THE YES ALBUM

After their previous two albums failed to impress me (sacrilege, I know!), it's with their third release, aptly titled 'The Yes Album', that Yes produced a record I feel is worthy of their name, with the fresh and vibrant sound that we've come to know and love finally starting to shine through.

Featuring some of the bands earliest hits, 'The Yes Album' is a milestone progressive rock album. In a day when the genre (as we know it) was still somewhat in its infancy, Yes displayed musicianship and a knack for songwriting well ahead of their time. Special praise goes to guitarist Steve Howe (check out his playing in 'The Clap') and vocalist Jon Anderson, who both put on performances that live up to the legendary status they would go on to acquire in later years.

Songs such as 'Yours is No Disgrace', live classic 'I've Seen All Good People' and 'Starship Trooper', show this to be a vastly different band than the one who'd put out 'Time and a Word' a year prior, an album I found rather dull and lackluster.

'The Yes Album' does still have moments where things tend to lull, but as a whole, this is a good release, and kicks off a string of highly-praised and successful records for the band, which would see them go on to become arguably the greatest progressive rock band of all time.