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Album Details

• Artist: Yes
• Album: The Yes Album
• Label: Atlantic
• Year of Release: 1971
• ME Rating: Indie Classic
• Reviewed by: gwhill on 2012-11-21

After two albums with guitarist Peter Banks, Yes chose to part ways with him. The replacement guitarist was Steve Howe. The first album recorded with Howe (and the only with this lineup) was confusingly entitled “The Yes Album.” Howe brought some new sounds to the table (most notably roots rock and roll, folk and country influences), but some of the sounds established on the first two Yes discs remained. The Yes Album was the first disc from the band to feature songs that ultimately became classics in the group’s catalog.

It should be noted that actually the bulk of the songs from The Yes Album wound up in that “classic” category. The only songs that don’t fit were just short interlude type pieces. Even so, one of those (an acoustic guitar solo entitled “Clap”) is still played by Yes (or technically Steve Howe) in concert to this day. The first classic piece on the disc was the opening number, “Yours Is No Disgrace.” It presented a  new kind of sound for the group with a less jazzy guitar sound dominating the cut.

Coming after the aforementioned guitar solo, “Starship Trooper” was generally in the same vein and “Yours Is No Disgrace,” but clearly not one that would be mistaken for the same song. Perhaps the best known number of the whole set “I’ve Seen All Good People” is constructed with basically two parts. The first a folk rock type sound with lots of multiple layered vocals. There are some allusions to John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.” After a time it moves out to a harder rocking arrangement.

After a short, but rather magical, interlude piece entitled “A Venture” the group closed the disc out with a rocker entitled “Perpetual Change.” It was another song destined for Yes classic status and perhaps to some degree because it really represented a lot of things that would become Yes trademarks. For one thing there were a lot vocal harmonies. Contrast between harder rocking mellower sounds were also present. The staccato section later in the piece even served as foreshadowing for sounds the group would create on the Fragile album.

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