RELAYER

YES`S heaviest album. An underrated album, it is my second favourite YES`s album (the first is "Going for the One", and the third is "Close to the Edge"). This album has the most difficult drum parts played by Alan White in YES. Chris Squire`s bass sounds like "thunder" sometimes. Steve Howe played very heavy guitars, with "strange" scales and "high speed" lead guitars. Patrick Moraz played very good solos, as heavy as Howe`s, and Moraz is a very good keyboard player, at the same level as Wakeman or Emerson. It seems that Anderson also was in one of his "heaviest" periods, because his lyrics for "The Gates of Delirium" are a description of the contrasts between war and peace. "The Gates of Delirium" begins like the pre-war tension, like "speechs" against the enemy, first as threats, and then as a declaration of war. The war`s musical description begins with the heaviest part of the song, were White`s heavy drums and Squire`s strong bass are the "ground" were Moraz and Howe do their heavy solos. This instrumental section increases in tension (including the sounds of broken glasses and other musical effects) until the tension explodes into apparent tranquility, until the hope of the "Soon" section appears, ending this song with a sense of "new meaning to life". Here, Moraz and Howe create "atmospheres", and Howe`s steel guitar solo is accompanied by a very good mellotron arangement. "Sound chaser" is another "heavy" song, which begins with Moraz`s piano (a Fender Rhodes?) playing accompanied by White`s drum breaks. This song also has very difficult drum parts, and Howe plays "strange scales". Like "The Gates...", It`s "crazy", in places. "To be over" is melodic, peaceful, also ending with a sense of hope. Despite being an underrated album, I consider it a very good example of Progressive Rock Music. The cover is one of their best, too. But I have to say that the 1994 remastered C.D. has the end of the "Gates" and "To be over" cut by some seconds in comparison to the L.P. (the keyboard`s last note is longer in the L.P.). The C.D. sounds better in general, but the seconds cut in the end of these songs really spoil the enjoyment of the songs, in my opinion. I prefer the L.P. I hope that the recently remastered C.D. with bonus tracks has this mistake corrected.