Songs: Beyond and Before,
I See You, Yesterday and Today, Looking Around, Harold Land, Every Little Thing, Sweetness, Survival
Bonus Songs: Everydays
(Single Version), Dear Father (Early Version # 2), Something’s Coming, Everydays (Early Version), Dear
Father (Early Version # 1), Something’s Coming (Early Version).
Comments:
It must have been great for talented young
musicians to make a debut rock album back in 1969. It was an era of innovation
ever since Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling
Stone showed the world that everything was possible in Rock Music.
Extremely strong commercial pressure did not exist at that time and new bands
were allowed to experiment with their musical ideas in the studios. And musical
references were widely available and first class. This was the era of the
Beatles, the Stones, the Doors, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock,
Led Zeppelin and so many other great bands and festivals. All kinds of rock
music were being explored and progressive rock was lurking around the corner.
It’s no wonder therefore that I love so many of the
debut albums from that period. They sound original, catchy, honest, crisp,
daring, sweet, simple, committed, spontaneous and to the point while at the
same time you will find that they are not always as coherent, complex, confident
and musically perfected as later work. But maybe that’s why I find them often
very attractive.
That’s also the case with the first album of
vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Peter Banks, bass player Chris Squire, drummer
Bill Bruford and Tony Kaye on keyboards. Jon and Chris wrote most of the songs
and they were clearly influenced by the Beatles. The two ballads on the album, Yesterday and Today and Sweetness could have easily been written
by Paul McCartney. They are beautiful love songs and Jon’s voice seldom sounded
so honest and tender as on these two songs. Beautiful piano as well.
And in the Album opener, the very confident rocker Before and Beyond, I imagine the guys
having listened to Sgt. Pepper and I Am the Walrus. Great guitar and very strong
harmony vocals.
And there’s the cover of Every Little Thing of course with a Day Tripper riff in the intro.
Still it’s a great version and it challenges the original as far as I’m
concerned.
I See You,
written for the Byrds by David Crosby and Roger McGuinn is transformed into a
jazzy groove that would do justice to any of the great Steely Dan Albums. It
shows that Peter is a very versatile guitarist who masters many styles. Bill
Bruford also shines on drums here.
Looking Around is
another rocker with great vocals and powerful interplay between organ and bass.
And finally we find Harold Land and Survival.
Both songs point to the direction of the Multi Part Suites that Yes would exploit
to full length in the future. The first song (about War as so many songs
in those days because of Vietnam) could easily have been written by Peter
Gabriel and has a Genesis –like feel to it. The latter however is pure Yes and
a foreplay of greater things to come.
The Bonus Tracks are awsome and give us three great
Yes Songs in early and final versions. It’s very interesting to note the
differences. My favorites are the Single Everydays
and Something’s Coming from West Side
Story, a song that perfectly fits Jon’s angelic voice.
Yes is certainly not a progressive rock album. It’s
much more a Pop album with a (prog) rock edge! That makes for a great listen
and the excellent sound quality of the re-mastered version as well as the great
bonus tracks only add to the pleasure.
Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)
Black = Good Songs
Green = Great Songs
Red = Could Be Better
Who should buy this Record: This
is a great start for getting into the music of Yes. I can safely recommend this
to everyone as long as you get yourself the Re-Mastered version.
