First Album

[Original_Shifty]

I love this album.

I think it's very important for a group to get off to a good start, and I think this one did it for this group.

The start of amazing things to come.

[bjm0rwo]

All the years I have been listening and admiring Yes,I finally purchased the debut cd recently.Although I have heard cuts from it via the box set and from Yesterdays,I too was impressed with the songs and also the arrangements of their covers on this session.I had never heard their version of I See You until now and was very impressed with the way they kept the integrity of the Byrds version and yet had that distinctive way they interpreted covers to make them their own. Impressive alblum to start an incredible career.And 30yrs.later they still are impressive to me. I for one would love to hear them attempt some more covers.And I can think of a few I would love to hear them put their spin to.

[charl8e]

Yes, it is a good start... but most bands do not find their "sound" on the first album, and YES are typical in this respect... there is lots of decent music here, but surely we wouldn't pay that much attention to this album (or the band) if ALL the albums had been like this!
The undigested influences are still right in your face -- Bruford trying to be a jazz player, the Beach Boys/Vanilla Fudge harmonies, the Beatles/hippy sentiments of the lyrics, with a bit of psychedelic/Floydian pop thrown in for good measure...
I heard Fragile first and then went back to the early albums (when I could afford to buy them, one at a time over months/years) and when I got to the first album i was excited (back then going back to the earlier records, and yes, they WERE records, was like finding a "new" album) but also it was clear to me that they had come a very very long way in just three short years...
I remember liking "Beyond and Before" best of all and also "Harold Land", but I'm going to listen to this album more carefully all the way through when others have posted further thoughts...
I forget who came up with the thread-per-album idea, but it is a fine one, and thanks Tim for making it possible...

[Original_Shifty]

Originally posted by charl8e
The undigested influences are still right in your face -- Bruford trying to be a jazz player, the Beach

Actually, Bill is a jazz musician first and foremost. That was one of his biggest complaints and why he eventually left the band. He was tired of having his jazz talents wasted on rock and roll.

[Roman]

This is the only studio album by Yes I don't own yet. I have heard only a few songs and they sounded too dated to me. I am a little bit afraid that I will not like this album when I finally buy it. But I know I will buy it - I want to have a complete Yesalbums collection. Maybe when I get some money...

[bataisflow]

Actually, the first two albums are some of my favorites because they have that jazz feel to them. That is why I love the title track on Mag. Because it sounds like a vintage Yes piece.

[charl8e]

Yes, i like the jazz feel, too, even though it's not very good jazz (as Bruford acknowledged, in the Yesstories interviews), and of course that did come back later in a rather different form, on Relayer (i wonder what Bruford would have played on THAT album?)...

Interesting that there is really only one "Yes" track on the record, though... each side began and ended (there were 4 tracks per side) with band compositions (the 2nd cut on each side being a jazzed-up cover and the third a twee Jon Anderson ditty)... but only one of those is an Anderson-Squire piece (Looking Around, which i like a whole lot)...

Early days, the lyrics so much simpler (and corny with it -- "Fares that are too dear"? is that the worst Yes lyric ever? probably not!)... but with cosmic hints of what is to come (Beyond & Before, Survival)... the melodies much sweeter (and sometimes way too sweet, by later standards)... but again the beginnings of complex structures (Survival and the cover versions) even though most of the arrangements are fairly conventional and predictable... but the old Yes stop-start mad traffic lights stuff happening a bit for Bruford and Squire, shades of things to come... and the "classical" references from Pete Banks suggest the advance towards "strawberry bricks" (symphonic rock)...

[ANTIOCH]

To truely appreciate what YES were doing in 1969
(with their debut release) you must compare it with the music of that time and not later releases. I believe Tony Wilson's 'liner notes' said it best
(For those of you that have never read them) :
"At the beginning of 1969 , I was asked as were all Melody Maker Writers to pick two groups who I thought would make it in the following year.
One of my choices was LED ZEPPELIN. A bit obvious perhaps , but then we all like to back a winner occasionally.
The other was YES. I'd just heard them in a 'London discothe'que where all too often the groups tend to be over-amplified and under-talented.
YES were not. They had much more than the usual wall-paper music sound. There was life , vivility
and musicianship in their approach. They had a superior vocal sound - assured , clear and harmonic. They knew what they were doing and did it with style. It showed in their own songs and imaginative arrangements. It all shows on this , their first album."
And this is why I bought their 1st album in 1969 and still love it !!

[charl8e]

Is that Tony Wilson the same one who went on to be a TV producer/music journalist and also owner of Factory Records, Hacienda & manager of New Order? It seems a bit unlikely, but he's the right age... does anyone know?

[briser]

Like some others, I like this one a lot. I probably got it retrospectively (I think after Going for the One, Relayer, Close to the Edge, The Yes Album) but it has a kind of quiet relaxed feel to it.
Who cares if it's dated, it still sounds good to me!

