All YES Appreciation Thread

SonicDeath10 wrote: The Yes Album is a great album but I can understand why you have reservations about it. Some of the sections do seem to go on too long, there's more repetition than usual in an average Yes epic, and the sound is choppier and less smooth than later albums. However, all those things are things that I really like about the album and what makes it unique.   Peter Banks was a great guitar player. I think Yes would have been a great psychadelic-jazz-hard rock band with him in it, but they didn't want to go in that direction and that's the only direction he could go in, to be honest.

Well, The Yes Album was a huge transition for them. It took them from the Yes/Time and A Word era into the CTTE/Fragile/TFTO era. Therefore, it combines their early proto-prog days with their symphonic prog eras. Personally, The Yes Album may be my favorite Yes album, but I could understand what you are saying.

The Yes Album is a great album but I can understand why you have reservations about it. Some of the sections do seem to go on too long, there's more repetition than usual in an average Yes epic, and the sound is choppier and less smooth than later albums. However, all those things are things that I really like about the album and what makes it unique.

Any thoughts about The Yes album? As far as I've read in this site, it seems to be very highly rated, yet it might just as well the album I like the least. The thing is, two of the three classics included here (I've Seen all Good People and Yours is no Disgrace) just aren't up to my taste, and the other classic, Starship Trooper, well, I love that song, but I prefer by far the live versions, specially the one on Keys to ascension with the extended keyboard solo by Wakeman, that's awsome.

American Khatru wrote: Speaking of their debut and the early penchant for interesting covers, ever hear those BBC tapes from 1969?  There's a wild cover of "Something's Coming."  Don't recognize the title?  Neither did I at first, then the vocals kicked in.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu7sRdRrm_w It's Bernstein, from West Side Story!!  Nuts stuff!  (Couldn't find Yes doing it on Youtube though, sorry.)  It isn't all perfectly executed, but it's very interesting.  They went on of course to better things, but their earliest ideas were already stellar. And oh, by the way if you didn't know it, No Opportunity Necessary is a cover too, by Richie Havens.

I've got the original single of Sweetness, with Something's Coming as its B-Side - quite rare, apparently. It's mad and thoroughly enjoyable.

Speaking of their debut and the early penchant for interesting covers, ever hear those BBC tapes from 1969?  There's a wild cover of "Something's Coming."  Don't recognize the title?  Neither did I at first, then the vocals kicked in. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu7sRdRrm_w

It's Bernstein, from West Side Story!!  Nuts stuff!  (Couldn't find Yes doing it on Youtube though, sorry.)  It isn't all perfectly executed, but it's very interesting.  They went on of course to better things, but their earliest ideas were already stellar.

And oh, by the way if you didn't know it, No Opportunity Necessary is a cover too, by Richie Havens.

J-Man wrote: It's safe to say IMO that it is the best debut album ever.

Agreed. Incredibly strong debut, one of the few that have hooked me from the beginning.

I had the privilege of attending my first yes concert in July and it was fantastic! In response to Benoit lacking emotion, i honestly couldn't tell given this was my first attendance and I 've never seen Jon Anderson live. Steve Howe was the best guitarist I have ever seen, just phenomenal.Squire was the best bassist, then again I've never seen Rush or Marcus Miller but Squire's tone and lines man, i was in heaven. Alan White was very disappointing, I can see why alot of Yes fan's don't give him much credit. He can certainly play drums but going on after Carl Palmer well that's a tough act to follow. Olive Wakemen was also a let down, Why didn't they ask Geoffrey Downes to do it, he's more than capable.

Over all it was a great performance and meant alot to me given i'm a young yes fan who wasn't able to see them in the hayday.

From Time and a Word the song I like the most is... Time and a Word. However, I like it much more in the Keys to Ascension album. Wakeman's piano work there is very beautiful. However do you think the orchestration worked out in this album?

By the way, I've seen the new line-up live (unfotunatly it's the only Yes concert I've ever seen, and it's most unlikely I'll ever get a chance to see them with Jon and Wakeman, now that their health doesn't seem to be up to a whole tour again, I really doubt they'll ever choose Mexico as a country for a one special occasion, which seems to be the only way they'll ever play together live again). However, I thought Benoit did a very good job singing, perhaps he got a bit of trouble with the very highest notes. Yet, I was more troubled about his not having the very special touch of Jon's voice, some delicate beauty not easy to describe, specially since their voices are indeed very similar. I found his singing more enjoyable when it became aparent he wasn't trying too hard to soun like Jon, but rather just singing as himself. If Yes does record somethin with Benoit, I guess we might hear what he really is capable of, however I guess I'd rather have a new Yes album with Jon than with Benoit (I don't think their would be room for both of them in the same album, specially given the similarity in their voices).

Dellinger wrote: There are some songs I like in their first album (and second, which sounds kind of similar to me), and indeed the style in general of the album can be pleasant if I'm in the mood, but compared to what came later, it gets overshadowed. I was listening to the beatles Every Little Thing a few days ago, and comparing it to Yes's version, I can see how great this cover was: it is definitly the same song, all way round, but played in such a way that The Beatles surely would never have dreamed of (and who knows if they approved?). Still, the one song that I really love on that album is Harold Land, very beautiful vocals indeed. How about discussing each Yes album in order from here on? If there's nothing more to add about the debut, what would you think about the Time and a Word album?

I love the tracks Time And A Word and No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed, but they are the only two tracks I've heard.


-Joel