YES - The Yes Album (1971)
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Printed Date: November 23 2024 at 12:39
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Topic: YES - The Yes Album (1971)
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Subject: YES - The Yes Album (1971)
Date Posted: November 23 2023 at 14:25
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Every YES fan will know The Yes Album - the third album by YES and the first to feature guitarist Steve Howe - but Yours is No Disgrace if you're not a fan. In the wake of the commercial disappointment of the first two YES albums, this awesome breakthrough album soars to new stratospheric heights like a thunder Clap and with all the energy and force of a Starship Trooper! The Yes Album was the first million seller for the band, earning platinum status, but it also marked the bitter departure of their manager Roy Flynn, to which the Fragile instrumental Five Per Cent for Nothing was dedicated. Brian Lane would shortly take over the management of YES from 1971 until the end of their Drama tour in 1980, having been involved in A Venture to bring Buggles and YES together, with a mixed reception from dedicated YES fans.
The YES line-up has been one of Perpetual Change where I've Seen All Good People come and go over the years. This is the final YES album with Tony Kaye on keyboards (at least until his Dramatic return for the 90125 album in 1983), where he's soon to be replaced by Rick Wakeman for the classic Fragile album later in 1971.  1971: Yes - The Yes Album - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nY-QvLEUh8bovdW1btwUXJHE8I_W5bIbA" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nY-QvLEUh8bovdW1btwUXJHE8I_W5bIbA YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Bill Bruford; Steve Howe, Tony Kaye; & Chris Squire. Track Listing 1. Yours is No Disgrace (9:40) 2. Clap (3:16) 3. Starship Trooper (9:29) 4. I've Seen All Good People (6:55) 5. A Venture (3:20) 6. Perpetual Change (8:57) |
Replies:
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: November 24 2023 at 02:09
YES at Beat Club, Germany in 1971 and introduced by Uschi Nerke  |
Posted By: AlanB
Date Posted: November 24 2023 at 12:36
| Close To the Edge was of course their masterpiece, but if I was introducing someone to Yes I'd play them The Yes Album as I consider it more accessible to someone unfamiliar with prog. |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: November 24 2023 at 12:48
90125 was my first introduction to YES, so that'd be the most accessible YES album from my point of view. I was too young to appreciate YES at the tender age of eleven in 1971, although I was only two years away from buying my first prog album (Tubular Bells) in 1973, even though I had no idea it was prog at the time.
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AlanB wrote:Posted By: Frets N Worries
Date Posted: November 24 2023 at 18:53
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Not a huge fan of this album... I don't know why, I just never got into it, on many days I prefer Time and a Word to the Yes Album ------------- The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time... |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: November 24 2023 at 23:59
| Steve Howe is massive on this album. No quiet introduction, he practically revolutionised the band straight away. On TAAW they were still very much a left over sixties psyche band. This was a game changer. Not a perfect album it still has 3 magnificent pieces (the long ones!) but the rest is not 'throwaway' at all. Yes were showing a much more accessible side of prog which I guess pulled in a lot of fans who were less sure about the harder edged bands that were swimming around at the time. Yes succesfully married pop ideas with symphonic complexity, something ELP were not really doing and no one else for that matter either. Tull were still very blues based, Genesis were perhaps a bit lost in theatrics and literal high mindedness while Floyd represented the last knockings of psychedelic music. Yes were the 'it band' in 1971. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 07:51
Hi, I think the album makes much more sense if you pair it up with a lot of the music in 1971. With the knowledge you (and all of us!) have of today and so much music, this album will not sound as good or as interesting, despite the remastered version (which is really nice, btw ... I will admit that!) that has been released recently. To my ears, it is even better than the LP, which I bought 10 minutes after hearing one of the pieces from that album on the local radio station, yep ... spring 1971 I believe it was, and Fragile did not come out until about 4 or 5 months later! The local station in Santa Barbara, had a very good FM signal, and here is a slight listing of what was being played ... when YES was added to it: (the station was an independent FM station up until the late 70's which helped bring out so much new music and longer cuts!) ... AND REMEMBER ... IT IS ALL IN STEREO ... AM radio was mono! So you either got the album or listen to the station for the stereo. Elton John Willie Nelson Pink Floyd (Ummagumma) Bob Dylan Allman Brothers Band Jefferson Airplane The Doors Grateful Dead Santana The Who Led Zeppelin Frank Zappa Iggy and the Stooges Chicago Lou Reed/Velvet Underground Jethro Tull Spirit James Gang ... just for starters. It spread out even more in 1973 and 1974 with Guy Guden adding some incredible numbers of new things to the station. I posted, elsewhere, a listing of many of the stuff played in 1974 for example. The major thing in these listings, were that almost everything was a lot longer in terms of time. The big thing, then, was how much a FM station wanted to sound good compared to the rinkydinky sound of the AM station and its 3 minutes songs. Thus you heard a lot of long things, that today we kinda dismiss ... but you can see how YES would easily fit in that listing in 1971, and from then on! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 08:50
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Wonderful lp......'Starship Trooper' being one of my favorite Yes tracks from them. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 08:58
Santa Barbara FM sounds like my kind of radio station.
