, following "Lift Me Up". "Saving My Heart" peaked at number nine on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Calling (song)</span> 1994 single by Yes

"The Calling" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1994 album Talk. It was a rock radio hit for the band, reaching number 3 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

"Our Song" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1983 album 90125. It reached number 32 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart in 1983.

References

  1. 1 2 "Roger Hodgson collaboration represents road not taken for Yes: 'One of those things that fizzled out'". Something Else! Reviews. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  2. Morse, Tim (May 15, 1996). Yesstories: Yes In Their Own Words. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 94. ISBN   0-312-14453-9 . Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  3. Yes Active CD-Rom
  4. "Yes: Billboard singles chart information". allmusic . Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  5. "Trevor Rabin: 90124". allmusic . Retrieved November 4, 2010.