ShrinkingViolet crossed the line - Period, end of discussion! Shame on Fragile for supporting him -В you're both acting like you're 13 yrs old. No James, you are not being to sensitive. I'm planning on seeing Yes live at Red Rocks in exactly a month, thanks for asking It'sВ one of thoseВ labels that are widely used but never actually substantiated В if anyoneВ wants to assertВ that it was an American musical influence that 'corrupted' Yes (or Genesis, etc.) in the late 70s/ early 80s,В formВ a reasonable argument instead of just throwing the term around, and I'll stop being so sensitive. It'sВ simply mental laziness, possiblyВ coupled with smug cultural snobbery,В to call thisВ trend 'american'. They played shorter, less complicatedВ songs with more commercial potential, and moreВ trendy 80s production techniques. Yes never really had any elements of national identity in their sound to lose- it's not like Jon Anderson lost his accent or they stopped playing british-sounding melodies (a laВ Caravan). If you wanted to discuss U2's Americanization during the Joshua Tree period, or even make aВ claim about the loss of british folk influenceВ over the course ofВ Jethro Tull's work, you'd have a good point.but the commercialization of Yes and progressive music in general is just not a good example. I have no problem criticizing the negative impact of American culture around the world- I often do, and wrongly getВ branded unpatriotic. I'd be willing to bet I'd get slammed ifВ used the termВ 'scottish'В to meanВ thatВ something wasВ humorless, intolerant, and rustic in the best Calvinist tradition. With greates respect and love to American culture-but since when Madrigal became American?ДЄm I being too sensitive?В The term 'american' was used toВ imply something inauthentic and shallow and therefore less worthy, so I challenged it. Isn't it bad enough that so many people denounce and demean Americans forВ variously valid reasons, and now we have to go and rewrite history to make up new ones?

the classic line up has retuned yey!!! long live YesДЄRGH didn't we already do this? Yes has been many things but never 's totally unfair and shortsighted to useВ 'American' as shorthand for 'trendy, over-produced pop influence'? Great Britain and Europe in general has always been in the forefront of re-packaging the authentic original US influences in slick, chart-friendly ways the blues, R&B, soul,В rock and roll, punk, grunge (remeber Bush?), house music (okay, Chicago and Detroit House had a lot of German Kraftwerk influence, but they stillВ did house well before Brit DJs caught up and pretended they invented it). Same here i cannot call the rabin era yes.its american yes not the real yes.

Yes jumping line