Best Yes Album

[frodoadventure]

What do you consicer to be Yes' best album? What album is your favorite?

[charl8e]

I voted for CTTE. A no-brainer. Because it is the album on which YES found their sound. Because the title track was a progressive step foward in pop music. Because AYAI still moves me. Because the weakest track (Siberian Khatru) is still better than most of the stuff recorded by most of the prog rockers. And because the album features the best line-up of YES writers.

But having said that, the recent tour has changed my perception of Relayer. Where once it would have been my 3rd or 4th favorite album, it is now a close second. Not just because GoD has truly come alive, after all this time, on the current tour, but also because this experience took me back to the album, and Sound Chaser -- perhaps the most radical and progressive track YES ever recorded. And then To Be Over, which so many people here seem to love, and which, as the years pass, sounds better and better. Like SC, it has a radical structure, even more so than the material on CTTE.

I would pick Fragile, The Yes Album and GFT1 next in a Top 5, but I wouldn't know how to order them. It depends on the day of the week. But these 5 albums are, in my humble view, clearly the cream of the crop.

[Keith Perks]

There are many albums that i like, all of them having songs that have or give me different feelings and thoughts, however given the "Desert Island Disc" scenario, i voted for Yesshows. My choice is based on the fact that on this album there are three of my favourite songs, Gates, Ritual & Parallels.

Relayer and CTTE would complete my top three. All three of these albums are always loaded into my CD multichanger in the car.

[Aragorn]

I was just about to vote for CTTE, and then I thought again. Even though it is probably my top Yes album, for me, The Yes Album is what started it all. It has several classics on it, Perpetual Change is becoming a new classic compared to the others. That song really ripped on this tour. YIND, Starship Trooper, IASGP? All Great. This is also the album that initiated us into Yesdom with Steve Howe, who has become THE Yes guitarist. His talent was showcased for us with Clap on this album.

I agree with charl8e in that Yes found their sound on CTTE, but to me The Album is where Yes got their foothold and did an album that was all of their own material.

[charl8e]

I do agree about The Yes Album, though. Maybe the sound comes to some kind of new level on CTTE, whereas perhaps they "found it" on TYA. I've always thought that Starship Trooper is the beginning, really...

[Aragorn]

Indeed. Starship remains one of my favorite songs, I was devestated when the show I attended this tour they did not play it. Perhaps on the second go-round here in the states I'll get to see it.

[charl8e]

Yes, Starship Trooper is the piece that contains the seeds of CTTE, Tales, Relayer, Awaken, and you can't say that about the other tracks on TYA, fabulous though they are... has anyone ever written about how Astral Traveller, Starship Trooper, and South Side of the Sky form a trilogy? I don't want to point out the Bleedin' Obvious (B.Fawlty), but not only do they have a common lyrical (space/travel) theme, but they also have clearly defined three-part structures and similar tempos and rhythms... you can easily segue between them and between different parts of them... so maybe AT was the "beginning"... or "For Everyone" (1969?), which contains the middle bit of Trooper...

[Dragonfly]

I would like to have voted for CLOSE TO THE EDGE for the same reasons charl8e described but chose not to. Just because it was the most ground-breaking - which it was - doesn't make it the best. My vote can only be for what I feel is the ultimate album by the band: RELAYER.

"The Gates of Delirium" is remarkable and has Jon pushing his own envelope wider than he ever did before or has since. On a strictly vocal level, the only other song he gets that raunchy on is "City of Love". On a lyrical level, he touches the pure evil that must exist in all participants in war.

"Sound Chaser" is the best song ever written by anyone anywhere. It's a song about the relationship between music and musician, between musician and audience. It's a pure artistic experience.

"To Be Over" is a beautiful song. It's the weakest link here while being considerably stronger than most of their catalogue - beautiful melodies and instrumental work, all very understated.

Dragonfly

"Counting form through rhythm electric freedom"

P.S. It really irks me when people include live albums in poles like this. If you're going to do that you may as well include every bootleg out there. You'd at least get some better choices. Bands like Yes and Gentle Giant have live bootlegs that are stronger than their official, live release. It's best to just stick to the studio offerings.

