"The Yes Album"

[chet]

Does anyone like it? Is it safe to ask that?

I think it's a great rock album. The only album by Yes that I really liked- after that they seemed to go too far into the psuedo-classical direction for me.
The bass playing by Chris Squire is awesome as well as the rock guitar of Steve Howe. I dug it up last night and listened to it.

[Jimo]

I like the "Yes" album and "Fragile" ----those are my faves---good stuff!---cheers!----JIMO

[Heather Anne Peel]

Yeah, it's great. Steve Howe is an amazing guiarist and he used a Tele from time to time back then, including on that very record. "Yours Is No Disgrace" and "I've Seen All Good People" are awesome tunes, as is "Starship Trooper". I like all those '70s Yes records. I especially liked '77's "Going For The One", I thought it was really underrated. Steve Howe is a fanastic guitarist.

[chet]

Have you ever heard thier first album "Time and a Word"? I never got it because I didn't think it would hold up to "The Yes Album".

[Heather Anne Peel]

Yes, I haven't heard it in years, but I remember thinking it was a solid Pop/Rock record. A good beginning for a new sound. I also liked "Fragile" "Close To The Edge", "Relayer", "Tales From Topographic Oceans" and "Yesssongs". A lot of it was pretty trippy, but at least it was adventurous and well-played. "Yesterdays" was also a great compilation. They did a great version of Paul Simon's "America".

[Heather Anne Peel]

A bit of a performance of "Yours Is No Disgrace" from '72:

[Lobstapickin]

That album initiated me into prog rock! Still love it today.

[Oster]

Here's the thing with Yes. Next time you listen to The Yes Album imagine going into a club and seeing a band like them do that live; a bunch of guys in their early twenties. They may have been forever deemed unfashionable by the standards of the great punk myth that has long held itself alone as the champion and savior of real rock and roll but it doesn't take a fan to feel the visceral power of Yes at their peak.

Steve Howe is easily my favorite guitarist of all time. No one sounds remotely like him and his tone with that big hollow ES-175 is totally unique. 'Time and A Word' by the way isn't their first album, it's their second and it features like the first (called simply Yes), guitarist Pete Banks who was a Rickenbacker man and no slouch himself.

*By the way I like a lot of the school of '77 Punk bands but feel that Yes' value needs serious reappreciation by both critics and fans. Superb band. Get 'Close To The Edge' next!

[Eric Karonen]

I nodded off at a Yes concert in the 70s. The sound was just horrible, with no definition between the instruments, a bit like white noise. I was so very disappointed because I really liked their albums.

[tomkatf]

NO!

Best,
Tom

[chet]

I would've loved to see them play live in 1970 but I didn't even know about the album until a few years later. Rick Wakeman replaced Tony Banks on keyboards after the Yes album and I thought that was a mistake on thier part.

Just the thought of hearing and seeing Steve Howe playing the Gibson and Chris Squire playing the Rickenbacker bass at that time blows me away!

[BritishBluesBoy]

I played in a band with Steve Howe's son during the late 80's - early 90's... Got to meet Steve on many occaisions. Played and recorded a bit with him too. Super nice guy...

[chet]

Hey, I wouldn't expect too many of the younger people to be familiar with the album. They probably don't know about it.
It sounds great on a good stereo!

[TeleConvert]

I love the Yes Album. But I was a big fan. I saw Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe when they toured together. With Tony Levin on Bass! It was great. The sound was awesome, even at an outdoor venue (Merriwether Post Pavillion - near Baltimore). I also saw the first Asia tour, which was another show that had killer sound! Prog lives!! (but I'll still never give up my old metal and classic rock!)

[Five Finger Fender Fiend]

I love Yes. They're a firm favourite.

