Relayer: The Yes Masterpiece?
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Topic: Relayer: The Yes Masterpiece?
Posted By: slidesandbends
Subject: Relayer: The Yes Masterpiece?
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 16:47
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ok guys, another heated question for all you yes fans. Which album is it that drives there point home? It's alarming to think that some of us will point to an album that does not include wakeman or bruford. RELAYER!
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Replies:
Posted By: LandofLein
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 17:09
I didn't realize Yes albums had a point  My favorite album by them is TFTO, but that is probably their most meaningless album I would have to agree with you on Relayer, sometimes that is one that gets lost in the shuffle for me, but when I listen to it, it becomes one of my favorites.
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Posted By: ProgressiveAttic
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 17:57
My two favorite Yes albums are Tales... and Relayer (neither of these includes Bruford  ...)
I don't think that Tales is meaningless but its main idea is too philosophical and somewhat difficult to get... while Relayer has a more of a straightforward and down to earth theme (but since we are talking about Yes... both albums' themes are highly confusing and difficult to get)  ------------- Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com) 
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Posted By: Tsevir Leirbag
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:10
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Yes, it's a fact, Relayer is their best.
With or without Wakeman and Bruford, it's still it. ------------- Les mains, les pieds balancés Sur tant de mers, tant de planchers, Un marin mort, Il dormira - Paul Éluard |
Posted By: NJCat_11
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:16
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I would argue that Going For The One, Relayer's immediate successor, is still better. It features Rick Wakeman too. ------------- "We are Defenders of the Faith" - Rob Halford |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:18
 Not only the greatest of Yes's masterpieces, but the greatest album in all music. ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:21
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I concur about Relayer. It's easily my best album of the 70s, and I don't even care for Sound Chaser all that much, the Gates of Delirium is simply that good. You'll notice I rarely review the classic albums because there's really no point, but I felt a need to give Relayer a 5 star review. Stunning really. ------------- 
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Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:22
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Close to the Edge is my favorite by a longshot. I also think it's one of the defining albums in prog. -Jeff ------------- 
Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:24
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Fragile and Close to the Edge. -------------  |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:24
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.  |
Posted By: Jake Kobrin
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:31
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CttE = 1 Relayer = 2 ------------- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Neil-Kobrin/244687105562746" rel="nofollow - SUPPORT MY FATHER AND BECOME A FAN Jacob Kobrin Illustration |
Posted By: Tarquin Underspoon
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:32
QFT
Close to the Edge, And You and I, and Siberian Khatru are far, far better than The Gates of Delirium, Sound Chaser, and To Be Over. And for that matter, I would argue that South Side of the Sky, Long Distance Runaround, and Heart of the Sunrise put up a pretty good fight against CTTE.
I realize this is all subjective, but you can count me among those that simply do not get Relayer and do not understand how CTTE can be anything less than Yes's best and among the greatest prog releases ever. ------------- "WAAAAAAOOOOOUGH! WAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHHH!! WAAAAAOOOO!!!" -The Great Gig in the Sky |
Alberto Muñoz wrote:Posted By: jplanet
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:47
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Relayer is definitely my favorite as well. Sound Chaser sounds modern even now - Moraz's jazz influence melding perfectly with Squire's bass prowess, that ferocious Howe telecaster solo settling into a lush dreamy synth... To Be Over: Could there be a more beautiful melody, or even a more beautiful instrument than sitar to play it? Everything on this track is so bittersweet and exhilerating... The Gates of Delirium is like a journey to heaven, that climax with Alan White pounding the drums to that stunning melody played by Pat Moraz - using a Moog sound nobody has ever reproduced - then trading off with Steve Howe's pedal steel, the sound is like liquid crystal and quicksilver, conveying a fantasy beyond anything Roger Dean could paint. In other words: yeah! ------------- https://www.facebook.com/ShadowCircus/" rel="nofollow - ..::welcome to the shadow circus::.. |
Posted By: seventhsojourn
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 19:04
Absolutely!
