albums by yes

Imagine you are somewhere, whereupon you meet two beautiful women. In any case, their conscious fusion of pop and prog on Union resulted in their first truly bad record, and even the fully progressive studio material on Keys to Ascension felt far less exciting than new Yes epics rightly should have been. Since the underwhelming mess Union at the start of the decade, the band had been suffering through a crisis of identity—it wasn’t altogether clear where they could go now that the refined pop rock of 90125 and Big Generator had gone out of style. The only part of the “Fly From Here” suite that seems out of place is the aptly titled “Bumpy Ride”, an instrumental climax composed by Howe that seems intent on giving the epic a proggier flair, but lacks the tact and intensity to properly accent it. Basing a progressive epic on Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” may be tantamount to a prog cliche both now and when the album released in 1974, but Yes have by no means tied this epic to its source of inspiration. The Yes Album is the third studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 19 February 1971 by Atlantic Records. After having touched the sky and cracked upon the egg of ambition with Close to the Edge, Yes would have been in a tight spot; would they try to keep pushing their ambition somehow and risk alienating everyone, or pull back the reins and enjoy more familiar grounds? We use cookies and similar tools to enhance your shopping experience, to provide our services, understand how customers use our services so we can make improvements, and display ads. Of course, a remixing isn’t so much an improvement as it is a fresh interpretation, and there are some parts of Wilson‘s reimagining—most notably the upmixing of Howe‘s thinly performed background vocals on “I Get Up, I Get Down”—that should have been approached differently. Although Jon didn’t get his wish to record their sixth LP out in the woods with the owls and squirrels, Yes instead decorated their studio to make it look more like a farmyard. Looking at the performance credits on the album is enough to give anyone a headache; Trevor Rabin, Alan White and Tony Kaye (for example) are responsible for tracks 4, 6, 7 and 9, and their earlier counterparts are responsible for the rest. For one, it’s virtually the exact same membership as it was on Drama; one-time keyboardist Geoffrey Downes reprises his role. Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969–1970, Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome, The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection, "australian-charts.com – Discography Yes", "Yes – 9012 Live – The Solos – austriancharts.at", https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5891/charts-awards, Recording Industry Association of America, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5891/charts-awards/billboard-singles, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yes_discography&oldid=997649010, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (1970), This page was last edited on 1 January 2021, at 15:55. The disastrous collaboration of the old and new band incarnations on Union was a severe misstep, but nothing on that album was as mind-numbing and lifeless as some of the songs here. They signed with Atlantic in early 1969, and entered Advision and Trident Studios in London to record their first album. Magnification, then, is the next logical evolution in this short Yes renaissance. Yes seemed to get the message, and decided to turn their sound around for the better. Listen to music from Yes. With that inspiration having shown its end with the patchy Tormato and largely outsourced Drama however, in retrospect it makes perfect sense the band found themselves in need of some renovation. In the context of Yes‘ career as a whole, Time and a Word is a transition piece, elevating the band from the psychedelic organ rock of the self-titled into something more ambitious and nuanced—Time and a Word would start a streak of ambitious symphonic prog that would last a decade. With Going for the One, it was clear that the proggy fervour was cooling off—punk was famously being said to have killed off prog, and a zeitgeist of once progressive bands giving up their mellotrons and moogs for three minute pop songs was right around the corner. With Steve Howe‘s absence, the instrumentation sounds a world away from the “classic” Yes, and might have passed for another band entirely had it not been for Jon Anderson‘s vocals. The good intention is admittedly better than the execution itself, but it’s nonetheless impressive to hear such a young band trying to work a true-to-life symphonic layer into their music. Over the years they have released 21 studio albums, 14 live albums, 35 compilation albums, 28 singles and 22 videos. We see plenty of films where a brilliant “outside the box” madman is reduced to a docile wreck in a mental institution, be it a result of medication or a lobotomy. Someone with no idea what a mellotron or moog is will almost surely be cognizant of their hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, and it’s unlikely they would be able to hum out the first few lines. Its follow-up, Big Generator, recorded in a long and tedious process, and eventually released 4 years after its predecessor, found itself on the opposite side. Even so, the album’s greatest strength is blatantly obvious, and while I would normally condemn an album for being so one-sided in my love for it, Relayer continues to challenge and provoke me a listener. Even “Sound Chaser,” when overlooked for its obvious structural weakness, has the ability to surprise and shock more than most more conventionally structured works in prog rock. Yes and Time and a Word were solid records to be certain, but they weren’t enough to keep Atlantic records happy. I could still point the finger at any of the three albums Yes would release following this as the best of their career, but Fragile marks the band’s destined ascent into the realm of mastery. It was the band's first album to feature guitarist Steve Howe , who replaced Peter Banks in 1970, as well as their last to feature keyboardist Tony Kaye until 1983's 90125 . Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Here are the best Yes albums of all time, including pictures of the album covers when available. Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon. Listening to Tormato, I get the mental image of a band of musicians playing with their backs turned to one another- there’s the general impression they’re working together towards the same goal, but there’s no collusion or chemistry between any pair of musicians here. No. Even being the lifelong fan of this album as I am, I am not beyond calling that one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard a band do in order to ‘get in the mood’ for recording. Listening to “Close to the Edge”, it’s a granted delight to take it all in as a whole, but repeated listens have often found me focusing on one part of the performance without being any less engaged as a result. Shop The Yes Album by Yes. There are places where the string section gets overzealous (a great song is hiding somewhere in “Clear Days” for example, but the prominent string section sounds aimless) but it does give Time and a Word a unique sound—Yes wouldn’t try this again until their nineteenth album, Magnification, in 2001. 96. It’s a slice of near-perfection, and still sounds monumental over forty years since its recording. Greatness has to start somewhere, and though Yes have long since earned a place in the pantheon of prog rock legend, there was in fact a time when Yes found themselves in troubled waters. It’s surprising that so many Yes fans have never bothered to check them out. I was excited to find out what I’d think of it—after all, it couldn’t be any worse than Union… Right? The group bounced back in 2001 with the release of Magnification, but it didn’t last for so long. It’s certainly not as obvious, but it’s there. It’s this sort of artistic division that first sent Yes on the downward slope with Tormato, and Big Generator saw fit to reproduce this scenario with their pop era. A more tender acoustic piece in the style of “And You And I” or “To Be Over,” it’s one of the most beautiful things Yes have ever done. Like a well-balanced meal, there’s plenty to keep a listener busy and occupied; somehow tired of the brilliant guitar and key leads? There is a sense here that Yes are piggybacking on the tailends of the dwindling hippie movement. The logical choice, of course, would be for Yes to fall back on their proud history with prog. but—as was the case with Close to the Edge—the overture eventually consolidates itself into a firmer structure to accommodate Anderson‘s vocals. It was the band's first album to feature keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who replaced founder member Tony Kaye after the group had … I suppose Open Your Eyes makes better sense when taken into context. It’s the true definition of a grower album, and though Yes demands more here from the listener than they ever had or would again, the ultimate rewards for sticking with it are incredible. When they’re ambitious enough to emerge beyond the fold of adult-oriented rock, the orchestrations are tired and predictable. The most obvious strength in Fly From Here‘s favour is the twenty minute title suite. The record proved that a progressive band could give in to commercial pressure and still make an album with a certain artistic value. The remix is by no means flawless enough to be the new “definitive” edition of the album, but it has enough changes to warrant a check-out from veterans and newcomers alike. It’s not enough to earn a recommendation, but its enough to deserve some sort of defence against some of the “worst album ever” comments made against it. Writing a set of catchy, concise and effective tunes is potentially just as much a challenge as penning a grandiose epic; it just requires a separate set of skills. Kudos to the listing, and as a YES fan, I went into this figuring I was going to be critical. Prog Sphere is a website for devotees of progressive rock, progressive metal, jazz fusion, and ALL of its varied sub-genres. Both as an epic and as an album, Close to the Edge did not so much avert these conventions as it put a new spin on them, and took them to new heights of sophistication. Then again, their last two albums— 1971′s Fragile, and Close to the Edge from the following year—had both turned out as masterpieces, so Yes could certainly afford themselves some degree of pretentiousness. Yes is the eponymous debut studio album by English rock band Yes, released on 25 July 1969 by Atlantic Records. I’m up in the air whether the declawed anthem rock they’re going for on Open Your Eyes is worse than the first half of Talk, but Talk at least offered the amazing suite “Endless Dream” to make the grinding worth it. Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race, On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place, If the summer changed to winter, yours is no disgrace. I’ve heard that Yes felt the urge to polish their technical skills once they heard King Crimson perform; even when compared to the relatively capable debut, it’s clear that they took that challenge to heart with Time and a Word. The Keys to Ascension duology gave some strong hopes that Y… Most of Yes‘ orchestral experiments have felt superficial to me—Time and a Word only used the symphony in spurts, and the Symphonic Live orchestral renditions of classic material rarely did more than shadow the guitar and bass lines. One gets the picture of a quiet aftermath; there are no victors, none to reap the victories of warfare, none who have even survived the ordeal without deep scars, in body and soul. This was going to be the album myself and others had been waiting for. Instead of a real union, the band is just as segregated as ever; the only difference is that they’re stuck on the same disc together. From the start, “Close to the Edge” forgoes conventions that were commonplace in prog rock epics even by 1972. Even compared to their other post-70s epics, “Fly From Here” is irregular. It was inspiration and a sense of excitement in the music they were making that they had done without for so long. In his wake, there is confusion. Two included covers (of The Beatles‘ “Every Little Thing”, and the Byrds‘ “I See You”) reinforce the idea that Yes were still at a stage of emulation over innovation. Especially in the months prior to the album’s release, the band and fans were left with a question: could Yes exist without the immortal voice of Jon Anderson? No. Check out Yes on Amazon Music. Released: 1977. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. It wouldn’t be fair to call Heaven and Earth a pop rock album, although part of me would like to. Nice job. Among these ornaments were stacks of hay, archetypal white picket fences, a miniature barn, and a model of a cow with mechanical udders. I suppose Open Your Eyes makes better sense when taken into context. A few rag-tag advocates defend the album for its scope and ambition, whereas the rest cite it as a poster child for prog rock indulgence, self-importance, and idle longwindedness…. Moraz steps in for a fusion key solo towards the end, but it feels sort of underwhelming, given the context of a patchy song structure, and the brilliance the album’s first side had to offer. Even if that album’s long since lost its favour with me, I couldn’t help but feel the same sense of excitement when Heaven and Earth was announced. “I’ve Seen All Good People” even echoes the chorus to “Give Peace A Chance” at a point! This high regard was sharp contrast to the hideously sell-outish album art, which may very well be one of the least appealing covers I’ve ever seen. No. As I prepare for a rocking riff … Yes weren’t as refined circa 1970 as they would be with their canonical masterpieces, but to hear a band with such an apparent motivation to aspire and improve is a treat of its own. Find the latest tracks, albums, and images from Yes. I’ve mentioned that Close to the Edge is an album most impressive for its band-centered performance, and this remix has acknowledged those strengths and capitalized on them. Magnification I like a lot but I think there’s maybe a few others I would put a bit higher. Select Your Cookie Preferences. Yes‘ self-titled debut, along with its follow-up Time and a Word have never received a fraction of the attention their successors would foster, both then and now. Of the album’s nine tracks, only four of them might be considered self-standing songs, and only three of those (excluding “Long Distance Runaround”) feel like well-rounded prog tunes. Don’t get me wrong; Close to the Edge was as impressive as albums come, and well-deserving of its status as Yes‘ de facto “essential” album, but with Relayer, they took the formula and went somewhere even more exciting with it. Or £8.99 to buy MP3 album. For all of its twelve bar bluesy straightforwardness, “Going for the One” (the song) is incredibly dense sonically and initially struck me as being too cluttered for its own good. In combination with the in-vogue London psych rock direction, Banks‘ jazz leads gave Yes‘ debut an urbane and cultured feel. Going for the One was a final bold statement before Yes‘ quality of output began to dip; it may not have the firm sense of identity or consistency as the five records prior, but the fifteen minute titan “Awaken” alone is more than worth the price of admission. Albums by Yes Main Releases Play The Royal Affair Tour (Live in Las Vegas) Yes Play Canciones para Cuarentena Después de Cuarentena Yes Play Yes 50 Live Yes Play Live at Glastonbury Festival 2003 Yes Play Live At The Apollo Yes Play The Steven Wilson Remixes Yes Play Regardless what idealistic notions paved the way for Yes to pull this “all together now” gimmick, every defining problem on Union is a cause of the decision to merge rosters. From joining Yes, released on 15 July 1977 by Atlantic Records as... Even top five but I think there ’ s surprising that so many Yes albums don ’ t the on! The instrumentation is cutting and sharp, with strong melodies and tight musicianship ; what more could listener! S plenty enjoyable the Ladder territories are more capably explored for devotees of progressive rock was already beginning to comfortable... 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