[hekawi]

I am a dedicated and loyal YES fan...stuck with them through thick and thin for nearly 40 years now (Yikes!). as such, "The Yes Album" to me is the place to start for somebody interested in checking the band out. Steve Howe makes a HUGE impact with his debut as a group member. this is the record where the 'yes sound' is fully formed and everything they did after it really springs from this one. their first two albums, "yes" and "time and a word" were sort of a 'lets find out what we want to do' albums. in hindsight the new/casual fan should get later stuff and go back to the those two for historic perspective.

my favorite Yes album is "Close to the Edge". to me it is the pinnacle of prog-rock, the best single album of the genre. (my opinion...please take with grain of salt)

"Fragile" has great moments, included their most famous track "Roundabout" but is a little disjointed as a whole album...maybe they had to get used to Rick Wakeman.

ah, Wakeman....you love him or you hate him. Me, i'm a fan. as flashy as he is, he still supported the rest of the group's playing and many times plays understated fills for the sake of the over-all sound. he himself hated "tales from topographic oceans", but i think it's a high water mark (excuse the pun) in his playing with Yes. Rick is quite a character.

"YESSONGS" from 73 is among the best live albums in history. amazing that they can pull these songs off live.

the rest of their output from that point has been rather hit-or-miss. (among the better: "Going For the One" ....shorter songs/great album!) but i'm loyal and i keep buying their stuff.

a couple a solo gems worth looking for: Chris Squire's "Fish Out Of Water" (excellent! and he gets a chance to sing lead for a change) and Wakeman's "Six Wives of Henry VIII" (one of the best rock instrumental albums ever)

sorry for the long post...i got carried away.

[studio1087]

I love that album. Every time that I hear "Your's in no Disgrace" I feel like I'm 16. I've seen Yes three times. I'm a fan.

[dolfan19]

Love it. I wish they didn't come up w/that stupid label of "prog-rock." All labels are so diminishing. Yes were awesome!

[Heather Anne Peel]

What I really thought was the coolest thing is the way they fused so many styles together. Howe, in particular, has a command of so many genres. He can play like Scotty Moore, James Burton, Django Reinhardt, Joe Pass, you name it! I think their music was "Yes" music. It's too hard to pigeon-hole. I also like their '80s stuff, with Trevor Horn and Trevor Rabin. Even if it was more commercial, it was still very well done. The '70s stuff was truly amazing, however. Nobody makes music like that anymore. It was a very special time. As much as a fan I am of Roots Rock and Blues, I gotta give it up for Yes!

[sjfoote]

by an excellent band. The one thing about YES is that no matter who came & went in the lineup, they were all great musicians. I've seen them 5 times - every time a little different lineup, and every time the show was great. But The Yes Album really is the first one of theirs that got my attention. I think their best was Close to the Edge, but The Yes Album is their most mainstream and commercially viable work.

And with all the talk about great guitarists, I must say that YES had the best drummer I've ever seen/heard in Bill Bruford. Now that's a guy who can play any style of music....

[casterway]

Does anyone realize that the only member of YES that played on every album was Chris Squire?

[TeleConvert]

Originally Posted by casterway

Does anyone realize that the only member of YES that played on every album was Chris Squire?

After Squire, Jon Anderson has the longest tenure, having been on all but 'Drama'

[tiktok]

My favorite Yes album--Steve Howe is a true original. That record, "Fragile" and "Close To The Edge" are the band's peak moments as far as I'm concerned, although they all have their moments.

[Tim Bowen]

Old prog-rock head here. Yes, I love it. The counterpoint melodies in "Perpetual Change" and "Yours is no Disgrace" screwed me up real good.

Among my fave YES records is Relayer (same "three song" format as Close to the Edge, and it's possibly even a better record). Tough call.

I've heard and owned all of the records, from Jon's stuff to that of Alan White. By far, the most impressive solo outing for me is Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water; it's gorgeous, a bit like listening to J.S.Bach 300 years later. This record proved to me that Chris was easily the most gifted arranger within the band, and the second best vocalist. I think Chris has probably shaped the sound of the band over time as much as anyone.

The band has always employed great keys players. Patrick Moraz on the Relayer tour was breathtaking. I recently heard a YES performance on PBS, and Rick Wakeman hasn't lost anything as a player, although I thought the tones were pretty bad. No Mini Moogs, Hohner Clavinets, or Mellotrons in sight.

Steve Howe has been an influence on nearly every guitarist within my age group that I know; his reach has been huge. His work on Going For The One still kills me, not to mention his various other contributions.

Bill Bruford is among my vey fave drummers. I love the way that he superimposes time signatures.

In my opinion, the worst record that the band released was Tormato, particularly that silly political cut, "Don't Kill The Whales".

