RELAYER

I never considered myself a true Yesfan and that has to do with the few masterpiece tracks they have produced over the years. Even in their highlight years (70's of course) they composed less than 10 really good songs for my taste. And that's far less than Genesis for instance and I'm not even a real Genesisfan either so that explains.

It's also clear with this album to me. Gates of Delirium is a fantastic epic but the other two are hardly worth mentioning to me. And I gave them a fair try recently to convince me of the opposite but they haven't succeeded. To be Over and Sound Chaser are obviously not two of the 10 songs I was talking about. Gates of Delirium on the other hand is a convincing rival for Close to the Edge as best Yessong ever ! This composition is more complex and almost more brilliant too but that is a tough call. Both epics will never tire or disappoint me no matter how often or in which mood I will listen to them. And there are not many songs that have the same effect on me so we are talking about the highest standard here.

And because of that greatness it fully compensates the two weaker tracks for me and makes me decide for 4 stars in the end.