Rank the songs on "YES" (Debut album)

[yarstruly]

Surprisingly, I see no similar threads in this sub-forum....
So how do the songs from Yes' debut album stack up to you from first to worst?


Here is the original running order:

1. Beyond & Before
2. I See You
3. Yesterday & Today
4. Looking Around
5. Harold Land
6. Every Little Thing
7. Sweetness
8. Survival
(not including any later added bonus tracks)

I will post mine shortly...

[yarstruly]

1. Beyond & Before
2. Looking Around
3. I See You
4. Every Little Thing
5. Harold Land
6. Survival
7. Sweetness
8. Yesterday & Today

[relayeire]

I was really slow to adopt this album... ironically, as the first Yes album, it was one of the last I bought, and after that it took me some time to warm to it... when you're used to listening to TFTO this sounds kind of primitive... it's like hearing Sgt. Pepper or Rubber Soul before listening to "She Loves You" in a way... now I love it... Yesterdays was a good, gradual intro to this earlier music... hard to choose an order, but from best to least:

Beyond & Before
Survival
Harold Land
I See You
Every Little Thing
Looking Around
Sweetness
Yesterday & Today

[CybrKhatru]

1. Beyond & Before
2. Survival
3. Looking Around
4. Harold Land
5. Every Little Thing
6. Sweetness
7. I See You
8. Yesterday & Today

I really like the first two Yes albums, although in places they almost sound like a completely different band....

[Jonah]

Survival
Yesterday & Today
Harold Land
Beyond & Before
I See You
Every Little Thing
Sweetness
Looking Around

I love this album - especially the versions of it on the BBC Sessions collection. Such energy and daring.

[the'YES'kid]

another perfect album!

1. Harold Land
2. Survival
3. I See You
4. Looking Around
5. Yesterday & Today
6. Sweetness
7. Beyond & Before
8. Every Little Thing

[allen toth]

Harold Land
Beyond and Before
Looking Around
I See You
Survival
Sweetness
Every Little Thing
Yesterday And Today

[ANTIOCH]

Harold Land
Survival
Sweetness
Looking Around
Beyond and Before
I See You
Every Little Thing
Yesterday And Today

still one of my favorite YES albums.

[John Khatru]

I like the debut as well... had to think a little for this one

1. Every Little Thing
2. Survival
3. Yesterday & Today
4. Beyond And Before
5. I See You
6. Sweetness
7. Harold Land
8. Looking Around

[Hill St.]

Harold Land
Yesterday and Today
Looking Around
Beyond and Before
I See You
Survival
Sweetness
Every Little Thing

[yarstruly]

Nice choices everyone...more?

[Wakey's #1 Fan]

1. Survival
1. Sweetness
2. Yesterday & Today
3. Beyond & Before
3. Harold Land
4. I See You
5. Looking Around
6. Every Little Thing

[yarstruly]

Pop that BUMP!

[HOTsunrise]

1. Yesterday and Today
2. I See You
3. Harold Land
4. Looking Around
5. Survival
6. Beyond and Before
7. Sweetness
8. Every Little Thing

[yarstruly]

1. Yesterday and Today
2. I See You
3. Harold Land
4. Looking Around
5. Survival
6. Beyond and Before
7. Sweetness
8. Every Little Thing

Interesting..Yesterday & Today? A personal connection?

[yarstruly]

Interesting..Yesterday & Today? A personal connection?


Just curious about this...

[astral_stardust]

1. Beyond and Before
2. Survival
3. Harold Land
4. I See You
5. Sweetness
6. Looking Around
7. Yesterday and Today
8. Every Little Thing

[easy livin]

The first 2 album are fantastic,i don't think the songs are pop.Sweetness is very beatiful,very special...

[Faceintheplace]

Harold Land (I think this shows signs of what was to come with the later Yes epics, especially Close to the Edge. You can defenitley hear the beginnings of Close to the Edge within Harold Land.)

Looking Around (Great rocker track, I'd love to hear this live.)

I See You

Every Little Thing

Beyond and Before

Survival (The repeating lick that plays before Jon comes in reminds me of the instrumental break in Perpetual Change and when Jon first comes in it's similar to Jon's vocal entrance in Heart of the Sunrise. Just in general I think there's lots of early signs of what was to become Yes trademarks or parts of classic Yes pieces.)

Sweetness

Yesterday and Today (I like the piano and vibraphone parts on this.)

[Close to Loch Ness]

Looking Around - I'm with Faceontheplace on this. Would love to hear this live.
I See You - Bill really swings on this
Harold Land - Bill named this after an old jazzer.
Every Little Thing - Pete's guitar is great on this (even the bum notes)
Survival - 'Sunshine is creeping in'. I like the lyrics on this.
Yesterday and Today - I like the simplicity of this song
Beyond and Before - Good tight harmonies to the hallucinogenic lyrics.
Sweetness - A bit too sugary for me, but ok.

[Colors of Jade]

I'm a fairly new Yes fan, and still discovering their albums entirely. However, this album is my favorite, as it's the first album of Yes I've ever heard.
1. Sweetness, such a beautiful song.
2. Yesterday and today, another beautiful song, and I love the piano on this track. I'm trying to remember that scale.
3. Every Little Thing, nice touch on a Beatles cover.
4. Beyond and Before, just really like it.
5. Looking Around, nice song. I like the music and it's catchy.
7. Harold Land, I like how the song starts out with a happy tone, and then switches to a sadder mood.
8. Survival, I like John's vocals in this song, and the melody is great.
My mood might change as I listen more to the album, but I'll let you all know when it changes if you like.

[yarstruly]

Bumping up so people who haven't seen these can tell us their opinions....

[YesCarolinita]

3. Beyond & Before
2. I See You
5. Yesterday & Today
1. Looking Around
4. Harold Land
6. Every Little Thing
7. Sweetness
8. Survival

[Andersonic]

Beyond & Before
Survival
Harold Land
I See You
Every Little Thing
Looking Around
Sweetness
Yesterday & Today

[scootwhoman]

For a long time, I thought that "The Yes Album" was the band's first, because I had not seen the first two in my podunk little town. When I finally bought them, I was somewhat disappointed, because they were so unlike what came afterward.

Except 'Survival'. This song captures almost everything that the band was trying to express, all the way up to today, and has the structure that became common in later works.

Over the years, I have come to feel strongly about 'Looking Around', because it is such an upbeat, happy song. It also incorporates the orchestration that is so critical to Yes music.

The rest of the album I have not paid much attention to, because the songs don't seem relevant to what came later.