I don't listen to these sorts of tunes much anymore, but if nothing other than a prog fix will do, I'll choose YES above all others. First 70's concert for me was Elton John, second was the YES Close to the Edge tour. How can you NOT dig a band that employs Roger Dean to design art and backdrops, and opens a show with an ultra-loud recording of Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite", prior to lauching into their own composition of "Siberian Khatru"? It was way huge, and I bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Lyrically, I have similar feelings about YES and Led Zeppelin. I think the lyrics are goofy. These guys are great composers of music, not great songwriters.

Not that the silliness of high school culture matters in the least... but when I was a goofy kid growing up, we gauged hipness by whether or not folks owned records by YES or REM or The Ramones or Lou Reed... totally incongruent and wacked comparisons, but hey, that's high school for ya.

[fenderix]

Never was a big fan of Yes - much too pompous and pretentious for my taste. That said, I'm a big fan of Steve Howe. He's one of the few guitarists who's equally adept at electric and acoustic guitar. Listen to his self-penned "Mood for a Day" (the "Fragile" album, also on "Yessongs") and "The Clap" ("The Yes Album") and you'll see what I mean.
I also enjoy his work with the British jazz guitarist Martin Taylor.

[byrdbrain]

Tim is right, time to come out of the prog-rock closet.
Close to the Edge was the one for me, and I'm seriously thinking
about buying that CD (along with Gentle Giant's In a Glass House).

All together now:
"Sad preacher nailed upon
the coloured door of time ..."

[Westerly Sunn]

Originally Posted by Heather Anne Peel

Yes, I haven't heard it in years, but I remember thinking it was a solid Pop/Rock record. A good beginning for a new sound. I also liked "Fragile" "Close To The Edge", "Relayer", "Tales From Topographic Oceans" and "Yesssongs". A lot of it was pretty trippy, but at least it was adventurous and well-played. "Yesterdays" was also a great compilation. They did a great version of Paul Simon's "America".

Those are my favorite ones also... I remember finding "Yesterdays" in the record bins in the local "Five and dime" many years ago... Always having been fond of a good POP song, I immediately loved "Time and a word" and snagged a copy of the album as soon as it was released on CD. As a matter of fact I was only recently enjoying the "America" and "Time and...." cuts, along with the others on a concert DVD... Yes insinuated itself into my mind as a young teenager and I've ever remained a big Fan!

[chet]

The latest issues of "Guitar and Bass" and "Guitar World's Bass Player" have stories on Chris Squire. I guess Yes has a new DVD out also. It was pretty cheap at $14.99 at Borders but I didn't pick it up.
I might get the remastered versions of "Time and a Word", "Fragile" and "The Yes Album" though. Has anyone heard these and is the sound quality any better? The cd I have does not sound as good as the vinyl IMO. Of course that might be because I'm not listening thru the Advent speakers I used to have either.

[Joel Terry]

YES! One of my all-time favorite bands. I don't listen to them as much as I used to, but in high school, forget about it. I was a rabid Yes fiend all the way.

I hate to be an elitist, but I just don't believe you can even consider yourself a passing Yes fan and not have The Yes Album in your collection. Still one of my favorite albums--and not just by Yes, but by anyone.

All six tunes on that album are etched into my brain after having listened to them countless times, whether I was trying to copy Steve Howe or Chris Squire's parts or simply playing the album for simple enjoyment.

To this day, whenever there's a crowd and a guitar around, and someone asks me to play something, I'll usually whip out "The Clap" from The Yes Album or "Mood For A Day" from Fragile. (I am 100% sure that I'm not the only person who considers "The Clap" an awkward title, due, of course, to the STD connotations the phrase usually carries. However, from what I've read, Steve Howe wrote it the day after his first child was born, so the title is a reference to joy)--

