THE YES ALBUM

This album features the track Starship Trooper. Although the lyrics are meaningless to me (as are most Yes lyrics) this track has one of the greatest moments in rock history. Not progressive rock history but rock history itself. The long build up in the section entitled Wurm and then the release which in itself is delayed (the solo comes in after the rest of the band is already rocking) is absolutely perfect. It has been copied many times since but there are very few examples of such an idea before (Stairway is the only thing that comes to mind.) Of course there are many examples of repetive droning passages but there are none that explode with such beauty combined with a power that is rarely seen anywhere and is not seen in the rest of Yes' work. For younger listeners new to this kind of music think of the coolness of Searching With My Good Eye Closed or Porcelina of the Vast Oceans where things drone on and then bang something happens. The difference is in the placement of the bang and that makes all the difference. In the songs I mentioned the bang occurs after the droning intro (impressive) but with this song after several different parts with different timing and key the band plays a simple three chord droning kind of pattern. The guitar subtley changes throughout the buildup but the bass work is what is amazing. Working off of the three chords Chris Squire taunts the listener with an array of tones augmented by very low keyboard notes (probably as low as is possible with the equipment at the time) that build the suspense. At the best possible moment after a few false starts the band rocks as it never does again. When I say rock I mean heavy rock not fast not slow but powerful in everyway. One of the limitations of everyone working brilliantly in music is that the core gets lost and thus the 'heaviness' is lost. Here Yes is heavy. The organ and the rhythm guitar keep the band centered as Steve Howe lets loose with one of the top five guitar solos of all time. Not a technically brilliant solo but a perfect solo nonetheless. The timing is the key more than the notes like the solo to Comfortably Numb. The guitar is not occupying all of the space allowing the music to breathe. Anyway, this is a magnificent album even if all of the other tracks were horrible. As they are actually very good (but not powerful in the same way) it is stupid not to own this album. The only advice I would give to a Yes newbie is that Classic Yes is a perfect album to own but it will limit you to the radio songs that Yes produced at their peak. You will get the perfection of Starship Trooper but you will miss the amazing tracks (that do not rock for the most part) that highlight their musicianship and creativity. I was not a real Yes fan (except for Starship Trooper and the obvious radio tracks like Roundabout) until I bought the albums that those tracks came from. It is truly a different beast when you here The Clap and compare it to the radio songs. I think Starship Trooper gives the listener the opportunity to sample the sound of Yes but not the core of what they are about. Unfortunately, Yes never went as heavy in their career and so if you are a Zeppelin listener the rest of the stuff maybe a little difficult to digest but it is full of great parts that are a little on the subtle side. Sorry for such a long ramble but I feel very strongly about this song. It is one of a very few that actually produce a physiological response for me. A few songs that I like have an ability to kick in my adrenalin and when it gets the the good part I get a opiate like high. So it is kind of like a drug or probably more accurately a runner's high where I get a massive tingling weird pleasure quite unlike what other songs that I love equally provide. Stairway does not do it but November Rain does for some reason. It's all build up related songs but some are subtle builds like Burden In My Hand while others are obvious like Starship Trooper. Friends of mine have a few songs that they react to in the the same or similar ways but they are always different. I think it involves some sort of emotional attachment that at least in my case is not lyrically driven but is instead driven by the realization that something in the music is absolutely perfect. For Starship Trooper it is that beautiful build but November Rain I guess it is the way the band sets up a simple and yet perfectly emotional (almost cheesy) solo. Any way, By this album.