The Yes Album - rate this album

[BrianD]

This has been done before but not in a way to keep track of the scores - hopefully this will overcome that by allowing you to choose one score per album.

You can base your evaluation on any version of the album including the Rhino remaster

[MARS]

A lovely part of Yes history 10

[neilius]

A turning point in many ways for Yes.
After the limited sucess of the previous 2 albums, Atlantic records were about to ditch the band. But with the arrival of Mr Howe, the guys put out this gem of an album.
A change in fortunes indeed!

[BrianD]

I note that I left off 10 so I've corrected your vote MARS

[raz]

i like this album a lot.

there is not a duff track on it at all.
all of them are very anti war - a sign of the times what with veitnam and all i suppose...
but the song that I love the most, but that is hardly ever mentioned at all is 'a venture'
this song is an absolute masterpiece of both musicianship, and lyrics.... the way the words and the music fit together in a complex pattern of sounds and colours to paint a picture or a story... it's best heard with headphones to get the full effect, but do yourself a favour and dig this album out, stick the jugs on and play this track again, and throw back the years....
it's a blast............

[True Believer]

A very young band on it's first experiment - I've always loved Survival.

[Yes2Yes]

This was when YES started to get into their groove.

[True Believer]

A very young band on it's first experiment - I've always loved Survival.

D'oh! I've posted this on the wrong thread! Get it right, Anne!

The Yes Album - love it!

[YesfanAndy]

From this album on, all of my votes will be counting as a 10 for this era of YES. Not a weak track on this album. I never tire of it.

[Timmo]

Ten.

[Hill St.]

9!The album that put Yes on the map.

[YesJen357]

This is the one which got the YES train running full steam ahead.

I don't think the momentum has ever run down.

[Albedo]

i like this album a lot.

there is not a duff track on it at all.
all of them are very anti war - a sign of the times what with veitnam and all i suppose...
but the song that I love the most, but that is hardly ever mentioned at all is 'a venture'
this song is an absolute masterpiece of both musicianship, and lyrics.... the way the words and the music fit together in a complex pattern of sounds and colours to paint a picture or a story... it's best heard with headphones to get the full effect, but do yourself a favour and dig this album out, stick the jugs on and play this track again, and throw back the years....
it's a blast............

I've always liked "A Venture" as well. I wish it was longer and went somewhere.

I give this album a 9 only because the scale only goes to 10 and CTTE is my 10.

[cinderella]

It was my first Yes album. It's a sentimental favorite.

I have to give it a 10.

http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/approvedsmile.gif

[Charles Matejic]

I think this is the best Yes album ever produced catching all the members at their peak. Kayes keyboards gave the band a sound of the time period that was never equaled. Wakeman is a genius of course but The Yes Album had a texture and feel that was really the true sound of the band in my opinion. I love all the work that followed but Howe took a back seat to keyboards on this album and the band was PERFECTLY balanced with all instrumentation,vocals ,Lyrics ,style ,mood texture...words escape me to describe it but to those of you out there who agree with me you know what I mean. Remember the time period... this was new stuff and when Banks left to form FLASH they were the only band I've heard who sound like Yes,Yes is unique except for FLASH and that is only because FLASH had members from Yes,but the London club scene and sound at that time. Looking back now we can see the seeds of the sounds that came with later efforts but The Yes Album was the genesis(pardon the pun) of it all.Perpetual Change is an underrated song overshadowed by the other cuts Yours is No was truly ground breaking..Your Move an anthem forevr after..ask someone "have youever heard a band called Yes?" and they say "I don't think so" alls you have to do is sing sing a few bars of All Good People and they go "Oh Yeah I like them(the same is true of Roundabout and later Owner of a Lonely Heart but it was The Yes Album that truly defined the band. The changing cast members made variations on a theme and the concept of a song being a whole side of an album like Close to the Edge were all possible because the listeners were acustomed to sitting down for more than 3:05 minutes because of Yours Is No Disgrace and Starship Trooper and the imagination those songs set into motion were a whole new listening experience.Remember the radio at that time was playing Bobby Goldsboro and See The Tree How Big Its' Grown and Paul Revere and the Raiders with Indian reservation... That is not to put down their efforts in any way at all but look at the breath of fresh air that Yes was in comparison. and even then after drifting through listening to Yours is No Disgrace Howe comes through with a totally different feel with The Clap... A Venture has GREAT keyboards if one takes the time to listen,especially a t the very end whilre Howe fades out with exceptionally clean and fast riffs in the background while Brufford and Squire exchange offbeat syncopated exchanges with drums and bass.. all of which was NEW and made you feel like you were in a London nightclub and a studio Mixing at the same time.all of this topped with crisp clear melodic harmonized vocals(isn't it strange that the guy who plays bass sings so high pitched harmony vocals at the same time?)and after this acheivement Kaye leaves the band .. WHY? Not that I mind Wakeman replacing him one bit but as the years went by and the cast members revolved around to go and come back again I think somewhere deep in their own spirits they themselves chased after what they accomplished on the Yes Album,and in many moments they did recapture it in parts here and there but never all together inONE album.I truly think it was and is the height of their creative powers(they were so young then and the BUSINESS part didn't interfere with the CREATIVE part ) and everyone says Close to the Edge was the culmination of Yes's sound but they were just expanding on the foundation of The Yes Album. All of the components I have listed were changed round,toyed with,added to,amplfied expanded on but it was The Yes Album sound that defines Yes's sound all that followed was trying to recapture the past !!!!!! I know I'm ranting but when one has conviction and passion about a subject that is bound to happen.Love to all and find someone who says they have never heard of Yes and see if they don't know a cut from The Yes Album,then let them take a straight and stronger course to the corner of your life!!!! Listen to the whole album after reading my piece and see if I'm right

