YES

The debut, self-titled album from Yes definitely isn't extraordinary, but it does display the band's potential for writing interesting music. This music is lightly progressive, and just good music in general. "Beyond and Before" is very uplifting and almost psychedelic poppy rock song that is sure to put anyone in a good mood. The music definitely has the creative sound of Yes, but it's mostly hidden behind a normal late-'60s English rock sound. "I See You" is a rocker with a nice swing to it and is very dance-able, and also includes a nice jazz inspired jam about half way through. I occasionally get a Canterbury Scene sound from this album. "Yesterday and Today" is an absolutely beautiful ballad, especially when compared to the ballads that Yes would make later in their career that aren't nearly as good. "Looking Around" is another psychedelic rock song and is very straight forward, but is also quite catchy and sounds like a much improved version of any song by The Who. "Every Little Thing" is an interesting Beatles cover, and I'm not familiar with the original but I found this track to be heavily Canterbury and psychedelic influenced and is really quite good and shows great guitar work. "Sweetness" is another soft ballad kind of tune, and although it isn't as good as "Yesterday and Today" it still manages to set a lovely mood with fantastic vocal lines, and the song as a whole has a Procol Harum feel to it. "Survival" starts off sounding like one of the better Jimi Hendrix tunes available, but gets jazzy before turning acoustic. This is probably the most experimental and progressive song on the album and is fantastic example of what is to come on Yes' later classic albums.

I think this album is frequently overlooked for not being as wildly experimental or progressive as later material, but I consider this to be some of the best Yes material available. It definitely is less experimental, but it's so very catchy and I feel like anyone could find this album very enjoyable if given a chance.