In fact, my best friend and I had ambitious (and extremely naive) designs on forming the art rock band to end all art rock bands. (Art rock: that's what it was called then, wasn't it? Now, it's prog rock, which, to me, is actually cooler sounding. ) And Yes was one of our great influences. When I think of all the time we spent listening to everything from The Yes Album up to Drama (a vastly underrated album, in my personal opinion), and into 90215 and Big Generator, and trying to learn the tunes, it makes me smile. (Yeah, yeah--I could've been making out with lots of girls, but what the hey? This was art rock, this was Yes, and learning those complex, cerebral tunes gave me more of a buzz than chatting up some clingy, bubbleheaded sophomore at Fletcher's Pizzeria or under the "Friday night lights." Yes, I was a nerd. Not virginal, per se, but a nerd nonetheless. However, I was a guitarist/bassist nerd, so, in a paradoxical sense, I was actually cool and popular in school. Ah, the advantages of simply being a musician! )

One of the best memories I have is of a chance meeting with the band on their Big Generator tour. My best friend had attended the show--one of the best concerts I've ever attended, incidentally--so now, we were just kind of loitering around nearby, reviewing and critiquing the show. I recall it was a freezing night in February 1988, and it was past midnight or so. Most of the concert goers had long since departed, so the area was actually deserted. Out of nowhere, we see two black limos and a white limo pull up to the Municipal Auditorium's loading doors. So, with the brave, dumb compunction of youth, we mosey over to the limos just to see what's going on. (Of course, most acts leave the arena after they leave the stage. We knew this, so we weren't really expecting to see the band.)

But sure enough, out comes moonchild Jon Anderson dressed solely in white with his hands pressed together and pointing up under his chin as if he were praying. So, my bud and I tell him that we're fans and that we enjoyed the show, all while rifling through our pockets trying to find a scrap of paper for an autograph...my bud pulls out a dollar bill, and I pull out a paycheck stub. Jon never says a word. Not a single sound. (I suppose he was trying to save his voice.) But he grins, does a kind of a salaam to us, presses his hands together again, praying hands-style, and gets into the white limo. (A sweet guy, if not spaced-out.)

Next, Chris, Trevor, Alan, and Tony come out, and we all actually stand around talking for a bit while each gives us and autograph. Chris was sick with a head cold; nevertheless, he stood out in the freezing cold making conversation with two Nashville kids. Tony and Alan don't say a lot, but they're very obliging and seem to be enjoying themselves. I speak with Trevor at length about some of his solo albums and his forays into soundtrack composition. Actually, I don't think it would've taken much to persuade Trevor to take a walk with us down 4th Avenue to a bar and have a beer over music talk.

Super-sweet guys. Very unassuming, and accommodating above and beyond the call of duty. And I still have that paycheck stub they autographed.

Of course, the experience made me like them that much more.

Joel

[11 Gauge]

I've played Close to the Edge so many times that I can't believe I didn't wear it out.

My favorite Yes song of all time is South Side of the Sky.

No, not a band for everyone, but if you do dig them, you probably really dig them.

I personally prefer the early stuff, but yeah - great musicians no matter what the lineup. Rabin was a great addition in the 80's, and was no doubt largely responsible to the band's popularity with youngsters during the time.

Steve Howe stupifies me to this day.

[hekawi]

Originally Posted by Joel Terry

To this day, whenever there's a crowd and a guitar around, and someone asks me to play something, I'll usually whip out "The Clap" from The Yes Album or "Mood For A Day" from Fragile. (I am 100% sure that I'm not the only person who considers "The Clap" an awkward title, due, of course, to the STD connotations the phrase usually carries. However, from what I've read, Steve Howe wrote it the day after his first child was born, so the title is a reference to joy)--

Rhino Reissue
The Yes Album was remastered and reissued in 2003 by Rhino Records with several bonus tracks, including a studio version of "Clap." The original LP and CD version of The Yes Album refer to the song as "The Clap," given Jon Anderson's erroneous introduction of the song on the original release. The Rhino reissue clears this matter up and correctly refers to the song as "Clap" on the traycard, as Steve Howe intended.

[TeleConvert]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

.



In my opinion, the worst record that the band released was Tormato, particularly that silly political cut, "Don't Kill The Whales".

Perhaps not their best, but "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" had some of the coolest bass work Squire ever did IMHO

[detuned]

I love Yes, especially between "The Yes Album" & "Tormato" (which many folks don't dig, but - "On The Silent Wing of Freedom" - c'mon!)

Loads of tele all over "Relayer" too!

