RELAYER

The run of stellar albums by Yes in the seventies is virtually unmatched, and 1974's 'Relayer' is among the most precious gems the band has released during the decade. Famously composed of just three tracks, following the successful formula of 'Close to the Edge', 'Relayer' might as well be seen as the most experimental, most technically complex and epic album, packed with some of the band's most intense and challenging music, definitely a massively exploratory, influential, and creative album that is up there with masterpieces like 'Larks' Tongues In Aspic' or 'Brain Salad Surgery'. With the eventual quitting of Rick Wakeman after the finished recordings of 'Tales', in comes another extravagant hero and keyboard virtuoso - Swiss-born musician Patrick Moraz, a tremendously skilled player who completes the band with his fast-paced leads and fusion influences.

As for the album itself, what more could you want from a Yes LP than having 'The Gates of Delirium', a perfect side-long epic, as the opening track. The entire composition is massive, wildly technical, and completely astonishing. The instrumental passages are impeccable and contain some of the best refrains to be heard in the entire Yes catalogue, the sound is definitely more unruly than preceding albums, just to be finished off with the melodic and warm piece-turned-single, 'Soon'. This is followed by the breathtaking 'Sound Chaser', an avant-garde and electrical piece of prog extravaganza that could easily scare off any glam rock fan, and a tremendous way to follow the album's opening epic piece. A full-blown masterpiece, this is Yes going even further into their instrumental frenzy. And finally, there is 'To Be Over', a more typically soothing Yes number, once again highly imaginative and enthralling, it is a beautiful way to finish off a breathtaking, surreal album, full of tremendous and inventive music, some of the best by Yes. I don't think there is any pretention here, just straight to the point masterful playing and songwriting, and a band that displays its utmost capacity of composing epic rock music with eclectic influences.