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Dellinger 
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 Posted: January 21 2010 at 21:59 |
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For me it's definitly the Combo Fragile - Close to the Edge, my very favourite set of songs from Yes. Ofcourse there's lots of songs I love throughout the rest of their albums, but this are the only 2 albums I really love as a whole. On Relayer I only really like Gates of Delirium (and I would have a hard time choosing a favourite between this and CttE), but To be Over, though it's got a nice melody, is too long and dull (I like much better Howe's instrumental versions that last only for about 5 min), and Sound Chaser is just too messy and without melody, and the Cha Cha Cha just make it worse. As a matter of fact, I might just as well do without the Album Relayer, since the one song I like here is much better on the Symphonic live album.
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micky
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:17 |
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have never...ever understood the Relayer fascination... I love the album.. who doesn't. It simply kicks ass.
that is the problem though.. Yes was not a 'down some Jack Daniel's, put on Relayer, then go bang the neighbors wife' kind of album..
of their classic albums... it is the un-Yes album out there. Sort of odd to consider it their masterpiece.. considering it runs contrary to what makes Yes... Yes. The whimsical... obtuse lyrics... powerful keyboards. Most importantly.. the emphasis on songwriting over instrumental skill. Classic Yes was when the instruments were interwoven into great ..well written songs. That is why Wakeman left.. many have said he would have hated Relayer... and didn't come back to Yes until they started writing 'songs' again and got back to what made Yes great..
not to say that people can't love it.... but to try to be objective.. hard is that is for some people. No way it can be considered their 'masterpiece'... as far as a masterpiece... pff... could be any number of albums .. Ctte, Fragile, TFTO... those albums represented what Yes was.. to perfection.
Edited by micky - January 21 2010 at 22:20
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Dean
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:21 |
^ that's why Relayer is my fave Yes album 
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What?
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SaltyJon
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:25 |
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Relayer and TFTO are my two favorites, which one's in first varies from listen to listen.
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TheGazzardian
Prog Reviewer
Joined: August 11 2009
Location: Canada
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Points: 8676
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:28 |
I think that, up until Relayer, Yes was experimenting more and more with each album, and finally hit their experimental peak at that point. If they had continued down the same path, I can't even imagine what their next album might have sounded like. While I love Going For The One, it doesn't strike me as being as creative as their albums up until their point had been.
However, who says all music has to be more and more creative? We should just enjoy it for what it is, and I wholeheartedly love GFTO. But to me, Relayer is Yes at their most creative and unique.
Edited by TheGazzardian - January 21 2010 at 22:29
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BaldFriede
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Joined: June 02 2005
Location: Germany
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:43 |
 Dean wrote:
BaldFriede wrote:
"Close to the Edge" is overrated, in my opinion. It is not a bad album, and I will give it four stars always, but it lacks bite. That bite is present on "Relayer" though, and it definitellly is my favourite Yes album.
"Close to the Edge" will, however, always be the preferred choice for lovers of symphonic prog. But that is probably the least favourite genre of mine, together with prog metal. You may wonder why I don't like prog metal when I like "the bite", but I actually believe that most prog metal bands bark a lot but don't really bite. Just playing loud and fast is definitely not what I mean by "bite".
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I agree wholeheartedly with your Yes opinions, though don't agree on the PM conclusion, or why you even mentioned it. |
I mentioned it to explain what I mean by "bite".
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 BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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jammun
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Joined: July 14 2007
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:56 |
C'mon, the real masterpieces are, in no particular order:
The Yes Album
Fragile
CTTE
These are all kick-ass prog, said kicking of ass requiring the presence of Bruford. The ones after these (sorry Tales lovers) are pure navel gazing.
Edited by jammun - January 21 2010 at 22:57
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Can you tell me where we're headin'?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon.
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SergiUriah
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Joined: May 03 2009
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 23:55 |
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NO, Relayer is not their masterpiece...
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The Hemulen
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 03:40 |
Relayer's almost certainly my favourite Yes album too, in part because of the extraordinary energy and idiosyncracies of Moraz's keyboards. The band sounds truly invigorated and bold on Relayer, in stark contrast TFTO where I swear I can hear all the tensions and boredom and frustration bubbling away underneath.
I often wonder what Yes' next album would have been like if Wakeman hadn't made a return. I would have loved to have heard just one more album with the wild keyboards and truly adventurous compositions which characterise Relayer.
