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Yes – The Yes Album

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What does it sound like?:

I was thirteen when The Yes Album came out, but I only really became aware of it, and the band, a year or two later when all of my mates suddenly seemed to be listening to Yes, ELP, Genesis et al. I remember being dragged along to see them around the time of Tales of Topographic Oceans. However I don’t think I have ever knowingly heard a Yes record all the way through. As far as I was concerned in the 70s Yes were the acme of pompous prog rock with its classical pretensions and sub Tolkein and Lewis Carroll lyrics. Needless to say, the fact that I had never listened to them properly was no impediment to my trenchantly holding this view.

Anyway in recent years I have occasionally scoured the Spotify vaults to catch up with ‘classic’ albums and artists which have somehow eluded me thus far. Tonight it has been the Yes Album. And bugger me if it isn’t a much much more enjoyable listen than I expected.

There are only six tracks, but there is far less endless keyboard nonsense than I expected (maybe that came later with Rick Wakeman?). Even when extended to ten minutes there are recognisably melodic and really quite conventional folk rock songs here.

Time and again the band I was reminded of was Crosby Stills Nash (and sometimes Young). On reflection this shouldn’t be a surprise given that CSN&Y were just about the biggest band in the world in 1970 when this was recorded, but I’ll admit it wasn’t what I expected. In particular, many of the melodies, vocal mannerisms and effete lyrics are particularly reminiscent of Graham Nash(on I’ve Seen All Good People, or Perpetual Change, for example). Unfortunately Jon Anderson’s somewhat reedy singing doesnt have the heft and character I’d like. But I do give him bonus points for allowing his East Lancs burr to come through from time to time.

It’s the musicianship that really stands out on first listens, in particular newcomer to the band Steve Howe who at different times sounds like Hendrix, Page, Young, Jansch and others whilst always sounding like he has his own voice – his work lifts every track. And the rhythm section of Bill Buford and especially Chris Howe is terrific. Another echo is of early Steely Dan, except Can’t Buy A Thrill came after this. Surely the Dan weren’t influenced by Yes?

I’ve only listened two and a half times, and maybe it palls after a while. But first impressions are of a surprisingly (to me) fresh, lively and imaginative record.

What does it all *mean*?

I don’t know, but I’m enjoying the ride

Goes well with…

An open mind

Release Date:

Might suit people who like…

If you like late 60/ early 70s West Coast rock and pop you might find things to like in this

1

Comments

  2. Yes! What an album!

    This is indeed the album to win over Yes-skeptics. The songs are muscular and relatively short, compared to the prog indulgences to come.

    When I hear that guitar solo kicking in during Wurm, all is right with the world.

    If you like this and want to get into the slightly less proggy and slightly funkie Yes, I suggest you give Going For The One a go next….

        • Second row. It wasn’t that loud but because we were so close we were hearing the guitar directly from Steve Howe’s amp rather than the PA mix, which sounded a little odd/disembodied at times. I was also close enough to notice a few guitar fluffs early on in the set, but the music is so complex, who can blame him.

      • We went to the Royal Albert hall for that concert, having spent a lot of our youth listening to Yes – I found it hugely moving and wonderful – think I shed a tear at one point, absolutely fantastic. I was very impressed when Steve Howe managed to play 3 guitars in one song.

  4. Great album and a great intro to the band. Rick Wakeman typically improved TB’s keyboard parts live, I think – you can have too much Hammond organ. That run from TYE to CTTE, taking in Yessongs – superb!

    • By TB, I presume you mean Tony Kaye, the keyboard player on The Yes Album. I love the keys and especially the Hammond on this. I can’t imagine Starship Trooper without it. I have the original on vinyl and it’s a wonderful record. The bass rumble on Yours Is No Disgrace drives the whole thing forward. The songs, as has been said, are melodic, with a wide variety of styles on show. Steve Howe says that when he came on board for this album, he threw in all his Chet Atkins and Django stuff and they went yeah, ok, go for it.

  5. The Yes Album was the one that got me hooked. Especially the mentioned Würm sequence in Starship Trooper. Fragile was quite poppy I felt ‘Roundabout’ etc and coasted along.

