Sui Generis

[KPatrick]

We all probably waste a fair amount of time thinking about Yes music, and what's our favorite, and what's our top 5 albums, top 5 album covers, top 5 guitars played by Steve, etc.

Am I the only one who finds it very difficult to classify or rank RELAYER?

I mean, I could discuss the merits of GOING FOR THE ONE vs CLOSE TO THE EDGE all day. I could compare SYNDESTRUCTIBLE to post-TORMATO Yes music. I could write 3000 words on "Awaken." (Actually, if you check my other posts, I probably have.) I can write at length about why TALES is not Yes' masterpiece or anywhere near it.

But I have an absolute BEAR of a time comparing RELAYER to other Yes albums. I have a number of reasons why I think it's hard to do so -- and plied with enough whiskey, I will share them -- but if you ask me "which song do you like better? 'And You And I' or 'Sound Chaser?'", ... I can't answer the question. Not because I can't decide; just because I can't process the thought in my head.

RELAYER is not like anything else Yes has ever done. So much unlike everything else that I think it defies comparison. It can't be compared.

Am I insane, or am I just drunk again?

[relayerjim]

RELAYER is not like anything else Yes has ever done.

You got that right..I think that's why I love it so much. Relayer just kicks, Steve's guitar work is just awesome on GOD!!! A solid 10!!!

[Jackaranda]

Relayer is my favorite Yes studio album.

Talk and GFTO would be next, followed by Tales and CTTE.

Today anyway.

[KPatrick]

Well, there's two votes for insane, I guess. I don't know, I just have a hard time comparing it to other Yes albums. Although it blows my mind that 4 of the guys involved in RELAYER were involved in TORMATO or THE LADDER. I don't mean that as a shot at those two albums, just that they're so wildly different.

[Hacman]

I just listened to it today again. I love this album. I think that all of them were absolutely fearless when putting this one together. They didn't seem to give a damn what people thought. Steve and Patrick, in particular pushed the boundaries on this, and yet, with Steve's electric flamenco, Patrick's wild jazzy synth and Jon's "Cha Cha Chas", it all works.

[pedro skychaser]

I just listened to it today again. I love this album. I think that all of them were absolutely fearless when putting this one together. They didn't seem to give a damn what people thought. Steve and Patrick, in particular pushed the boundaries on this, and yet, with Steve's electric flamenco, Patrick's wild jazzy synth and Jon's "Cha Cha Chas", it all works.

jon also plays flute @ beginning(sounds like birdsongs)-check out TWIL version-killer-jon spits out the cha chas!!!i hope they incude it in "floating islands"

[Buglunch]

"If nothing changes where you work because of you, you might as well not have been there."

Moraz and the times and the freedom allowed this unique, great album. Saw it live 1975 and I'm still stalking Moraz!
:keyboard:
Great stuff to learn and soak up to this day. Nobody plays like Howe and Moraz and the other guys are irreplaceable, of course. It'll never happen again like that.

[pianozach]

It's an odd thing to try to rank pieces of art against each other, especially when by the same artist. It's even more difficult when comparing an artist that is a "band," with changing members.

Analyzing music is a very subjective thing, and, when created, is a collaboration of many different elements.

You could start with composing credits, and then move on to the arranging - how many people does it take to play a particular work, and what instruments will they play?

As with cinema, the editing/mixdown is also critical, as is the equipment available.

Music must also be placed in context historically - where was this created in an artist's career, and how does it relate to what other artists of the day have created?

Music also embraces the art of poetry. The lyrics may be more important, or they could be secondary. What do YOU listen for in music, and do your listening priorities change as you age? Do they change from day to day? Is it the lyrics, musicianship, arrangement, composing, vocalist or context that is making a "song" more special for you today.

For instance, how could one compare Lennon's "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" to Jon's "Going For the One?"

Relayer is one of my very fav Yes discs, but I tend to like bombast and complexity and virtuosity and variety in the music I listen to. To the casual observer, my ten fav Yes albums may seem to have little in common:

TYA
CTtE
TFTO
FOoW
Relayer
Drama
90125
ABWH
Union
Talk

Five of them have "new" members on them.
Six do not have Wakeman on them (seven if you doubt he actually appears on Union).
Three do not have Steve on them (four if you doubt he actually appears on Union).
Two do not have Jon on them (Drama and FOoW).
One does not have Chris on it. (ABWH)

I digress. I like Relayer more than some other Yes albums for the variety, musicianship, keyboard patches and musicianship, lack of lame-O moments, the perfect slide guitar in "Soon," the amazing guitar work in "To Be Over," - well there are so many perfect moments in the collection of three songs that I don't know where to stop.

Frankly, my favorite work by Yes is the Tales/Relayer seven song suite.

[Timmo]

As you can tell by my avatar, Relayer is my absolute #1 YesDisc.

It is unlike anything else in their canon, but then, they varied so much through the years. However, I agree with the thread originator...Relayer stands separate from the rest.

Partially because Moraz brought a jazz fusion sound to the material that the band was into (and apparently tired of), but also Relayer is about VERY DARK stuff...war, breakups, death, the agony and the ecstasy of creating music. It is very yang energy, and apparently they weren't very happy personally while they were recording it.

Unlike CTTE, which is like a perfectly symmetrical crystil, Gates is that same crystal, broken and reassembled. It is a howling, dischordant dark night of the soul, and I think it's no accident that they followed it up on GFTO with perhaps their most uplifting, positive and spiritual song, Awaken.

Awaken is yin to Gates' yang.

[pianozach]

bump

[KPatrick]

bump

Yeah, sorry, I've been meaning to respond to all of the heartfelt and insightful thoughts about this brilliant and strange album. I just feel like it really requires some serious, reciprocal effort, because this is not an album to be taken lightly, and everybody's posts reflect that. In the meantime, there's got to be other people out there who can wax philosophical about this album. Get to it.

[Albedo]

I guess I am one for whom it's not a favorite studio album. Of the three tracks, Sound Chaser is my favorite of the studio versions - fantastic solo work by the whole band. I know everyone likes To Be Over - and so do I, especially the lyrics, but I just can't appreciate the studio version - it seems overdone. If you strip away a few layers of sound you can then really appreciate the beautiful melody underneath. Gates - again very dense but I can appreciate it much more than TBO - the most lyrical part (Soon) isn't buried.

Stylistically this album seems all over the place to me, with a dense production the most common ground in the three tracks. It's a much harder edged sound than most Yes albums. And except maybe TBO, they don't sound like typical Jon lyrics.

Actually in some ways Talk seems the most like it of any other Yes album. To me Talk has that same dense sound although not so much the dark tone.

[Moorglade]

Tonight I was listening to the 6-21-75 boot and I am still blown away by how tight the band sounded that evening so many moons ago. Close to the Edge and The Gates of Delirium sounded tight, sweet and powerful. I first sw the band live in 76 on their solo tour, but this boot is just wonderful. The sound at times is a little iffy but Steve never sounded so good. By the by, Relayer is my favorite album BY FAR!! It rocks so hard there is no comparison anywhere!

moorglade ( yes a Olias fan as well)

[KPatrick]

Tonight I was listening to the 6-21-75 boot and I am still blown away by how tight the band sounded that evening so many moons ago. Close to the Edge and The Gates of Delirium sounded tight, sweet and powerful. I first sw the band live in 76 on their solo tour, but this boot is just wonderful. The sound at times is a little iffy but Steve never sounded so good. By the by, Relayer is my favorite album BY FAR!! It rocks so hard there is no comparison anywhere!

moorglade ( yes a Olias fan as well)

You joined in 2002 and this is your first post? Well, welcome.