YES

The first one CTTE is the main dish in the menu, maybe an excellent opening for an amazing album it could be the final track too. I dont want to say all the sections step for step because everyone have done it, i will say just a little phrase for this one : " If you want to know about prog, you need to listen CTTE... Amazing suite"

Then we have the second track, on it we can see clearly the folk influence specially in the intro of the song, it includes sweets armonics made by Steve, maybe this track is the weakest one in the album at least for me but i love the song is an essential part in the album and i want to say this song is not a filler all the album is essential.

And finally Siberian... wow the main riff is just incredibly, it has a magic from hard-rocky scene but its prog, the bass has a funky sound and all the song is amazing . I love it.

Well i know this album is overrated but this album deserve this category because is an essential piece of knowledge and mature ideas in the band. Maybe this is highest peak for Yes but i like others albums too. Maybe in others reviews. Classic, Epic, Amazing , Sweet and of course a must-have it addition for any prog colletion.

Highly recommend!!

Yes must have known they were in a big predicament in the wake of this record. And I sort of use the word ''wake'' as an accidental pun because Wakeman is who Yes lost...again between TORMATO and DRAMA. While Yes have and could survive without Wakeman, losing Jon Anderson had to have been a low blow to Yes fans circa 1980, as the voice and creative mind was cospicuously absent for DRAMA. But, lo and behold, the Buggles are here to save the day and give Yes one last prog hurrah!

There are plenty of progheads who don't like the idea of an MTV pop band merging with Yes, or for that matter, any Yes album without Jon. And I'll be honest, it has lost a bit of luster over time, but the sound here is very fresh compared to what TORMATO spewed out. Downes's keyboards don't sound too strange or out-of-place, and the bass has this great phased(?) sound that is brought to the forefront; I'm not an acoustics expert, but I like the DRAMA bass under phase(?) as opposed to the TORMATO swamp water bass.

''Machine Messiah'' is the track of which Yes are trying to win prog fans back with; a heavy guitar thing in the beginning leads to spirals of grandiose keyboard-led passages, sombre acoustic moments, jumpy basslines and the great vocal harmonies Yes is well known for. I must say Trevor Horn does a good job of fitting in, but meshing with Squire's voice so well is something I didn't expect but am glad happened. At ten plus minutes, it should already whet your prog appetite.

The other songs aren't too shabby either, particularly showcasing Downes and Squire. Bass lines are the name of the game on ''Tempus Fugit'' and ''Does It Really Happen'' as both are propelled by them and everything on top is just bonus to me. ''Into the Lens'' has a very theatrical type of sound if ''theatrical'' can be used to describe music. Even as short of a track as ''White Car'' has a little magic to it (courtesy of Steve Howe guitars). Only ''Run Through the Light'' sounds weak as I hear the limitations of Trevor Horn's voice; Horn also plays bass here and it's noticeable as it sounds more like a trombone rather than a typical Squire bass.

Eddie Offord taking engineering range is a huge benefit for Yes as I have recently come to realise how important he was into bringing out the best in the instrumentation, especially the bass guitar. And hey, Roger Dean does the cover for this album, so there's plenty of Yes elements here. The lineup might not be classic, but the sound is; a rare example of how new wave and prog rock can go side by side effectively.

Last words: There are plenty of bonus tracks, but the two that I like are the first two right after the original album ends. They showcase what Yes could've been as an instrumental trio, but suffer in terms of production.

The Yes men (Anderson, Howe, Squire, White) were excellent and after 30 plus years, they were much better then I expected. The orchestra added shading and color to the sound. Keyboardist Tom Brislin was way more then solid. The sound was top notch and the video gave many looks of all of the parties in wonderful quality without being overly busy. If you wanted to nitpik, Steve Howe seemed like he just wanted to be left alone and did not interact with anyone, but that man can play. I've had the disk for a couple of months now and I have to say it is in the top handful of music DVD that I have ever seen and heard. It may be the top.

A strong 5 stars.