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 09:33
Hi, It was a special time, when the "new" FM radio was showcasing its STEREO ... something that very few people ever heard before, and all of a sudden being able to HEAR IT and then go buy it at the store, made it really big. Gotta remember that The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck (I didn't include the jazz folks!!!!) and many others, made it for a very special listening all around ... it might be weird on a "hip" station to hear these things, which made the whole thing special ... something that today ... no one can relate to, or have any idea of what it was like ... it helped put "progressive" in the book, but I think one could, just as easily, say that it was STEREO that brought us all this music ... and nowadays, we take it all for granted ... like it was meaningless. It wasn't. And a couple of years later, adding someone like Guy Guden to the mix ... just spread out the wings of the music played and shared ... by 1974, it was totally far out ... something that we can not even conceive here at all. And almost 50 years later, Guy is still doing it, with new things just about every week ... I can make listings of a portion of the material he played, from 1974 to 1978 and 1979, when I started UCSB and could not keep up with the show as much. But those first several years as the roommate was filled with more music than we can imagine. Heck, it was in 1972 that I got blasted with Mike Oldfield, Genesis, Nektar and Tangerine Dream in one evening, and all I could do was go back to my room and headset and put on Hawkwind (Space Ritual) again! The quality of the sound ... that STEREO, was the miracle of all dreams! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 10:43
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^ Meanwhile, back in England, this is the kind of pop-tabulous, humungous chart playlist we can expect on Radio FAB 1 FM in the brand new computerised network chart, which is brought to you in association with Peppermint Essence, for all of your home peppermint requirements of a pepperminty kind. Smashie & Nicey's Radio FAB 1 FM Top 10 Chart Rundown 10. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares to You 09. U2 - Nothing Compares to Sinead O'Connor 08. PM Tension - Time of the Month 07. DJ Jaffy J JFK the Presi Fonz featuring KLM, KLF, EMF, MFI, REM, EMI, London W14 3WW 06. Cliff Richard - God is Nice (and So Are Little Children) 05. Guns and Roses - The Devil is Nice 04. Dannii Minogue - I Should Be My Sister 03. Kylie Minogue - I Should Be Madonna 02. Bono - I Should Be Put Down 01. Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet Let's Rock! |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 16:28
| ^ Sonya is such a delightful and harmless person to be the subject of such vitriol (allbeit coming from the fictitious Smashy and Nicey). However substitute Sonya for Bono and now you're talking! |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 16:36
Fixed it.
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 16:40
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Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: November 27 2023 at 23:24
Neither am I. The only song I really like on it is Starship Trooper, and then I enjoy the live version from Keys to Ascension so much better that I don't really see much reason to play the original again. |
Posted By: Jacob Schoolcraft
Date Posted: December 01 2023 at 17:13
| It was certainly a nice surprise having Steve Howe on board. He brought in to the group a lot of acoustic guitar . Steel string acoustic, nylon acoustic, mandolin, and on The Yes Album you somehow knew after hearing it that YES were about to change. Steve Howe was like a ball of energy on stage...his head bopping up and down...he was aggressive on the acoustic and it totally changed the band. The way he naturally played the guitar was impressionable and sometimes shocking because you could say that in a sense not many bands had a player like him . In a way it felt new and different when he joined YES. His ideas felt new. I'm sure other guitarists were playing acoustic in bands, but the way in which Steve Howe presented it was actually different. I believe he was influential to others because of that. |
Posted By: mellotronwave
Date Posted: December 02 2023 at 03:37
| Where the story began... a masterpiece |
Posted By: Octopus II
Date Posted: December 02 2023 at 04:09
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A fantastic album. Has anybody bought the super-deluxe box set?
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: December 02 2023 at 04:37
I almost bought this super-deluxe box set, even though it included the Open Your Eyes album.
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: December 02 2023 at 07:16
I love the Prog Geeks version of Starship Trooper with Anne Marie Nacchio on vocals. |
Posted By: Intruder
Date Posted: December 23 2023 at 08:28
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A personal favorite......one of my best and oldest musical friends! ------------- I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there..... |
Posted By: Floydoid
Date Posted: December 23 2023 at 11:28
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I tend to think this the best of the pre-Wakeman albums, and it's certainly the first one by Yes one that I really took notice of. ------------- 'We're going to need a bigger swear jar.' |
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: February 20 2024 at 13:15
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Just listened to this last night...my vinyl is 40 years old and still sounds immaculate! It remains a flawless album, and perfectly captures its time: "Yours is no Disgrace" = the Vietnam soldiers' moral conundrum. "Starship Trooper" = late 1960s, early 1970s sci-fi. "I've Seen All Good People" = the post-Beatles pop scene. "Perpetual Change" = the weather! Has anyone ever seen any discussion/explanation about "A Venture"? I've always assumed it was just a Jon Anderson solo song brought in to fill up Side 2 (still love it).
