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| The artwork for the self-titled album Yes |
Jon Anderson: Vocals
Bill Bruford: Drums
Peter Banks: Guitar
Tony Kaye: Keyboard
What is it that In the Court of the Crimson King, Hot Rats, Stand Up, and A Salty Dog all have in common? Well, aside from all being fantastic albums, they were all released in 1969, and can be counted among the very first releases in the ever expanding "progressive rock" genre. Oh yeah, might as well throw the eponymously titled Yes into that list of albums. Among the list of entries up top, and more obviously, the later Yes albums such as Fragile, The Yes Album and Close to the Edge, it can be easy to overlook Yes, the album that started it all for the British visionaries. But in order to truly understand an artist (or group of artists, as it were) one must explore their past. I find that not only does this self-titled release bring a sense of fulfillment to the groups later, more accomplished works, but that it also stands the test of time as a testament to the power of the groups music based entirely on its own creative and artistic merits.
First let's talk context. 1969 seems like it was a great time to be a musician. The 60s pop craze was on its way out, and with the inclusion of prog, as well as jazz-fusion, it seems as though there was an increasing demand on musicians to be able to "play their instruments." Unfortunately, I wasn't alive at the time, but I can only imagine what an exciting time it must have been to be a musician. In the heat of all of this, we got Yes, a group who started out as a cover band, but slowly evolved, taking on their own sound and unique musical offerings. While this self-titled release wasn't the album that captured the hearts of fans as future albums would, it still holds a unique and respectable place among their incredibly impressive discography.
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| The Miles Davis albums Bitches Brew, (pictured above) and In a Silent Way, both of which were released in 1969 were very influential in raising the bar for experimentation within the setting of popular music. |
All right, context aside, what is it that makes listening to the album Yes a worthwhile endeavor? Well, in a nutshell, what I feel makes this album special is it's ability to still possess the high standard of musicianship that Yes is known for, while doing so in a more compact, accessible format. No track reaches over the length of seven minutes, yet the chops, intricate yet catchy vocal melodies, layered harmonies and varied song structure remain intact, albeit in a more poppy format. Also in the foreground is a high strung, raw sense of energy that in later albums was replaced with more of a sophisticated sense of compositional perfection. Not that the later albums lacked energy, because they didn't, however I feel that in this album, the tracks boast more of a bold, simplistic sense of energy that you might find in a heavy metal band. It's sort of what you might expect if you took some of the heaviest, loudest bits of The Yes Album, and then made an album containing 85% of that material.
Kicking off the album is the excellent Beyond and Before, a classic sounding Yes track in every sense of the word. Catchy riffs, tight playing, layered harmonies and excellent vocal melodies abound, making for a highly appropriate track to kick off the first album of the groups career. Some other high points of the album include the extended jazzy break in I See You, in which we are treated to an excellent swing type of pattern by Bill Bruford, which Peter Banks solos over, leaving Chris Squire to eventually join in before the band comes back together to close off the solo section. We also find two very well written ballads throughout the album in the form of the tracks Sweetness and Yesterday and Today, the latter of which features a beautiful almost "Haydenesque" piano closing. The Beatles cover of Every Little Thing boasts a highly enjoyable jazzy instrumental opening, and proves to be an overall satisfying cover. The closing song Survival, an instant highlight, blends some truly beautiful vocal harmonies and makes for a fantastic closer.
Notable among the things that make this album enjoyable is the jazzy playing of Peter Banks, who's playing is only present on this album and the next. His playing brings a unique feel to the overall Yes sound which was absent from Howe's playing. It's not that one guitarist is better than the other, I personally probably prefer Howe's playing. However, for the sake of this album, I do greatly enjoy the unique stylistic offerings that Banks brings to the table. Also, Tony Kaye, who was only in the band for three albums before being replaced by the now legendary Rick Wakeman, brings his own unique spin to the Yes sound. While Wakeman was famous for his massive arsenal of creative and oftentimes atmospheric keyboard sounds, Kaye limits himself largely to organ, and a bit of piano. This brings more of a singular sound to the album, which is quite interesting to listen to actually.
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| Peter Banks is actually the member that coined the then temporary title for the band: Yes |
All in all, I think that this album will be enjoyed the most by the people who really like the classic Yes sound, but maybe get turned off by the more unapologetic experimentation used on the bands early to mid-seventies output. This is far more poppy in both tone and structure than anything on the list of prog albums I named in the beginning, and might actually appeal to a wider audience than a lot of other prog albums, which is what makes it unique and enjoyable by its own more accessible rights. It might even end up being the only Yes album certain people might grow to enjoy, if said person is turned off by some of the more self-indulgent tendencies of progressive rock, yet still wants to find an album written by people who can write great songs, and really, really play their respective instruments.
While it's not their finest, or most polished album, it's definitely worth a listen, not just to gain a greater appreciation for their later material, but also on its own merits, as a great album.
See my rating below:
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