[luckyseven]

I too try to take it in the context of when it was made. I like a lot of 60's rock, so this album fits in nicely. I don't listen to it very often, but it is good to listen to every once in awhile when I want something different.

[Roman]

I finally bought this album yesterday. I only listened to it once and it sounds good, although it carries the mark of the time it was recorded. But I can't rate it now, maybe after some weeks.

[charl8e]

Let's dig a little deeper, guys & gals...
How's about our favorite cut (& why)??
Mine: Looking Around... it moves & swings the most, for me... & i love the organ sound...

[ANTIOCH]

Seems I always come back to "Survival". I enjoy the story/message lyrically and the musicality is all there.

[Original_Shifty]

I'm with you Antioch. Survival definately gives us a good glimpse at what Yes was to become. Musically, lyrically, and spiritually.

[Robert Shupe]

I think that this is a strong debut album. I discovered this album after the much more well known albums such as Fragile, Close To The Edge, Going For The One, and Tales. I am pretty certain I had owned Yesterdays before this one but I must not have paid too much attention to the notes of Yesterdays as it was a cassette.

I found a vinyl copy of this album called Yes in the store one day and I was surprised as I had no idea it existed. It was full of surprises such as no Steve Howe. Hmmmm. Anyway I bought it and was anxious to give it a whirl.

The American album cover certainly had a sixties motif as it had a nice classic look as if to say "This is not your average rock album."
The notes on the back cover by Tony Wilson of Melody Maker were impressive. His predicition of both Yes and Led Zeppelin being successful was delightfully accurate. The man certainly had insight. (Although the fact the Yes and LZ were both from Atlantic records makes one wonder if Tony were in Atlantic's pocket. Just kidding but it is intersting they were both represented by Atlantic.)

I played the album and it was certainly a different sound. Although other groups have had stronger debut albums, I do believe the public was given a wonderful preview of glorious things to come. A seed was derfinately planted.

I beleive that this is the stronger of the two Peter Banks albums. He is certainly underrated in the overall Yes canon. The success of the first two albums led to a third album and Banks was an integral part of the beginning growth of this band we all know and love.

I bought this album on vinyl and eventually upgraded to CD and even though I am a completist, I greatly enjoy this album. It can stand up on its own merits. I would love to meet someone (like Antioch) who bought this album in 1969 and has been with Yes since. What a story that would be.

The vocals on this album are there and are a foreshadow of a more confident and competent Jon Anderson of future albums. There are also some good harmonies present throughout the album.

Beyond And Before - This is a nice hard and driving song. I originally thought that this was an Anderson piece due to the lyrics but alas I was mistaken. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a Squire / Bailey piece. This might explain the great bass work on this piece. It was a long time before I knew who Bailey was. (A peer form Squire's earlier band Mabel Greer's Toyshop.) I have always liked the song. Time like gold dust brings mind down. Nice. In Yes Stories both Chris and Peter describe this tune as psychedelic. Anyway, I thing it is a good strong opening for a debut album.

I See You - I have never heard the original Buffalo Springfield piece so I can not compare. A very nice jazz piece with great contrast from Beyond and Before. Both Bruford and Banks shine on this cut. I can only imagine the wonderful extended jams on this song when they played it live. As a young listener I did not care for this piece, however, as a more mautre ( all right - older ) listener I whole heartedly enjoy this piece.

Yesterday and Today - Yet another different sounding tune as the album moves along. This track has some nice soft piano and acoustic guitar. Syrupy, sure but it is a nice and sweet song about love. (Is this the beginning of Jon message of Universal Love? Perhaps.)

Looking Around - This is my favorite piece of the album. It leaps through the speakers with a definite forward momentum. Tony Kaye shines on this piece with a nice integration to Banks' guitar work. This one is full of energy and just moves. (My memory of this song tells me that I owned Yesterdays on cassette first. The left side of my brain will endlessly debate it with my right side.)

Harold Land - To me this is the least memorable song and the weakest on the album. However, it is good story telling in the framework of a song and is a precursor to the great story songs of Yes in the future such as Turn Of The Century. The song is named after a jazz tenor saxaphone player according to Bruford in Yes Stories.

Every Little Thing She Does - This is an interesting Beatles cover from the Beatles For Sale album. Yes' version is much more fast and furious when compared with the Beatles rendition. Ringo's timpanni work is not taken over to the Yes version. I liked this song even before I realized it was a Beatles cover. Nice solo work by Banks and some some strong yet simple harmony vocal work.

Sweetness - Yet another soft and slow ballad on the album. I was surprised to see that Squire, Bailey, and Anderson all contributed to this song. I admit that I am a sucker for this song. I copied the lyrics onto a 2001 Valentines card for the wife.
I think it it has a nice build and flowing pace. I was surprised that it was on the album as it is a ballad like Yestarday and Today.

Survival - Although not my personal favorite it is definately the strongest and most progressive cut on the entire album. I agree with my thread peers that it is the strongest glimpse of things to come with Yes. Nice time changes and a beautifully structured song. I would love to hear it live.

Robert Shupe