THE YES ALBUM

What an amazing album! Yes delivers their first of many masterpieces with The Yes Album, arguably the most important album for the entire symphonic prog genre. Having averaged around 5 minutes per song in their previous two albums, Yes suddenly jumped up to an average of 7 minutes a piece with this album; a key feature for explaining the greatness of this album, in my opinion. Yes is best enjoyed in these lengthier intervals, when the listener has a chance to dive deeper into the music and let the song grow onto him. While there are many easily listenable Yes songs, the top tier of their style is actually hard to get into at first, but when finally allowed will blow your mind into making an '89er like me wish I was a teenager in the early '70s. The Yes Album is performed with such optimism and warmth, a key signature of Yes, that it can just turn any bad day upside down.

Best track: Starship Trooper