Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Yes - Relayer CD (album) cover

RELAYER

Yes

 

Symphonic Prog

4.38 | 3474 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Warthur
Prog Reviewer
5 stars Relayer is an album that took a while to grow on me, but at this point I think it ranks amongst the best work Yes have done. It's hard to get into at first, and I suspect many listeners are turned off by the opening to Gates of Delirium, which is extremely abrasive and chaotic by the band's standards, but after giving it some attention I've come to appreciate the song's structure, beginning as it does with some of their most complex work before the "battle" sequence resolves and the close of the song presents some of the most beautiful work Yes have ever done. The "Soon" section and Steve Howe's wonderful guitar solo during it, in particular, represents the closest classic-period Yes came to mainstream (if a bit New Agey) classic rock, and it's gorgeous. (For that matter, most of Steve's guitar solos are fantastic this time around, making this a great album for Howe fans.)

The second sides repeats this chaotic and experimental/soothing and beautiful structure, with Sound Chaser presenting a jazz workout and To Be Over closing the album with some of the most accessible stuff Yes had produced since Fragile. I don't think Yes could have pushed on in this increasingly-experimental direction indefinitely, and the break before returning with the much more accessible Going For the One was an excellent call on their part, so Relayer acts as the capstone of the first phase of their career; I can scarcely imagine how they could have done better.

Warthur | 5/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this YES review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.