Jon Anderson, Yes lead singer and usual co-writer, is a very passionate man. His spirituality is what lifts Yes music above and beyond most of the tiresome prog twaddle that they're always classified with. [Note: I'm not talking about Yes music in the 80's, which was very much dominated by guitarist Trevor Rabin and producer Trevor Horn]. Just listen to "Awaken" or "Wondrous Stories" - it's light years away from the meaningless wankery of King Crimson or ELP.
It's not about - or shouldn't be about - someone playing an indulgent 20-minute solo. Johnny Marr is an incredibly talented guitarist, but I hope you don't hold that against him!
I think when people say "talent" they are usually talking about technical ability which is nothing without something to say, some inspiration or point of view, some artistry, and something unique or at the very least unusual. Johnny Marr had all those things.
I'm glad that you appreciate spirituality, and I do see the difference between YES and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, for example. Listen, I'm a fan of RUSH, so I do appreciate technical proficiency and skill.
However, technique for the sake of technique is nothing to me and I think that the word talent is often used as a synonym for technical ability. that is why I am not on the side of those with talent. Jon Anderson and Johnny Rotten are both gifted. They both have something to express. It turns out that Jon Anderson never really connected with me whereas I immediately became a Sex Pistols fan. I'm not saying that there is no reason to like YES, but I am saying that the way we judge music is different.
I prefer acoustic country blues to the Chicago style electric bands with "talented" players. I love Neil Young's music and find Eric Clapton's mostly boring.
There is just a real conservative streak to a lot of fans and critics of rock music and the way these people try to apply their values to other people's art is ridiculous and meaningless. I have played guitar with a few people and there are those types that want to play songs and try to copy the record, which is totally pointless, and those that prefer to write their own music however lacking in technical ability or music theory they may be, or who are free to improvise or reinterpret other people's basic song structure, and this is a lot more fun, interesting, and artistic.
I think that what Neil Tennant was talking about was the mentality that has led to Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, and Mick Jagger appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone dozens of times over the years when Joy Division and The Smiths were consistently overlooked.
U2 does fit into that Classic Rock tradition and it's redundant and dead. It's the reason the American rock radio is still playing the songs they were playing 20, 30, and 40 years ago. Where I work on weekends these guys are painting the house and I hear their radio. The station was playing Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" a song that I've heard on rock radio hundreds of times since the 70's and I wondered if anyone can really hear it. I love Led Zeppelin's music but I don't listen to it anymore. I used to play it every day and while I'm not putting it down, and when I do hear it I still like it, I just feel like I have heard it.
I think that is what the point is, and not that the Sex Pistols are good and Yes is bad. A lot of the rejection id what went before was partly built on hype. Pete Townshend wrote Who Are You after meeting Steve Jones and Paul Cook and telling them that The Who was finished. He says that they were shocked and begged him to reconsider, told him that they loved the band. At the time that the Sex Pistols were saying publicly that they wanted to destroy the previous generation some of them were doing some of their best work. Possibly they were energized. The Rolling Stones Some Girls, Neil Young's Live Rust, and Who Are You are among their best work. Other groups tried to borrow some punk style and failed.
Anyway, your first comments sounded like the conservative rock radio classic rock mentality to me and I thought that they did illustrate what Neil Tennant was saying.