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Posted By: The Pessimist
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 19:25
UNION  Seriously though, my favourite is The Yes Album. ------------- "Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value." Arnold Schoenberg |
Posted By: Moatilliatta
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 20:44
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I realize I'm in the minority on this website, but I don't understand why Relayer is so well-loved [here]. It's a bloated, meaningless and even boring album. Yes lost it after Close to the Edge. ------------- www.last.fm/user/ThisCenotaph  
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 20:59
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"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". -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 21:40
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I like the trinity of The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge myself. ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |
Posted By: squirting
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 21:51
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I've always thought that Fragile was overrated. Close To The Edge is my favourite, but I actually haven't listened to Relayer much.
brb
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 21:57
------------- What? |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 21:59
| 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. |
Posted By: micky
Date 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. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:21
^ that's why Relayer is my fave Yes album  ------------- What? |
Posted By: SaltyJon
Date 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.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Salty_Jon" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: TheGazzardian
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:28
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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. |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:43
I mentioned it to explain what I mean by "bite". ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:56
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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.
------------- Can you tell me where we're headin'? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon. |
Posted By: SergiUriah
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 23:55
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NO, Relayer is not their masterpiece... ------------- http://img229.imageshack.us/i/bonfirma.jpg/"> 
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Posted By: The Hemulen
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 03:40
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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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Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 04:49
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. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 11:48
Actually that's cha cha cha cha cha, cha cha cha cha cha. Are you feeling better about it now? ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:04
Thanks Brian for clarifying that Cha count
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Posted By: Todd
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:18
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^ I actually like the "hoooom" between the cha cha's.
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. ------------- "I have seen the broken sky turn blue." http://gnosis2000.net/ratertodd.shtml" rel="nofollow - My Gnosis Ratings |
Posted By: The Sleepwalker
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:19
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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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Posted By: topofsm
Date 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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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 12:46
You're absolutely right. The cha cha's aren't complete without that. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: slidesandbends
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:03
| Moraz does not get enough respect. His work on that album indicates virtuosity. |
Posted By: UndercoverBoy
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:28
| "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. |
Posted By: rdtprog
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:44
"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.------------- Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness. Emile M. Cioran |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 15:48
| 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. |
Posted By: PROGMONSTER2008
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 16:24
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The Yes Album. Full of great tunes. Relayer is patchy. Has great moments and filler moments ------------- Jazz/Classical Rock(70's style prog/fusion). Lots of prog keys and melodies(all original ideas) http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008" rel="nofollow - http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008 |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 17:52
| Yes. Relayer is their masterpiece. |
Posted By: jplanet
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 17:52
This is true for me as well - few other epics keep me as interested throughout...it's one of few epics that dares to "go somewhere", and not simply repeat the theme from the beginning...In fact, it develops that way throughout, each part seems to take it to another place, never needing to revisit anything before it...If a newer prog band did something like this now, I'm sure many would consider it "new and fresh"! ------------- https://www.facebook.com/ShadowCircus/" rel="nofollow - ..::welcome to the shadow circus::.. |
Posted By: otto pankrock
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 18:41
| This is the first Yes album I ever bought. Got it in mint shape from a guy at school in '76 or so. Best 3 bucks I ever spent. Right from the start I kew I was in for something. It's still pretty much my favourite. I tend to regard this album and CTTE together. Both are very differant in their approach but still have a certain affinity towards eachother. Rather like two sides of the same coin. O.K. that's subjective on my part but regardless Relayer is a masterpiece. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 18:45
| Yes, Relayer is one of the three major masterpieces consecutively released by YES. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 21:49
| Oh, I do like a bit better the Sound Chaser version released on "The Word is Live", with vocals and some really beautiful moments that are not included on the original instrumental version. Alas, it's still got the Cha Cha Cha's (or as many Cha's as it's actually got). |
Posted By: sealchan
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 22:28
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I like CTTE, Relayer and Drama best. Each captures a distinct sound, each was well produced and each one has that overall tone (like King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King) that transports me into another world like a great prog album should.
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Posted By: Drew
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 22:30
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The best from Yes I believe.
------------- |
Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 01:58
It's interesting, because outside of this website, I always hear that The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge is their best era. The consensus seems to be that they lost their way with Tales.. and Relayer. The opposite seems to be the case here. You guys on this forum love those albums!  ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 15:21
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Relayer is a great, graet Yes moment, but not THE ultimate, to me. I would say that CTTE, Tales and The Ladder long tracks are more 'Yes-as-usual'... Don't know if I'm clear. -------------  One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 15:26
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The goosebumps still kick in with me when Howe commences his incredible solo at the outset of the Soon sequence following all of that glorious chaos preceding it.