[Oster]

The only time I ever saw them Live was 2002 at Toronto's Massey Hall. I took my wife. We had been married for just about a year and I wanted her to see a band that meant a great deal to me for a long time (still does). Perfect venue; the type of place they would've played in '72 - a smaller music hall with balcony seating. This was the 'Topographic Oceans' lineup w/ Rick Wakeman and Alan White. The 'I Get Up/I Get Down' section of 'Close To The Edge' had me in tears of joy. I love that band.

Like you, Joel, there was a time when I wanted to form an art rock band. In my suburban high school though in the mid '80s, art rock fans were as thin on the ground as, well, punk fans. When you found out someone else even knew about Yes or Gabriel era Genesis - well that was something!

So I never got that prog band together, nor did I ever get that Rickenbacker 4001 bass (which were $400 used at that time). I have however retained a lifelong admiration for Yes' impeccable sense of melody and flair for musical drama.

I think that's what made Yes and early Genesis so special: Their influences were The Byrds, Paul Simon & The Beatles. They were tunesmiths first and foremost. If they were only about flash and pomp, I don't think they would've mattered to anyone.

And for what it's worth: I still believe every word Jon Anderson sang. Starry-eyed escapism is a sorely lacking quality from much of today's music.

Love this thread!

[TeleConvert]

On a similar vein, here's a little ditty from Bill Bruford's band. The keyboard player is Dave Stewart. That's Alan Holdsworth on guitar and Jeff Berlin on Bass.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSM-jMMuoiU

[chet]

Hey, how about the tremolo bass on "Starship Trooper"? That's the only time I can remember anyone using that effect. He did it without overdoing it and it still drives the tune's backbeat.
Also on that song Steve Howe's guitar playing on the "Wurm" section- was that a chorus pedal?
Bill Bruford was a jazz-trained drummer, wasn't he?
I still remember reading everything I could about the band in Creem and Rolling Stone.

[Michael]

Here's the thing with Yes. Next time you listen to The Yes Album imagine going into a club and seeing a band like them do that live; a bunch of guys in their early twenties. They may have been forever deemed unfashionable by the standards of the great punk myth that has long held itself alone as the champion and savior of real rock and roll but it doesn't take a fan to feel the visceral power of Yes at their peak.

Very well put.

It's great to read such unanimity of opinion concerning a band that I really loved back in the early/mid seventies. I saw them live at the Spectrum in Philly numerous times and consider myself lucky. My brother turned me on to them in `72, and for that I'm grateful. A couple of years ago my wife and I saw Rick Wakeman doing more or less a standup act at one of the casinos in A.C. He was great, telling interesting and humorous stories, and of course displaying his brilliance on keyboards. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I didn't know it was he who played the beautiful piano part on Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken". Thanks for reminding me of some great music. BTW Chet, what part of the Jersey shore do you call home?

Edited to add:
I hate you Joel ! Those two acoustic numbers by Steve Howe are about as cool as it gets; I couldn't figure them out in a million years! Hat's off to you. with envy.
Michael

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by chet

Also on that song Steve Howe's guitar playing on the "Wurm" section- was that a chorus pedal?

Phase shifter. Often a twelve-string in concert during the 70's.

[Five Finger Fender Fiend]

Yes has a new DVD out also. It was pretty cheap at $14.99 at Borders but I didn't pick it up.

I bought it and it's brilliant. It's called "YES-Live at Montreaux 2003". If you
love Yes, you love this DVD. (I only paid £9.99 a month ago)

[kludge]

I think discovering Yes my freshman year of college was one of my greatest discoveries in music. The Yes Album is one of those albums I've gone through listening to EVERY DAY for some stretch of my life.

Although to sidetrack the thread a bit, I think King Crimson was an even greater band than Yes, and In the Court of the Crimson King was a better and more important work than even The Yes Album. And as adventuresome as Yes was, King Crimson was more so. They rocked harder and took bigger chances - which is why Bill Bruford left Yes for King Crimson. The Fripp-Bruford-Wetton era of King Crimson produced some of the most intelligent and daring rock music ever done.

And although I'm sure it'll horrify some, I think Robert Fripp was a better guitarist than Steve Howe. Although Howe was fluent in more styles than ANYONE, Fripp was fluent at all the stuff no one else had ever played. Dig something like Red, or Fracture... just amazing. He's expressing emotions you didn't know existed.