Most of the songs on the album are actually surprisingly good IMO. It´s only The Calling and Walls with their AOR influenced sound that don´t appeal much to me. Songs like State of Play, the epic Endless Dream and especially my favorite on the album Real Love really gave me a good listening experience. While the album isn´t overtly progressive there are sections here and there that keeps the album interesting. The vocal harmonies are as present as ever and I´m actually quite impressed by Jon Anderson and Chris Squire on this album. The musicianship is excellent and the compositions are generally of high quality on the album.

While this is by no means Yes most interesting or memorable effort to date, it´s a pretty good album and a 2.5 - 3 star rating is deserved. Some albums end up surprising you and Talk did that to me.

I've always been in the school of thought that the finale of Yes' epic 'The Gates Of Delirium,' entitled 'Soon' was one of the most beautiful things the band has ever done in their entire career. While it's nice to have that section of the epic on it's own for individual consumption, it's suprising to see how much is taken away from the song once it's context is taken away. Still, very aesthetic and moving. Bottom line is that it's better on 'Relayer,' though.

Having a radio edit of 'Sound Chaser' is pretty funny, to be honest. At it's original 9 minute length, there were too many musical ideas in it to sound cohesive at all, and that really hurt it's original album for me. While I appreciate the effort trying to clean up that mess, it doesn't work for me.

Finally, the Roundabout performance is nice; something to attract the 'casual' listener. Still, nothing worth the purchase of the EP. The music is good for the most part, but it's best to stick to 'Relayer' and leave this forgotten release alone.

In the two albums prior to releasing this one, Yes had proved they were talented, but there was nothing to give them concrete influence in the world of rock music. Having not had very much sucess, the record label gave the band a very clear ultimatum; release something that will get noticed, or the deal is off. Indeed, it was a very precarious moment for the band; but in their desparation, something really great was made; as is seen in their self-titled third record, the 'Yes Album.'

While this does show a band reaching their potential, this is by no means the peak of their career. It was but the beginning of a very inspired period for the band, ending several years later with 'Going For The One.' Some of the most well-known Yes material is on here, and even the casual listener who lived through the 70's will recognize the hooks of classics like 'I've Seen All Good People' and 'Starship Trooper.'

Upon the first few listens of the record, I enjoyed them more than I enjoyed any of the true masterpieces initially. The 'Yes Album' is alot more instantly gratifying than their more progressive classics like 'Close To The Edge' and especially the massive 'Tales From Topographic Oceans.' With the more abstract work heard in other albums, it could take listen upon listen to hunt out the subtle nuances, but with this; almost everything comes out at you after two or three listens. This has positive and negative consequences, because while it doesn't demand much of the listener while still being interesting, there isn't that same satisfaction one gets when an album finally 'hits' them.

Consider it symphonic prog with a heavy pop influence or not, this is the album that saved Yes, and gave them a chance to make some of the best symphonic prog ever performed. For that, we must be grateful.

Yes's music is a delicate balance between wit and madness, between musical intensity and annoying virtuosity. For me they sit right on the edge that divides progressive rock between genius and kitsch. On one side I would put emotive prog with a strong focus on songs and lyrical content such as Genesis, Porcupine Tree or Van Der Graaf. On the other side sits music that does not connect with me anymore, such as Tormato, post-'72 ELP, Transatlantic, some of Dream Theater's albums and so on.

After the Floyd and Genesis, Yes was one of the first bands I came to love as a teenager, with CTTE as absolute Yes favorite: a perfection of the ambitions of progressive rock, both gripping in its emotive intensity and dazzling by the musical performance that each member put in. I'd say that the reason why CTTE stands out above their other albums is the tight collective that they form here: all of them must have realized that they were at the very boundary of the rock format and all of them put in their very best:

Next to Rush's Peart and Lee, Bruford and Squire had always been the most attractive rhythm section in the world for me and so they are on CTTE. Another main asset of my Yes enjoyment is the lyricism and sense for melody of Jon Anderson, and has he ever shone brighter then here? On the other hand, Howe and certainly Wakeman tend to take Yes to the 'wrong side' of my edge, but not here. Howe shines throughout and I'd even call Wakeman's mellotron-moog passage 4 minutes into And You And I as one of the high points of Progressive Rock.