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TGM: Orb
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Joined: October 21 2007
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 04:49 |
micky wrote:
have never...ever understood the Relayer fascination... I love the album.. who doesn't. It simply kicks ass.
that is the problem though.. Yes was not a 'down some Jack Daniel's, put on Relayer, then go bang the neighbors wife' kind of album..
of their classic albums... it is the un-Yes album out there. Sort of odd to consider it their masterpiece.. considering it runs contrary to what makes Yes... Yes. The whimsical... obtuse lyrics... powerful keyboards. Most importantly.. the emphasis on songwriting over instrumental skill. Classic Yes was when the instruments were interwoven into great ..well written songs. That is why Wakeman left.. many have said he would have hated Relayer... and didn't come back to Yes until they started writing 'songs' again and got back to what made Yes great..
not to say that people can't love it.... but to try to be objective.. hard is that is for some people. No way it can be considered their 'masterpiece'... as far as a masterpiece... pff... could be any number of albums .. Ctte, Fragile, TFTO... those albums represented what Yes was.. to perfection.
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Shabakazam. Working from another angle. if the previous albums were a bit abstract, I think Relayer is perhaps the least lyrically, vocally and conceptually satisfying of Yes' classics... certainly, I don't think it has the sense of mystery that marked out Close To The Edge or the sharp contrasts of Fragile. Never really felt Yes could let go enough in Gates to produce anything which feels actually aggressive (compared to, say, The Knife or Gog/Magog or even South Side Of The Sky)... I mean, it's great music nonetheless.
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Slartibartfast
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 11:48 |
Dellinger wrote:
and the Cha Cha Cha just make it worse. . |
Actually that's cha cha cha cha cha, cha cha cha cha cha. Are you feeling better about it now? 
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Finnforest
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:04 |
Thanks Brian for clarifying that Cha count 
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Todd
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:18 |
^ I actually like the "hoooom" between the cha cha's.
Finnforest wrote:
Tales is the perfect culmination of all Yes' talents: emotion, composition, and technical ability. The songs are so interesting and unique, each its own mini-adventure, making the albums that came before frankly a bore in comparison. Relayer was a close second, but not really all that close. Tales is easily their greatest work.
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I agree to some extent . . . TFTO is the pinnacle, and I view the preceding albums as good efforts leading up to it, and the subsequent albums, including the wonderful Relayer and GFTO, as "trailing clouds of glory" (Wordsworth) but not the substance that is TFTO.
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The Sleepwalker
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Joined: February 03 2009
Location: The Netherlands
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Points: 15141
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:19 |
I've got 4 Yes albums so far (The Yes Album, Fragile, CTTE and Relayer), and I only prefer Fragile over Relayer. Gates Of Delirium is an absolute masterpiece. The synth of Patrick Moraz has a ver distinctive sound, though I'm not sure if I prefer it over Wakeman's style. Anyway, Relayer is fantastic.
And I don't get all the whining about the "Cha Cha Cha, Cha Cha" part in Sound Chaser, I really like it. The vocal melody near the end of Siberian Khatru is much more annoying I think.
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topofsm
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Joined: August 17 2008
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:34 |
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I like the love of Moraz's style in this thread. He often does little flourishes that are excellent and add to the atmosphere of the song. As I've said I don't care for sound chaser, but there are little arpeggios in the verses that just make the song so much more enjoyable, sort of like the echoes bouncing off the tall stone towers on the album cover.
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Slartibartfast
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Joined: April 29 2006
Location: Atlantais
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:46 |
Todd wrote:
^ I actually like the "hoooom" between the cha cha's.
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You're absolutely right. The cha cha's aren't complete without that.
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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slidesandbends
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Points: 56
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:03 |
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Moraz does not get enough respect. His work on that album indicates virtuosity.
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UndercoverBoy
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:28 |
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"Relayer" is not THE Yes masterpiece. That award would probably have to go to "The Yes Album" or "Close to the Edge." However, it is still A Yes masterpiece. "The Gates of Delirium" is, in my opinion, Yes's greatest song and an example of the perfect epic.
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rdtprog
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:44 |
Tsevir Leirbag wrote:
Yes, it's a fact, Relayer is their best.
With or without Wakeman and Bruford, it's still it. |
"A fact"...!  It's a matter of taste, it's not objective... Relayer is good, but if it was a fact everyone would agree with this affirmation. I don't think if you made a pool about this Relayer will never come in first or maybe in second position.
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Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness.
Emile M. Cioran
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Raff
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:48 |
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Without going into the 'masterpiece' question (which, in my opinion, is mostly a matter of personal opinion, as it's very difficult to measure objectively), I will say that Relayer has always left me cold. I can recognize its greatness, but it does not move me as their 'trilogy' does - as I've made it abundantly clear in my review of the album. I would also go so far as to say that I prefer both Going for the One and Drama to it. Great music, stellar musicianship.... but ultimately cold.
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Relayer: The Yes Masterpiece?
