THE YES ALBUM

I had originally given this album 5 stars. I got to thinking from this. I recognize that Close to the Edge is a 5-star masterpiece album. And I didn't know if I could consider this album a masterpiece. It's a tough word. The Yes Album is one of the most fantastic recordings for a band as young and as changing as Yes. This was Steve Howe's debut with Yes, and the first album before Rick Wakeman showed up. Whereas Fragile and CTTE are masterpieces, The Yes Album, methinks, doesn't fully reach that status. It kills me. It really does. I felt the same was about King Crimson's Lizard and Lark's Tongues, but this one hurts more. It's probably a 4.5 star album. But I don't round up. If it isn't five stars, it isn't five stars.

Anywho...

Yours Is No Disgrace: Yes discovers who they are. Right from the opening, it pulls you in, and then Kaye's keyboards layer over it. It builds and builds, with Jon's voice laying it on top. It, like all 8+ minute Yes songs, changes a great deal. This song, as well as three other songs on this album, could also be considered an epic. The second best song on the album.

Clap: This is a fun little Howe song, recorded live. While nice and fun, I much prefer Mood For A Day. Clap is simply a happy little ditty, but it can't compare to the atmosphere of Mood For A Day. Nonetheless, it's a fine little song, it makes me happy when I hear it.

Starship Trooper: The best song on the album. Fom the opening "Life Seeker" section to "Wurm", it's perfection in music form. Actually, "Wurm" is my favorite closing section to a song. Howe proves his songwriting skills here. The simple guitar riff is great enough, but Bruford's drums join in, and it goes and goes and goes. It is a song that's impossible to describe. Disillusionment, in the middle, picks up the pace acoustically, also.

I've Seen All Good People: As some call it, it's the mini-epic. Short (compared to some other songs), but doesn't let down. It's one of the only songs by Yes that you'll hear on the radio, but don't let that phase you. It's still a prog song. It isn't just some commercial song.

A Venture: Nice little song. However, it doesn't match up to Long Distance Runaround/The Fish. The bass here is especially nice, though, and Jon's voice, as always, is almost Heavenly. I wonder, a lot of the time, if his voice was the best in prog. I tend to think that it was.

Perpetual Change: The third best song here. Also very good live... Anywho, it does show the band playing in top form. The crazy 7/8 riff throughout the song helps it along, and the climax when it fades back into the beginning verse is fantastic. Good close to the album.

If you're a Yes fan, then you already have this. If you do not, I can't tell you to go get it, I can only say "What's wrong with you?" If you want to get into Yes, I think you should start with the main lineup of Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, and Bruford before you go into pre-Wakeman and post-Yessongs/Bruford. But, it's a classic, classic album and deserves its spot among your collection. Highly recommended. 4.5/5.

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