Bruford stated in interviews that he felt to have taken his drumming on CTTE as far as he could within the Yes format. Well that goes for the entire album I think. Yes had taken rock as far as one possibly could. This is one of the defining moments of progressive rock.

"Owner of a Lonely Heart" is a song that I thought I would never hear Yes do. It's a good pop song but it is so different from the normal sound we hear from them. I want to hear more Rickenbacker on this track, and other than Jon's voice, it dosen't sound like Yes. "Hold On" is an alright song, kind of inspirational sound, but I really don't catch the lyrics very well. The bass can actually be heard on this song! I knew that Chris Squire could pull out a good bass sound on this album, even though the album isn't amazing. "It Can Happen" has a very nice intro, but that about it. The drums on this track are very nice and the bass is good, but the vocals don't make me feel right when listening, and the music isn't that great when I listen really closely. "Changes" again, has a nice intro, but the rest of it is slightly boring. It's a very upbeat song, but it really isn't so uplifting with it's keyboards and it's odd bassline. "Cinema" is a short instrumental, and won a grammy. It's a farily interesting track with some nice guitar playing, for sure a nice solo. It's very much on the poppy song, but has some very nice drums on this track. Chris plays with the effects on this track with the bass, and it really comes out very well. No bass solo. It kind of fades into "Leave It" which is a boring song, but has a nice intro, but the rest of the song just dosen't cut it. it's like most of the songs on here, nice intro, but the rest is terrible. "Our Song" has some really nice keyboards in the beginning, for sure. Not too long after, the rest of the band joins in with som really upbeat and uplifting playing, and it truely is our song. "City of Love" is okay, odd intro, okay much, but overall it's a fairly forgetable track because it just dosen't latch onto your attention. Lyrics aren't good at all, to me at least. "Hearts" is the longest track and is fairly poppy like the rest of the album. I don't care for the intro because it gets a bit annoying with the happy noises by the keyboards and percussion instruments, but the vocals are nice by Jon. I don't like Trevor Rabin's voice at all, thats why this track never stands out.

Besides one good track, this is a forgetable album. One star, sorry Yes.

"No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" is a great tune. Nice orchestra, though it dosen't really flesh out the sound, it just seems to override the sound of the band, this is a good opener. Very good lyrics and Chris plays some great basslines. The organs are distorted, as usual with Tony. "Then" is has a quiet opener with some odd chords played by Peter bands, though the organs are nice. The bassline is loud and distorted as usual, thanks Chris. The vocals are very nice on this song, and Bill starts to play really well on this track, very complex drum part. The orchestra really opens this song out, and it's a lovely track you just can't skip. "Everydays" is a bit of a boring song for me. It seems to be the Yes standard, but more about love, and you can hear Jon going his lowest on a note. Nice soft vocal harmonies, but this song is just too uninteresting for me. "Sweet Dreams" starts with a cool upbeat sound, nice bassline, great guitar, nice keyboards, and the vocals are great. Bill plays a very solid beat from start to finish, never sounding dull. It's a nice sound on this track, but the orchestra dosen't help the sound on this track. "The Prophet" is the most progressive on this album, sounding a lot like Uriah Heep with the keyboards. The lyrics are imaginitive, and they fit well with the sound. The orchestra makes this track awesome, making it so progressive to the ears. Dirty and distorted bass by Chris squire, excellent track for bass. "Clear Days" is a ballad type of song, a bit boring, nice piano, but it dosen't seem to carry through me very well like some of the other songs. "Astral Traveller" is another good track, starts with an odd guitar riff fading in loud. The drums and bass rythym section is great on this track, Bill is playing a really good thing. The lyrics are very nice on this track. "Time and a Word" is the best closer that I have heard, ever. The bassline is tender and great, I just get a great feeling from this track. I don't know why, the acoustic guitar is just really nice.

This album is solid, though lacks in cosistancy. This deserves a 4 stars because it's farily progressive, but not as great as their other albums that they would release.