    Relayer is the one though. Prog jazz. Patrick Moraz should’ve hung around a bit longer

  6. In 1970 I was yet to discover any music that hadn’t been in the charts. In August 1971 everything changed for me when the top 10 suddenly featured Curved Air, The Temptations, T Rex, Family, Hurricane Smith, John Kongos, Curtis Mayfield, Dave/Ansell Collins, The Who and (for me most significantly) Atomic Rooster. Possibly still the best top 10 ever. My world turned upside down. I spoke to my older cousin’s boyfriend to enquire about these bands. He immediately loaned me an absolute trove of vinyl. It took me weeks to work my way through it all. After about 3 weeks of listening to music whenever I was awake and not at school I came across The Yes Album. The opening chords of Yours is no disgrace changed my life forever.
    Over the years I’ve had years with no Yes and then I rediscover and listen for a while. This is the album that I return to time and again. If I could play guitar I would walk into any pub, play The Clap and walk out without speaking. I’m not sure how often I’ve seen them live over the decades, mainly I’ve been enticed by Rick re-engaging, but in 2014 was persuaded to see a Rickless Jonless version of the band simply because they played The Yes Album in its entirety – this is now available on DVD (Like it is – Yes at the Bristol hippodrome). It wasn’t the same but I’m still glad I went, particularly as we lost Chris Squire last year. I’m assuming that this is the same tour that JC references above.
    This will always be in my top 10 albums of all time. I don’t get all of the comparisons in the OP but thanks sincerely for reviewing. I think I need to dig out the SD card that it currently lives on so that my car can once again wonder who all the good people actually are.

    • THIS! THIS! THIS!

      August 1971: the best month in the history of Western Music? FACT.

      In all my time on the good ship Afterword I have never read a post with which I am more in accord.

      The Yes Album is in the top 10 albums of all time? FACT.

        • Nice post corg.

          For the record, I saw the Three Albums Tour at the New Theatre, Oxford on April 29, 2014.

          The second show (where the photos were taken) was in Perth, W. Australia, November 12, 2014

          • Mine was the Bristol show that features on the DVD. I must admit I still find Jon Davison’s impersonation of Anderson a little disconcerting. Nothing actually wrong but I found him a little too convincing at times so I felt that I was watching some weird time experiment in which the musicians had aged normally but the singer had been frozen 30 years ago. Odd.

            • I’ve thought about this a lot. Getting a tribute band singer into the real band is a strange business, but it makes sense in a lot of ways.

              For example, I stopped listening to Marillion after Fish left because it became a very different band. It’s a fine line between keeping the band fresh and relevant and pleasing the punters with what is essentially the ultimate tribute band.

              Perhaps because I haven’t listened much to the Yes albums released after 1980, I’ll always prefer to hear a Jon Anderson sound-alike out front. But it’s a delicate balance, I admit.

              • Totally agree and have a similar frame of reference in terms of years. At times during the gig I closed my eyes and everything was fine and then I’d open them and bang there’s young Jon again. I don’t even think it was the vocals, more the way he moves.

  7. I actually think this is my favourite Yes record. I only really like this, Fragile and Close To The Edge. After that I think it all becomes too segmented, as in written in sections with apparently random changes in time signature to join the dots – this is exactly what I don’t care for in prog as a genre. The Yes Album has a more organic and rocking quality thanks to Tony Banks and his Hammond organ. I actually saw TB’s last show with Yes at the Crystal Palace Garden Party in (I think) September 1970. It wasn’t great as the bloody big lake separating stage and audience made it a very distant experience unless you went swimming (as indeed some freaks did).

    Best thing about The Yes Album is the phasing. The ping pong guitar solos are glorious. (See also Lucky Man by ELP and most of Jimi Hendrix and the Experience LPs). Why oh why did this cheap and cheesy but so dramatic effect go so out of fashion? Stereo was invented for a purpose.

  8. There’s clearly some confusion in the ranks as to the name of The Yes’s original keyboard player, created perhaps by the fact their original guitarist was called Peter Banks.
    Tony Kaye, for it was he, is responsible for the waves of Hammond on the early Yes records.
    The person known as Tony Banks played for another progressive rock group

        • Sorry, didn’t mean to be pedantic. We all make typos.

          Good review btw. As for whether it will pall, it hasn’t for me. I’ll take The Yes Album and Fragile to the grave. They are two halves of a perfect pair.

