YES

This album shocks me. Yes had not yet found the more progressive identity they owned by their third album, and so this album makes for a more simple listen. Still, this LP is a great one. 'Beyond and Before' starts the album with some funky hard-rock stuff and great harmonic vocals. I love every aspect of this song. It brings me such joy to hear Yes before they got into the crazy epics (not that I'm against them) and other complicated stuff. 'I See You' is very jazz-forward. I love this song. There's an amazing instrumental improvisational middle section that just adds even more beauty to this wonderful song. After the section ends there's an absolutely insane guitar explosion. This song is just phenomenal. 'Yesterday and Today' opens with some delicate piano and Anderson vocals and stays that way. This song is beautiful. Comparable to 'Onward'. I just wish it was longer. 'Looking Around' is a great song with great vocals, guitar, and virtually everything else. On side two is 'Harold Land'. It takes a while for lyrics to be introduced, and I have no problem with that. This song has great lyrics that tell a story about a man who went off to war for two years and returned home unhappy and destroyed from his military service. The melody rapidly changes, and this along with many other elements in this song made this track like the precursor to the Yes epic. I love this song, and it is one of my favorite Yes songs ever. 'Every Little Thing' (yes, a Beatles cover) takes a while to build until the main melody begins. This is a great rendition of a Beatles classic, and I love its inclusion on this album. 'Sweetness' is a great little love song, one of the only ones that I truly love (part of the reason that I like prog: more complicated topics and less lovey-dovey stuff). 'Survival', the album closer, is also quite jazzy. Instrumentation is delicate and pretty. Vocals are soft and lilting. Lyrics are beautiful and powerful. A beautiful ending to a great album. Highly, highly recommend.

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