[Whitefish]

An easy 10!

Wonderful!

[Timmo]

The Yes Album was a quantum leap from Time and a Word, like the ape throwing the bone in the air and it morphing into a spaceship.

Part of it was due to Steve, but I also think they just started thinking outside of the box, and maturing as musicians. In any event, the stars must have aligned right, because it was like nothing else at the time. There were other bands starting to explore what was later known as "progressive rock," but none of them had the depth, warmth, virtuosity, and spirituality of Yes...and on top of it, Yes ROCKS. King Crimson were amazingly innovative, but their music was icy cold. Pink Floyd didn't have the chops. ELP had the chops, but not the depth. Genesis was still in its infancy, and hadn't put out THEIR quantum leap album (Nursery Cryme).

For those of us old enough to remember when it came out (I barely am, I was 9), it was like seeing magic, music pulled out of the ether that was mindblowingly good, and like nothing you'd ever heard before. From those first four notes of "Yours is no Disgrace," I was hooked. We played it over and over AND OVER.

It's Chapter One. Yes and TaaW are the prologue.

[Ktrek]

I gave it a 9. It's a great album but only a step in the right direction towards CTTE. I do love every song on it though.

Kevin

[tormatotork]

in and out of the world of Yes, this has to be a 10. "Speak to me of summer" :theband:

[BrianD]

The Yes Album currently averages 9.19

[Bluetailfly]

I think this album still sounds very fresh. It has excellent sound, and has been the bedrock of all that Yes was to build on. Yours Is No Disgrace, Perpetual Change, Starship Trooper all are concert high points and reamin as strong candidates in the Yes all time top ten. Perhaps I've Seen All Good People has been over played in concert, but it remains a keystone of their sound, and is a melody that grabbed all of us the first time we heard Your Move. Even Clap holds that place that says here is Steve Howe, the most versatile and exceptional guitarist in rockdom.
Yeah I rate it a 10

[Bluebird71]

I gave it a 9. The energy on this record is absolutely infectious and YIND starts things off perfectly in that sense. The instrumental segment on it is sheer ear candy at its sweetest.

Clap kind of disrupts the flow but hey, Howe's guitar mastery can't be faulted. And who could resist the start of Starship Trooper and those überfine, Brufordesque, delicate percussion goodies that help the sung parts (with THAT voice) sound even better. Wurm, on the other hand, feels over-extended and much too monotonous to me and I fail to grasp its greatness, but I have grown to like it a bit more recently.

Your Move is a worthy follower, again lovely rhythm, though I have never been too keen on the drawn out second part of ISAGP. (I just don't care for these kind of "ending jams" to songs -I have never liked Hey Jude in that respect either!)

But all is well again with A Venture, which to me is such a lovely piece of music, it just always ends far too quickly -so frustrating. But that is easily forgiven once the absolute highlight of the record starts... Perpetual Change was my first real Yes love (as this was my first Yes album) and it still enthralls me whenever I give it a listen. Like a nocturnal piano-bar song during the quiet parts, until it makes a complete 180 degree turn towards rock! I adore it, oh YES, I do.

How could anybody listen to The Yes Album without a smile on his/her face?

[relayeire]

The addition of Steve Howe and Mr. Offord behind the board made a lot of difference. The performances, arrangements, writing and even sound quality are all light years about Yes' previous (but admirable) efforts. I consider this their first true art rock album.

Tony Kaye has never sounded better. That overdriven organ is so powerful, and I don't think we hear anything that powerful (sound-wise, not performance-wise) again until Machine Messiah.

I first heard YIND in headphones. The stereo guitar solo blew me away. I knew it must be Yes and had to have the album.

A Venture is a neat little song that reminds me a bit of the Beatles. Fades out just as a cool guitar solo is starting, if you listen to it to the end. Steve talked about maybe playing it on the Union tour, but nothing came of it. Instead it's one of those "forgotten classics." (I could hear Rick playing this on piano, in a bit more of a Baroque style.) Glad Steve wants to do TBO if they play live again.

