YES - Relayer (1974)

Gates of Delirium is colosal. And even more so the Symphonic Live version.

In the sometimes Fragile working relationship of YES where tensions are often Close to the Edge of tearing the band apart, there was an almost constant Relayer race of band members coming and going. Rick Wakeman couldn't wait for the lengthy recording of the previous Topographic Oceans album To Be Over and done with, the laborious recording process having nearly driven him to The Gates of Delirium. In the ensuing Drama, Rick's departure would herald the arrival of Swiss Refugee and keyboard wiz Patrick Moraz for the recording of the Relayer album, when Heaven & Earth would have to be moved to persuade Rick Wakeman to return for the Going for the One re-Union album in 1977. Moraz would later go on to be a Days of Future Passed member of The Moody Blues, where it would subsequently take a costly and seemingly interminable court case to decide whether he was ever a full-time member of the Moodies, or just a jobbing keyboard player for hire. In the months leading up to the recording of the Relayer album, there was even Talk of Vangelis joining YES, but his unwillingness to travel and various other complications led to Moraz being hired instead. Relayer contained three lengthy pieces of music, including a side-long epic, but a shorter single edit from the album would Soon turn out to be one of their best-known and best-loved songs.