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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: February 20 2024 at 18:43
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This was the only Yes album and probably the only prog rock album my dad had in his collection thus the very first prog album I heard. I didn't care for it and didn't really get into Yes until later in the 80s but eventually returned to this one with more mature ears. A Venture was initially longer but cut down a few minutes to fit on the original vinyl. You can find the extended version on youtube. I don't know the story behind the song though. There was also an extended version of Clap (the actual title) which initially contained mood for a day. That's on youtube also.
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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: February 20 2024 at 18:45
Well, there's only three and they aren't really much competition for this one. I actually think T&aaW is very underrated but ultimately the first two are mere warmups for TYA.
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Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: February 21 2024 at 03:01
| I adore The YES Album. Every second...pure joy. |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: February 21 2024 at 03:12
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With Fragile and CTTE is "three of a perfect pair". ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: dr prog
Date Posted: February 21 2024 at 15:13
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Their best. They dropped off gradually over the 70s ------------- All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock. |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: February 21 2024 at 18:27
 They were until Bill Bruford tried to run over Tony Banks with his motor scooter which wound up breaking his leg.
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Posted By: dr prog
Date Posted: February 24 2024 at 17:12
Venture and Disgrace are great too ------------- All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock. |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: February 24 2024 at 20:18
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"Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are!" What else can you say? BRILLIANT little LP for its day, some amazing & high-energy performances! I enjoy playing my Rickenbacker Bass to this one frequently. ------------- I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!! |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: February 26 2024 at 17:49
I don't dislike them, only I don't find them so great either. For me Yours is no Disgrace and I've seen all Good People are two of a kind... and once again, I don't totally dislike them, but am not so much a fan of them either... I find them very slightly annoying, perhaps. The thin is most, if not all, live albums feature at least one of those two songs, and they are usually the ones that bring the live albums down a bit for me (just as Pink Floyd with Money). |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: February 26 2024 at 21:31
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This is an indescribably great record but easily forgotten-- one of those "Oh yeah,I remember this thing... cool !" moments. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: February 27 2024 at 00:04
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The live version on Yessongs of Yours Is No Disgrace is better than the studio version IMO. Although it's perhaps dangerous to compare White to Bruford, the former added a much heavier approach that allowed Howe to do his thing. Overall it packs a great punch. That said Kaye's organ sound on the studio version easily beats Wakeman's. It crackles a treat! Wakeman actually does a great version of Starship Trooper live. I like that more than the various Yes live versions personally. Recently as mentioned elsewhere he has Mollie Marriot singing for him and she is tremendous. It's worth checking out a recent performance in Brighton. https://youtu.be/AMS23tQ9X1k" rel="nofollow - https://youtu.be/AMS23tQ9X1k |
Posted By: Hector Enrique
Date Posted: February 27 2024 at 11:45
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All the songs on the "Yes album" (except Clap and A Venture) were part of the "Yessongs", and I think the live versions have a greater vitality than the studio versions. The entry of Steve Howe from "Yes Album" gave the band many new nuances that began to define their characteristic sound, complemented by Rick Wakeman and his arsenal of synthesizers from the later "Fragile". ------------- Héctor Enrique |
Posted By: Hugh Manatee
Date Posted: February 27 2024 at 18:54
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^Oh yes. I much prefer the live version of "Starship Troopers", particularly for Wakemens contribution in the "Würm" section. ------------- I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of uncertain seas |
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: February 27 2024 at 22:53
| Yes is my favorite group. The Yes Album is my 3rd favorite album from them with only CTTE and Relayer being rated higher. Yours is No Disgrace is a top 5 song from them while Starship Trooper is a Top 10 track. The weakest song on the album, Venture is still a decent track. Clap doesn't really fit on the album, but is so good, I overlook that fact. Perpetual Change is a banger and I've Seen All Good People, while I don't need to hear it again, has a nice melody and vocals and a great guitar solo from Steve Howe. |
Posted By: kirk782
Date Posted: September 20 2024 at 21:47
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This was one of the first 'prog rock' albums I had heard [except for Pink Floyd's works, that is] and I loved it, except the instrumental live record Clap. That one's okay but nothing as good as the songs it is sandwiched between. It inspired me to explore more of Yes works starting from their debut [though their first two albums had a different flavor to it and I only gave them a chance once] all the way upto their 1980s works, including live albums. |