            • Totally agreed. I Think that the series bookended by Fragile and Relayer are the albums that leave non-Yes fans scratching their heads (or covering their ears). The Yes Album is alltogether more accessible and yet still features many of the complex pieces of music that us fans love.
              Having listened again today I’ve noticed one more thing. The Fragile to Relayer series are clearly of an era. The Yes Album is much harder to pin down. I’m not suggesting that it sounds modern but neither does it sound 1970. Time and a Word is also from 1970 and very much sounds like that is when it was created. The Yes Album is as close to timeless as 70’s prog gets.

  11. Good review.if you heard Topographic first I am not surprised you were put off. A complete bag of shit. The albums before were all excellent and some of what came after but that was most definitely their nadir. I have their complete album box set which features bonus tracks and was a bargain £27 or thereabouts quite recently.

  14. Prog is not my home ground at all, and own barely a handful of albums from this genre. But The Yes Album is one, and had it in on in the car recently and yes it is a great album and the one to hand out to non-believers (like me).

  15. Good review and I feel moved to play it soon as I get home. I’ve always said the “endless keyboards ” cliché doesn’t really apply to Yes – they were very arranged and the solos are pretty short and concise.

  16. Thanks for all the comments thus far from people who actually know and love this music. My review really is a complete first impression, so apologies for any ignorance it shows in terms of Yes’s music, influences and songwriting.

    This is an object lesson for me in not allowing completely ill informed prejudice to rule my listening and my musical opinions. I think – at least I hope – I do that less now than I did when I was in my teens and twenties. ‘Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now’.

  18. Videos of early Yes performances always catch me unawares a bit.
    I’m usually expecting a laid-back, airy-fairy, noddley sort of sound, but no. Not at all. I’m surprised every time by what a rigorous, driving, rockin’ sort of noise they made. Good stuff.

  19. Just listened to it for the first time ever (I think, although some tracks are familiar ) and I’m afraid it didn’t really do it for me. I really did try, honest guv! It’s not a concious anti-prog thing, but my mind just wanders off and it doesn’t engage me. I actually do own a Yes album – Time And A Word – which I really like, so I don’t know what the problem is!

      • I don’t, but I will….if ‘spin’ is appropriate for Spotify? I do think that coming to it new is totally different to returning to it – it just sounds so….well, how can I be polite….’of its time’..? Not picking on Yes, and I’ve said this elsewhere, but I have so much stuff here that I do enjoy and don’t have time to play, that trying hard to like something seems a bit futile. Anyway…an interesting experience!

        • I agree Nigel. I found early Beach Boys, Dylan, Zombies, almost all 80s music and much more almost unlistenable at first. I guess the tunes either get you through that barrier of contemporary production or they don’t. For me, Tony Kaye’s Hammond sound is the one of the things that I found dated TYA. But there’s also the CSNY harmonies and Beatles-style harmonic shifts. Might be worth a replay one day…

  20. Always been ups and downs with Yes. I bought their second album, Time And A Word, perfectly enjoyable, their sweep and vision already obvious and how they locked together on meticulous arrangements. And they were “underground”, album artists, but clearly had melodies and pop sensibility That rhythm section of Squire and Bruford was also mixed high enough to hear them clearly driving the music forward.

    The Yes Album was still a step upwards. Everything had sharpened up, the material (=tunes) better than before, the concision laser beam-like. And they had a new guitar player with a point to prove. Yes the lyrics were bollocks but this was an instrumental band. A band at the top of their game? Definitely.

    Fragile had a new keyboard guy with a point to prove. Good album, not great like the previous one, a downward step. The problem was their Ummagumma-light concept, everyone gets to do their own bit, leading to a rather disjointed album, albeit with poptastic highlights.

    Upswing on the next, Close To The Edge. A breathtaking, magnificent piece of work but now we had entered side-long territory and many of your prog stereotypes start here. This record battles it out with The Yes Album for the title Yes’s Greatest.

    Serious downswing on the next album, Tales Of Topographic Oceans. Overlong, sprawling, rambling, it dispensed with the concision which had been such a feature of the band, I’ve never made friends with it. OOAA.

    Surprisingly, an upswing and a regrouping on Relayer. Another keyboard player, another drummer (already joined for Tales), Yes were taut and adventurous again, and this is a great album, probably their 3rd best.

    But Tales had spoiled the party for me. I stopped buying their albums then. The ones I do have, I still play. So @Blue Boy, your next steps should be CTTE and Relayer. Followed by all the other first seven albums*(the very first, Yes, is a bit weak on good songs but strong on 60s West Coastishness). Followed by whatever came after that..

    * not Tales obviously until you’re good and ready.

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