------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: Gooner
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 15:33
..."Relayer" is my favourite, too. Although, it took me a while to get used to the "Cha Cha" - section. 
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Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 15:55
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I like Relayer a lot. It has a sort of Mahavishnu twist to it. I could do without Cha Cha Cha though. Drama remains my fave though. I thought it was the end until I went into seclusion and listened to it very nervously for the first time. Then I listened to it abou 4 more times in a row in disbelief  ! It's certainly one of the better covers Dean did for the band too.
------------- |
Posted By: Tarcisio Moura
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 16:09
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1) Close To the Edge 2) The Yes Album 3) Fragile 4) Going For The One Those are my all time favorite Yes albums. Yessongs would be in my top three too, but it is a live album without unissued songs on it so I guess it doesn´t count, right? I like everything Yes did, including Relayer and Tales From Topographic Oceans, but they are not as good as those in my opinion. |
Posted By: PROGMONSTER2008
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 16:40
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My 5 are:
1)The yes album-full of quality tunes
2)Fragile-similar to Yes album
3)Close to the edge-mainly strong melody with the occasional filler moment
4)Tales of topographic oceans-long album. Lots of good moments. The songs are like musical prayers/rituals
5)Tormato-mainly cool tunes, maybe a bit too much high pitch synth
6)Drama-fairly good although a bit on the pop side
7)Relayer-love the fusion bits and To be over, but Gates is mainly filler after the first 5 minutes and Soundchaser just becomes annoying after the first 3 minutes. This album tells me the band could only think of 15-20 minutes of strong melody and the rest of the album was either experimental noises or repetition. Not much of a fan of Soon. Belongs on Going for the one with it's yucly eerie echo recording
8)Going for the one-several good songs but i hate the cold, dull, eerie, echo of the recording. The vocals are screechy, the keys are high pitched. Sounds like it was recorded in a church ------------- Jazz/Classical Rock(70's style prog/fusion). Lots of prog keys and melodies(all original ideas) http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008" rel="nofollow - http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008 |
Posted By: Howard hughes
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 17:21
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I think that Yes reached their collective creative peak all the way from Fragile through Relayer. It also seems like their intensity grew through that same period culminating in Relayer which, for my tastes, reached the point of being rather frantic to a point where I no longer enjoyed listening to it. Going for the One has some great moments but generally seems much more mellow than their previous albums. After that point they feel much less like a a cohesive unit and much more like an experiment. CTTE would be my first pick followed by Fragile and TFTO. |
Posted By: PROGMONSTER2008
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 17:26
Agree. By Relayer they lost had their composition qualities. But they did play cool fusion moments ------------- Jazz/Classical Rock(70's style prog/fusion). Lots of prog keys and melodies(all original ideas) http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008" rel="nofollow - http://www.myspace.com/vigilante2008 |
Posted By: irregardlessly
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 19:47
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For me... 1. Close to the Edge 2. Yes Album 3. Relayer 4. Drama 5. Fragile 6. Ladder and then the rest. When you say "The Yes Masterpiece"... to me the first 3 are all masterpieces of prog and all among the best of the genre. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 25 2010 at 20:17
Thanks Ep ... indeed one of rock music's greatest albums ever ... this is a symphony for the ages by people of our day and age ... too bad that some folks don't enjoy "music" ... unless it has "Hit" written all over it, and folks like Rick Wakeman are not big enough to accept that they composed something original ... but he still thinks that Grieg ... or whoever he wants to cop on his keyboard ... are better ...
Without a doubt one of the top ten ... totally original ... and beginning to the end, non stop and non compromising ... and there you have it ... a beautiful work ...
