THE YES ALBUM

Much maligned in some quarters for stealing the thunder of 1-2-3 (later Clouds), taking the concept of drastic and adventurous re-writes into new territory, what's often ignored in the somewhat-fashionable rush to denigrate this band is that they were able to successfully and seamlessly take that concept and make it work in a completely new context, ie, their own compositions, not the restructured frameworks that was the province of 1-2-3, the originators of the form.

The fruits of that concept come together more clearly here, finally breaking away from the confines that condemned Clouds to no more than an interesting footnote to history. King Crimson are generally lauded as the first true progressive rock beginning, but would that have been seriously possible without Yes? 1-2-3/Clouds are often cited as the bridge between pop and progressive, but lost in that true fact, is that Yes could easily be said to be the bridge between Clouds and Crimson.

Here in this album, the promise of the future comes to life, there is a clarity to the expressions that wasn't there before, the sparkling musicianship overcomes the somewhat cloying sentiments and flowery writing that threatens to bring the edifice down (and indeed eventually did). Love them or loathe them, this is an essential band in the history of the genre.