The Yes Album- Rating out of 5?

[soundchaser09]

You have to clap for this one, all good people on this forum, what are your thoughts on this classic? Its no disgrace in my eyes!

[Old Frothingslosh]

5 without hesitation

My favorite of all the albums regardless of time or lineup

[Davy]

Same here!

[Gilly Goodness]

4.


Great songs but not the whole truckload of magic dust Rick would bring on the next one.

[alex peters]

A 5 from me. As good as any Yes album. A true masterpiece

[Homemade Parachute]

Solid 5. If I almost never play it (I almost never do), it is perhaps because it’s gone on to fuel, what, 30-50% of almost any given Yes live album? It’s all here, just a phenomenal jump from TAAW, and a blueprint for the next 50 years without an ounce of fat or stray notes.

[Chris2210]

For all that to some degree it was a transitional album, it's perhaps 90% there. I also think it's one of, if not the most solid albums in terms of songs. It doesn't put a foot wrong and it signalled with a bang that Yes really had arrived. The debut was a solid psychedelic album followed by a slight misstep IMO with TaaW. Fragile may have been a more progressive album, but the Yes album is a far more consistent one that achieves what it sets out to far more consistently.

I think it's the perfect album to introduce the band, both then and now.

[Ceasar’s Palace]

5. As you might expect...
Not that crazy about Clap, though. Never liked the boogie-woogie side of Steve much. (Ram is much worse)
Another thing is Tony. He’s fine on most tracks, but Rick would have created more interesting moments for himself
on A Venture and Starship Trooper.

[Ant45]

5: It’s the album which introduced me to Yes back in 1971. Fragile then cemented my lifelong following. If I were to go to the proverbial Desert Island allowed to take just one Yes Album I would have to toss up between this and CTTE because I would not be able to decide. A fantastic album with four absolutely top tracks which to my mind surpass the four main tracks on Fragile, even though Heart of the Sunrise is my favourite of the eight

[Somis Sound]

TYA and CTTE were 2 of my first 70's Yes tapes. Absolutely love them both. Gave CTTE a 5, but after the years went by, Perpetual Change started to bug me, especially the chorus. Have to give it a mighty 4.

[Soundwaveseeker]

The Yes Album is not only a great prog album, it's a pretty great classic rock album in general.

The GOOD:

Solid material, a large leap from the end of the 60's into the unknown 70's. What you know as 'classic Yes' starts here. Long stuff, extended bits, tight structures, bold moves. Steve Howe wastes no time making use of his new position as Yes' new hotshot guitarist. He contributes as if he was always there, and supplies a lot of tasty playing. He's already on fire here, just listen to Yours Is No disgrace. I valued Peter Banks, but with Howe they got someone with similar guitar skills but with better songwriting chops as well.

Yes ups their scope, going for 'suites' for the first time. There are at least three radio staples on the Yes Album. We know what they are, so I wont go into them. Yes Album is the perfect Yes album for the casual fan, one who generally likes 'classic rock' and usually goes for Zeppelin, the Doobie Brothers, the Who, Little Feat - this is the Yes album you can find in their collection. They may like Yes a bit but don't go for every album and obsess over lineups and stuff. Just enough of a bite for the classic rock fan. The material is engaging but doesn't yet go into the deep end of perceived prog rock excess. The next step up to crystalizing their sound, yet accessible and rock & roll-friendly.

The last two tracks are my faves from the album and Perpetual Change is in my top 10 Yes songs ever. This version and the Yessongs version with the short Bruford solo and extended jam. Just sublime. A Venture is the one song that does hark back to the original lineup, I wonder if it was written prior to the Yes Album. Real tasty piano from Tony Kaye. Some may say it doesn't fit with all the longer pieces or that its a throwaway. No way I say.

The BAD:

Well, I like Clap and all, though it's odd to have a live track, and a solo one at that, on a studio album. They could have used another group song like 'For Everyone' instead. But we know the album and it would be missed if it wasn't there.

The UGLY:

This is the last album with Tony Kaye for some time. I never had a problem with Tony Kaye. He had the best hammond sound of all the Yes keyboardists. I say he would have fit on Fragile. I don't think he'd be up for Topographic Oceans and those sort of things, his tenues with Yes were a little more Earthbound. One interview I read he cited Close To The Edge as an album he would have liked to have been on, I believe. So going forward, no more Kaye for the rest of the 70's. On The Yes Album, his playing is still tasty but a little downplayed, all the best soloing moments going to the new guy Howe. He does bring in some moog but its blended in. It's hard to defend him for this album when he was a little subdued here and soon to be replaced by Rick Wakeman, as the band were keen to have their own Keith Emerson.

But I still give Yes Album 5 stars, it's a great Yes album and it's a great rock album. And like with Fragile, getting tired of endless live versions of All Good People and the obligatory Starship Trooper? It's all made fresh again when hearing the album. It gets a 5.

[pjt]

5 of 5
My all time favourite. Also an album I never skip anything, even Venture doesn't bother me even a bit, because it fits so well into the album.