------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: MaxerJ
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 01:09
YESSSSS. I can now understand when others say they don't 'get' Relayer... until recently I couldn't feel it at all. I advise listening to Gates periodically, especially the change into the 'battle' section, around 8 minutes - best part of the whole album. ------------- Godspeed, You Bolero Enthusiasts  'Prog is all about leaving home...' - Moshkito
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Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 02:52
You don't fancy giving us an example of an album that does fit that description do you ? (I'd buy it tomorrow) I'm not a massive Yes fan but would certainly consider Relayer as their best album (probably because it's the least 'wacky dust' lyrics wise, Moraz contributes a jazzier loose limbed sensibility and erm..it really doesn't sound like the defining over-fussy 'Yes' at all) ------------- 
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Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 02:57
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Yes, without hearing all of it, I would say that "Relayer" is their masterpiece. Why? Well, children, the year is 1978, I'm at a concert at Anaheim Stadium featuring GENTLE GIANT, PETER FRAMPTON and YES so Frampton does his thing, right, and it starts raining hard when YES comes on the stage and just BLOWS!! away the crowd a freaking 20 minute assault of controlled frenzy. All I know is that people were leaving in DROVES with the rain and all that plus the relentless musical attack. I mean, I got bummed, I couldn't understand the music, it was just a musical assault that obliterated everyone. That's Relayer. Nothing comes close to this masterpiece. Nothing. Not Genesis not King Crimson. The music I heard that night in the rain from YES at Anaheim Stadium just tore my face off. ------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: fuxi
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 03:00
Raff, for once I disagree with you. In my view, RELAYER is Yes's "completest" masterpiece. I once placed CTTE on an equal footing, but I must have played it too much, for now CTTE leaves me cold - at least the title track. On RELAYER, I find all three tracks exciting, multi-colored AND deeply moving. (In "Sound Chaser" the guitar solo is the moving bit, in case you wonder. )
Parts of YES ALBUM and FRAGILE are masterly (e.g. "Starship Trooper" and "South Side of the Sky") and I guess you could make a case for DRAMA, which I invariably enjoy (not GFTO, though - that's too noisy and too sentimental) but none of these come across as being as "well-rounded" as RELAYER. As for TALES, well its original "first side" is delightful... |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 04:23
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Relayer is a fantastic album. A very easy to get war theme fits the music power and dynamics with a directness not reaily apparent on Tales. Tales is probably my favourite of the lot but it's not an obvious album in terms of it's lyrical focus. But this is the whole idea. It' s not pop music (though the broad category is Poular Music - I mean pop as in disposable.) This stuff (Prog and Yes especially requires study and analysis much the same as (non comic) opera, symphonies, concerto and orchestral suites, jazz masterworks from Ellington, Miles, Coltrane. and Tales, Relayer and the other Yes suspects fall into this In Depth category. Yes went on with Going For The One and the Keys material but Gates of Delerium has a unique ness that places it so evidently that this thread needed to be started. The greatest? The last greatest (arguably the last could be GFTO). But Gates is so epic. It's probably on it's own, a superior condensed idea than any one of the individual tracks from Tales which is a better sum considering that the album (if you folow the lyrics is a cyclic narrative.) Sound Chaser I've noticed gets a bit of a rough ride and To Be Over almost ignored. IMHO Sound Chaser absolutely electrifies. Wild Yes on fire like never before or since. To Be Over is an understated piece of charming lyricism with all the timeles beauty of a Turner. Wonderful album. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 05:10
 ------------- What? |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 05:25
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For me, Relayer is the geatest...or one one the greatest albums by anyone! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 05:27
Well you failed, I still don't know what you mean by bite and I don't recall any Prog Metal band describing themselves as having "bite". ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 05:43
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I have listened to TGOD Live (Shows) (mostly) - didn't particularly like side two of relayer so probably not listened to it since 1985 or something like that. Maybe I'll give it a spin - as it's only short !!!! ------------- Play me my song.....Here it comes again....... |
Posted By: esky
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 09:24
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Relayer displayed a distinct blend of different styles that it is in a Yes catagory of its own. So what if Bruford or Wakeman weren't in on the proceedings. There were good reasons why they were not. If you recall, Bruford had had it with Yes after the recording of CTTE, and Wakeman had been disenchanted with TFTO. Relayer was the start of a new phase for the band that ended when Moraz, as he recalled it, was unceremoniously dumped by the band after the '76 tour. This is all to say that Relayer was the mid-career highlight for the band that would never be repeated in any other album.
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Posted By: ko
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 11:03
| Relayer is my fav Yes album. Really Prog masterpiece, in my opinion. |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 13:18
Hey, what's this ? I often read in the posts sentences like : "Yeah, us 40-50-...-year-old guys we know prog is the ultimate music". But guys ! What about young proglovers ? I'm 21 and I discovered prog one year and a half ago ! OK, young ones around me tell me I'm 'out', but I don't care ! ------------- One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 13:20
Hey, what's this ? I often read in the posts sentences like : "Yeah, us 40-50-...-year-old guys we know prog is the ultimate music". But guys ! What about young proglovers ? I'm 21 and I discovered prog one year and a half ago ! OK, young ones around me tell me I'm 'out', but I don't care ! ------------- One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 17:09
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Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 17:14
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Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 17:38
I'm not sure I'd add Tales and Relayer to that mix. I might add GFTO, though.
