YES

The old cliche of rock criticism says that, usually, the first two albums are the best most rock groups have to offer. For one of progressive rock's atypical acts, however, nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, who as we all know are forever branded the 'atypical' prog-rock group by non-fans and various other music critics, started out with this slightly underwhelming, self-titled slab of proto-prog rock that was released to minor critical acclaim in 1969. Featuring Jon Anderson(vocals), Tony Kaye(keys), Peter Banks(guitar), Chris Squire(bass) and Bill Bruford(drums), 'Yes' failed to hit the commercial peaks of their later releases but did show that they were a group with promise who were willing to experiment with structure of rock music in a way that garnered them a lot of industry attention, thus insuring that they didn't go the way of many other similar bands and disappear after just one album. Soundwise, the group were peddling a faster but similar kind of symphonic rock to their fellow luminaries Procol Harum, just with wilder guitars and less emphasis on catchy melodies. Excepting a couple of tracks, notably the sweet-toned 'I See You' and the swirling, organ-coated psych-rock of 'Survival', this is very much a rough and formative album, displaying a bunch of musicians who have obvious ability but, at this juncture at least, are not too sure how to use it. Die-hard Yes fans might find more to cherish than your average progger, but in the grand scheme of things Yes' debut is, all things considered, pretty mediocre. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010