YES

Yes first album is quite pleasant and, given the time it was released, very promising and interesting. I guess most fans did not follow Yes discography chornologically and seeing this way, this CD may sound weak compared to such massive classics like The Yes Album or Close To the Edge. But that´s unfair. It was s solid, good start for an young and unknown act. It was obvious the band wa still trying to find their sound, you can tell their influences here very clearly (notably, The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel). And yet, they were able to write good, different and interesting songs.

The centerpiece of the Yes sound here is Survival. This mini epic showed how strong and original songwriters they would become in a few years and it´s a good display of the group´s tighness as a band. Jon Anderson´s trademark angelic vocals are already developed and are one of the highlights on this LP. Another personal favorite is Looking Around (great hammond organ on this one!). The bold arrangements for I See You is another good feature. Other than those, the remaining songs are nice, but just that. It was a tentative period and the group did release a strong debut for the time.

I have a soft spot for this first release. It is far from perfect: it´s more like a blueprint for bigger things to come. It´s a chance to see one of the greatest groups of rock history on its infancy. And you can see they were special from day one.