And clearly Yes's msterpiece is Close to the Edge. ------------- 
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Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 17:42
------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 17:55
It was a great show and after PF left then so did all of the 13-15 year old girls. That is who you saw leaving.
So after that it was easy to get on the field and I bought my ticket that day. Stood about 25 feet away from Pat Moraz side of the stage. Don't remember any rain that day at all. It was July in Southern California that would have made headlines. That would have sucked bad too. Had just seen Gentle Giant headline their own show a few weeks prior to this at the Shrine so was bit disappointed in their 45 minute set with no lights.
As for Relayer it has always been my favorite. Close to the Edge is good but like Raff doesn't connect with this one, I don't connect with it. I also thought Fragil a bit uneven. (Can you tell yet Yes wasn't one of my favorites) I have seen them 4 times though so I do appreciate them.
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"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?" |
Posted By: gentlegraaf
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 19:57
| "Relayer" is for sure one of their masterpiece, also I got a place in my heart for "Close to the edge" I got it for Christmas back in 1980 from my favorite cousin Brigitte and love it eversince... |
Posted By: yazi1990
Date Posted: January 26 2010 at 20:47
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i agree |
Posted By: Neil Peart
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 07:46
I think my fav Yes album is Relayer, mainly because of "Gates fo Delirium"! What a great synphony!  ------------- Web radio Hora do Progressivo http://horadoprogressivo.listen2myradio.com http://78.129.197.174:11029 From mondays to fridays, from 8:00 to 17:00 (brazilian time) |
Posted By: esky
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 09:06
 Yeah, I saw that same tour but at Balboa Stadium in San Diego (whose massive columns were leveled some years back because of earthquake safety - do you care?). Sure, there was Gentle Giant (who I was too ill-informed about to savor), Gary Wright (enjoyable), and Frampton, who got a large Dixie cup of soda thrown up onto him by a ditzy fan. Yes did close the show (headliner?) but for some reason I don't remember "Gates" being part of the set. You lucked out if you saw 'em do it. I do remember the grace and beauty of Moraz's playing though, and the guys pulled out "Money" as one of their encores. My point here: Yes' Moraz era was golden!
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Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 21:30
| Yes played "Money"? You mean the one from Dark Side of the Moon? That would have been interesting to hear... |
Posted By: Neil Peart
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 06:22
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When Yes came to Brazil in 1998, I went to the show! They played a small part of "Sound Chaser", in a little medley, at the final of "The Fish"!
Great Squire performance! ------------- Web radio Hora do Progressivo http://horadoprogressivo.listen2myradio.com http://78.129.197.174:11029 From mondays to fridays, from 8:00 to 17:00 (brazilian time) |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 07:19
Not the PF one. It's on the YesYears box set. I haven't played it for a while but if I remember correctly it features a Rick Wakeman impression of Denis Healy.
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 07:24
To Be Over is one of my favourite Yessongs and contains one of Howe's best solos. As for Relayer, I can't really separate it from CTTE and TFTO as their best.
