RELAYER

Being familiar with the work of Patrick Moraz from his short period in Refugee I envisaged what his less egotistical keyboards contribution to the music of Yes would produce. I wasn't let down on the album second side, beginning with Sound Chaser and finishing with To Be Over. The latter is a beautiful ballad while Sound Chaser is not only one of Yes's best songs, but one of the best songs of the whole classic 70's progressive rock era. Sound Chaser extends the jazz rock fusion experimentation of The Ancient, from 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' and pulls it in an altogether new direction. First the rhythm section of White and Squire with some of the most incredible bass lines from Chris Squire's Rickenbacker bass guitar. Then the sweet tonal quality of Steve Howe's electric guitar with an extended solo passage. Then the Moog playing of Patrick Moraz. Then back to the main rhythm section with the chanting voices that some people object to because it's not typically Yes. Finally, a fast break of Howe's electric guitar which finishes the piece off. The only reservation that I have about Sound Chaser is that I'm not sure whether it's playable live.

The whole first side is the epic war song, Gates of Delirium. The first 4 minutes or so starts well before it goes completely off the rails, then partly redeems itself in the last 4 minutes of the song with the lament of Soon. This was a major letdown for me. I acknowledge, songs about war are cacophonic displays of dissonant playing. However, the screeching sounds of Steve Howe's guitars didn't do it for me. Then again, the cannons, firing of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture didn't do it for me either.

Relayer is a difficult album to score. Within the one album it contains one of the greatest pieces of 10 minutes of music they ever wrote and one of the worst middle 10 minutes of music they ever wrote. Despite all that I would have thought that the combination of Patrick Moraz and Yes would be a match made in heaven. It's so sad for me that the relationship only lasted one album.

iluvmarillion | 3/5 | 2020-6-28

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