[luckyseven]

YEAH Right on. Soundchaser ROCKS

[frodoadventure]

Actually Dragonfly, I agree with you about the inclusion of live albums. I went ahead and included them because I had seen in other polls people saying, 'Where's Yessongs!?' So I figured I would give those people a chance to vote for that album (or other official live releases) if that was their favorite.

[charl8e]

Am almost persuaded by you, Dragonfly. GoD especially NOW sure looks like their finest hour... Sound Chaser best song ever? By anyone? You may well be right about that... To Be Over is the weakest cut, and as you say it is quite superb... As for the live albums, not only is it silly to include them in best ofs, but also -- YES haven't released a decent live album! Yessongs is a crappy recording. Yesshows isn't much better and features some dodgy material. And as for 90125 Live The Solos, or whatever it's called, I hate it. And I haven't even heard it!!! Don't need to... there's already enough garbage in the world... I think I'm going to invite you to cross the Bay Bridge sometime and we'll have a contest... bottle of champers, bag o' herb, and a stand-off: CTTE-v-GoD, SC-v-AYAI, SK-v-TBO. You might well win...

[raz]

Of the 70's stuff, has to be Close to the Edge....
followed ever so closely by Relayer... a 51-49% one there!
Since then, I think that the one I like the most is
a 50-50 between their last two....
The Ladder and Magnification, which I think compliment each other very well.

I like the two long tracks on KtoA, but the rest are just fillers to me...

Raz

[Yes Oz]

Very interesting results from the voting. On the Yescapade fans forum they ran a similar poll and i collated the results the other day. The top ones there were,
1. CTTE
2. Relayer
3. The Yes Album
4. TFTO

Three of that four are the top three in this poll. Of course I realise some of you have probably voted in both polls, but I still thought I'd share that with you all in case some of you haven't discoverd the Yescapade forum.

[bjm0rwo]

For me it has got to be Tales.Maybe because of the time in my life that I received it...I don't know,it's the one recording I never could get tired of hearing.My first copy was on 8 track.Boy did that NOT WORK! I quickly traded up for the vinyl. Brian

[Rogo]

... to find a weak spot on Tormato. It's perfect! It was one of the first albums I ever seriously listened to, and for me it's up there with Abbey Road... All the songs are marvels of tight songwriting, everybody plays their asses off, and the sound is exactly right! This record shows how the band find a very "dynamic" balance between the huge forces constantly pulling in five different directions. Just listen to the opening of "On the silent wings of freedom": Enormous energy, enormous restraint. Or the final chorus of "Onward": Not lush, not sweet, stark, but beautiful...

[bjm0rwo]

Wow! Abbey Road huh? You must hear something different on Tormato than I do.This is the alblum that chased me away for about 10yrs.from Yes.That's cool though,to each his own.I did like Onward and also Silent Wings of Freedom.I found the over-all recording kind of lacking in creative ideas through most of it.It seemed that there wasn't a total commitment from all members on this one. Abbey Road huh? Brian

[Rogo]

...but nobody told me at the time that Yes songs were supposed to be long and epic, that they were often called a 'symphonic' band etc. I'd never heard of Close to the Edge! Imagine going from not ever seriously listening to music, via the Tormato experience, to musical adulthood! I really struggled with that album for months, and it became my education. To me, its very 'faults' are beauties!

[bjm0rwo]

In a way I envy you.I probably would have thought the same as you if I listened to Tornato without any other reference.It must of been fun and challenging to catch up on their previous works.

[ANTIOCH]

The poll is as it should be."Close to the Edge" & "Relayer" tied.
These (2) masterpieces are the book-ends by which all other YES albums fit within ( in my humble opinion anyway ) and I guess it comes down to the classical influences of Rick Wakeman or the jazzified Patrick Moraz influence that dictates preference ; as both contain flawless , brilliant material.

(p.s.)
I recall watching "Relayer" played 'live' at The Hollywood Bowl on the summer solstace in absolute amazement.

[Original_Shifty]

Who voted for the first album as the best?

Good for you. I think this album doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves. What a debut album!!