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Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 10:14
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I love Relayer, and prefer it personally to Close To The Edge. Relayer is a much more spontaneous and energetic album than that CTTE. For me it's hard to choose a favourite Yes album, though. All '70's Yes albums are great, as well as 90125 and the live tracks on Keys To Ascension 1. Relayer is a masterpiece, yes, but Yes made so many masterpieces. |
Posted By: nosmadar
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 10:44
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The Yes Album and Close to the Edge. Fragile doesn't quite make it for me as a complete album, although it does have some of my favorite songs on it. Relayer for me is 2nd tier, probably on a level with Going for the One. Relayer just sounds "sterile" to me. |
Posted By: claudiomelo
Date Posted: February 01 2010 at 12:35
| Almost all of you prefer Relayer. Very impressiv album, really. But, my feelings were attracted to "Close to the Edge". The theme, the virtuosity, the feeling, a real voyage in a dense atmosphere, evolving and leading us to the climax and a relax with I get Up I get down - so fantastic! I love it! And we have the real masters all together, Wakeman and Bruford all in sincronicity. |
Posted By: Howard hughes
Date Posted: February 01 2010 at 13:22
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The original question that started this thread was essentially “... Which album is it that drives there point home?” Not, What’s your favorite Yes album.”” While it’s arguable that Yes actually has a specific “point” to drive home, it seems to me that their own preference for the make-up (or line-up) has to have something to do with it. To me that says that they were happiest with the Anderson, Howe, Squire, White, Wakeman line up. It would be interesting to know what they themselves consider their best works. I can’t help but wonder why they wouldn’t have continued with Moraz if they were happy with Relayer. Anyone know if they’ve ever talked about this? |
Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: February 01 2010 at 14:03
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"Close To The Edge" remains, unquestionably, the group's masterpiece. ------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: February 01 2010 at 16:22
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Howard HUghes wrote - <I
can’t help but wonder why they wouldn’t have continued with Moraz if
they were happy with Relayer. Anyone know if they’ve ever talked about
this? > Yes, I remeber an interview- can't recall the spoecific medium but those replying said he (Patrick Morazx) was too Swiss, too foreign. A slight parodying of Moraz' accented voice setrved to underline this. I think they just felt happier with Wakeman. Incidentally, Wakeman left Yes after Tales as he thought it wasn't (pop? eeerk) enough (should've waited ' til 90125...) Anyway....he later went on to say it hardly mattered if a song was 3 or 8 or 20 minutes, however long it took to say what they had to say. True he was enamoured of the GFTO sessions (they're writing soings again.) Intderestingly along came Tormato which did little for Yes other than prompting Wakeman and Anderson to depart. This was an album of songs. No coneptual themes. I do think with Relayer being the last of their acknowledged epics before Endless Dream, Be The One, That,. That Is and Mind Drive (all appearing within 2 -3 years and none since - and 20 years after Relayer then Relayer was certainly the last Yes classic to hammer theri themed epic tone poem ideas home. There is Awaken but Yes hit the rocks after '77 and spent too much time boxing the compass. After Drama they chased an audience rather than vice versa and this leaves Relayer as the last great evidence of epics. Mind You I think GFTO is equally fine. But having that themed consistency - that story feel to their recordings was essentially Yes' area of expertise. And they let it go... They're good at pretty much everything and making mainstream rock (their's is more distinguished than most others) but ... Relayer / Awaken are the last epics before the drama of the 80s. Interesting how the title track of Relayer (such as it is) turns up on Tales... |
Posted By: fuxi
Date Posted: February 02 2010 at 10:15
Yes, I remember I went to London in 1976 or so and I told my friend back in Belgium (who'd actually introduced me to Yes) that the band's latest album was entitled SILENCE OF THE VALLEY! |
Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: February 02 2010 at 12:35
The YesYears video has Anderson saying that Moraz was getting "lost in space", so I surmise that means he was not as enamored of the jazz-rock direction, at least as represented by Moraz, as the latter, and it's common knowledge that Anderson forces the issue in a personnel sense. Perhaps it just means that Anderson thought that Relayer couldn't be improved upon in that category, and it was time to re-direct. Remember, punk and new wave were just coming on, with their disdain for the pomp and grandiosity that many prog acts could be accused of.
I was fortunate enough to host Moraz at one of the CHAT I tour stops in 1995, and when someone proffered a Relayer LP for him to sign, he looked at the rearing snake on the back cover and murmured "reminds me of Brian Lane". Manager Lane was evidently urging the rejoining of Wakeman since it was seen as helping the marketing, especially if a new musical direction were forthcoming.
Regarding Tormato, it was certainly a letdown compared to GFTO, but they all stuck around for the next effort, which took place in Paris with Roy Thomas Baker chosen to produce, and if you've heard any of that material, it's really a low point. Much of it is just unlistenable. Wakeman has even called it unproduceable (also in YesYears).
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Posted By: esky
Date Posted: February 02 2010 at 13:15
 No, you don't seem to get it. Relayer was a tour-de-force after the failed experiment of TFTO. It was Wakeman out, Moraz in, and his work shined as part of a trilogy of work that included his own solo album of the time ("The Story of " and Squire's Fish Out of Water. 1975 was indeed a magical time because of it.
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