PC is a great exercise in contrast and dexterity. And it does something I haven't heard elsewhere: During the complex instrumental part the entire band is suddenly mixed into one channel, and a second recording of the entire band starts playing along in the other channel, but different parts. Always amazed me how they managed to pull it off live.

[James]

Tony Kaye's performances and arrangements in this album (like in Yes and in Time and a Word) are great.

[BrianD]

After 56 votes, an average of 9.18

[Mike Watkins]

I'd give it a TWELVE if I could!!! Perfect musical poetry, with a touch of muscle.

[SonicDeath10]

Easy 10. First amazing Yes album.

[nicmin64]

The best this album made Steve Howe A household name.

[Yes_Fan_4_Life26]

This album is a rock guitar album

Everything was evidently focused on Mr. New-Comer Steve Howe. Like guitar driven songs. Everything is guitar mode!

You hear guitar everywhere!

I gave it a 9!

Awesome album!

[shortexchanges]

I hope some folks are lucky enough to have the live bootlegs from this period. The musikladen dvd shows a very young howe just on fire playing his ass off on Yours is no Disgrace!

The name is very appropiate THE YES ALBUM!!!

I always thought the mannequinn head was creepy!

[steve4001]

Tony Kaye's performances and arrangements in this album (like in Yes and in Time and a Word) are great.Absolutely. Kaye rocks on this album

[Purple Wolfhound]

The album that started me on that long and wonderfully amazing journey down the road of Yes music. This album and Close To The Edge were cornerstones in my teen years of listening to progressive rock music and have stayed with me ever since then and will most likely be there when I go to meet my maker. I agree with shortexchanges - it is the most aptly named album in their catalog, because that's exactly what it is in every way, shape and form. A perfect 10!

[pianozach]

A 9-1/2.

I think that Starship Trooper sounded better live with Wakey every time I've heard it.

Not a bad song on the album, though. I, too, love "A Venture." Wonderfully peculiar piano parts.

[BrianD]

On January 7 2006 after 71 votes The Yes Album rates 9.18

[sunburstbasser]

9.

Points off for The Clap and A Venture.

Otherwise, great. I think this is the first album where Chris is not only heard, but actually knows what he needs to do as a bassist. The opening of YIND should be proof of this. The guitar is there, sure, but its bass driven.

[JL]

I gave it an 8, on the basis that the next album is a 9 and the four studio and one live after that are all 10s.

If I had heard TYA when it was new, I'd probably have to give it a 10. In retrospect, it is a victim of the greatness that its creators achieved in its wake.

[MrZuLu]

I gave it an 8, on the basis that the next album is a 9 and the four studio and one live after that are all 10s.

If I had heard TYA when it was new, I'd probably have to give it a 10. In retrospect, it is a victim of the greatness that its creators achieved in its wake.
This album holds a special place in my heart. It was the first Yes album I ever heard and I was amazed by that strange sideways guitarist. What a freeeek!

I remember thinking Perptual change was being played on some kind of steel dobro or something... sounded like pure cystalline titanium steel or something equally as exotic back in 1971.

And as JL pointed out, had I heard even Fragile first it would be an 8; however, This was my first exposure to YES and because of that it is a perfect 10.

When I saw them a year later open for Sabbath and realized what wakey added, I was hooked from then on . I saw them 8 times I got to see Bruford with with classic Mark 2 then white, then moraz back to wakey and that concludes my 70's Yes experience.

Out of the flotsam and jetsom of that Decade I recorded my own band that was potentially right there with Yes because of their influence on my life.

[gitsy]

It doest't get much better than this 9.

[Steve Mahoney]

Billiant album.

[BrianD]

On July 1 2008 after 108 votes 9.19 average

[TOBYSGRAPHICGOKART]

My first ever Yes album.
Only the fact that A Venture wasn't quite up to the high standards of the rest prevented me from awarding it a 10.
9.5 for me.

[oliasofsuffolk]

I gave it a 9. The first album by the progressive rock band Yes. It still sounds amazing. The arrival of Mr Steve Howe. Nothing was ever the same again. I love Tony Kaye's overall sound on this album. The Hammond will always be cool and particularly I love his understated but beautiful piano playing at the end of A Venture supported by a superb bass line.

With YIND opening the album I think they made a powerful statement that said hear this sound and this musicianship but just wait for the vocal harmonies. On this track they achieved the original blueprint for the band. How many bands must have heard this album and thought to themselves, 'How are we gonna compete with this?'

[AmyK]

9, only because A Venture is not a real strong track. This and I needed to leave room on the scale for CTTE and TFTO :)

That said, I actually like the Yes Album just a tad better than Fragile.

[CybrKhatru]

Strong 9!

[90125yes]

10 - fantastic album

[90125yes]

from previous comments .....

a venture is a very good track