THE YES ALBUM

No question that this is my favorite Yes album, hands down. It contains their very best songs. Sensational from beginning to end. Many others point to Close to the Edge or Fragile as their best, but no, this is the one. For me, that side one combo of Yours is No Disgrace, Clap, and Starship Trooper is just flat out better than the sidelong epic of Close to the Edge, and the closer Perpetual Change is one the most underrated gems of their whole catalog. The intricacy and precision in the way that they build songs and performances is just sensational. Starship Trooper, in particular, is such a masterpiece of writing and performing, and Steve Howe's solo performance of the acoustic guitar impossibility Clap, is just mindblowing. Then you have fantastic vocals of Jon Anderson shining through and the vocal harmonies on Your Move, Yours is No Disgrace, and others, and Chris Squire's epic bass playing throughout. Yes, this is before Rick Wakeman joined, so we don't get his keyboard virtuousity that would come in the next few albums, but Tony Kaye does just fine here, and the songs here are just better than anything they did after this, and represent one of the best progressive rock albums ever.