Not to be confused with
Yes, the group's self-titled debut album.
The Yes Album is the third album by British progressive rock band Yes. The first release to feature 24-year-old guitarist Steve Howe, the album was released on Atlantic Records in February 1971 in the UK, a month later in the United States. This was the album that finally set Yes' career alight, with the album reaching #4 in the UK and, eventually, #40 in the U.S., where it was a platinum seller. This was also the last Yes album for over twelve years to feature keyboardist Tony Kaye until his return in 1983's 90125.
The Yes Album set the stage for the band's route to superstardom with Fragile and Close to the Edge. This was their first commercial success and, reportedly, it had to be or Atlantic was going to cut them loose.
The album was recorded at an old farmhouse in Devon, England, which was then home to Langley Studios. Howe loved the place so much, that he later bought the building and surrounding land and now lives there.
Jon Anderson is credited as John Anderson on the album. Shortly afterwards he dropped the "h" from his first name, and on subsequent albums is credited as "Jon".
The album cover shows Tony Kaye with his foot in a cast. He had been in a car accident shortly before the picture was taken.
Features
Many features for which Yes became known are demonstrated for the first time on The Yes Album:
- The "democratic" balance of the band — with each member making his own significant contribution — is seen here for the first time.
- Steve Howe appeared with the band for the first time and played a very prominent role throughout.
- The spacey, electronic-sounding guitar effect in "Starship Trooper" was achieved via a flanger, a device that was relatively new at the time of the recording.
- Their first keyboard player, Tony Kaye, preferred the simple Hammond B-3 and piano over the "new" (at the time) Moog synthesizers that Anderson was interested in using. This became a cause of contention within the band and had an influence on the line-up change, bringing in Rick Wakeman and his array of electronic keyboards from Strawbs.
The Yes Album is generally considered a classic 1970s rock album and a highlight of the band's long career. The songs "Yours Is No Disgrace," "Starship Trooper" and "I've Seen All Good People" are still staples of classic rock radio. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 86 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
Songs
Howe's solo acoustic tune, "Clap" has always been a concert favourite of the band and their fans. It was heavily influenced by the Davy Graham track 'Fingerbuster'. The piece was written to celebrate the birth of Howe's son Dylan and the baby's attempts to clap in his pram.
According to Alice Cooper on his radio show Nights with Alice Cooper, Anderson claimed to have written the first two movements of "Starship Trooper" alone, though the "Disillusion" movement is credited to Chris Squire.
"Disillusion" evolved from an earlier song "For Everyone", which can be heard on Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 and The Word Is Live.
The Würm part of "Starship Trooper" is a continuous cadenza of chords (|G-Eb|C|) played by ensemble and repeated adlib: first accompaniment: electric guitar on the right stereo channel, then acoustic guitar, bass pedals, and drums from middle channel, then organ and bass guitar with vibrato and distortion from left channel, then starts the guitar solo, that swaps from side to side. The whole piece lasts about three and a half minutes. "Würm" originally evolved from a song called "Nether Street" by Howe's earlier group, Bodast. While "Wurm" (without the umlaut over the "u") is an Old English word for "dragon" (worm, wurm, wyrm), the Würm is a river in Germany.
Würm is also the name of a period of Alpine glaciation occurring ca 24,000–10,000 ybp, during the Last glacial period. Which suggests a correspondence to the "long winters longer / than time can remember" lyric.
Track listing
Side one
- "Yours Is No Disgrace" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Steve Howe/Tony Kaye/Bill Bruford) – 9:41
- "Clap" (Howe) – 3:17
- "Starship Trooper" – 9:25
- "Life Seeker" (Anderson)
- "Disillusion" (Squire)
- "Würm" (Howe)
Side two
- "I've Seen All Good People" – 6:56
- "Your Move" (Jon Anderson)
- "All Good People" (Chris Squire)
- "A Venture" (Jon Anderson) – 3:18
- "Perpetual Change" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire) – 8:54
The Yes Album (Atlantic 2400 101) reached #4 in the UK. It also reached #40 in the U.S. during a chart stay of 50 weeks.
2003 remaster bonus tracks
- "Your Move" (Single Version) - 3:00
- "Life Seeker" (Single Version) - 3:28
- "Clap" (Studio Version) - 4:02
Personnel
Reissues
- 1988 – Atlantic – CD
- 1994 – Atlantic – CD (Remastered)
- 2001 – JPN Limited Edition – ???
- 2003 – Rhino – LP & CD (Remastered with bonus Tracks )
Rhino reissue
The Yes Album was remastered and reissued in 2003 by Rhino Records with several bonus tracks, including a studio version of "Clap." The original LP and CD version of The Yes Album refer to the song as "The Clap," given Jon Anderson's erroneous introduction of the song on the original release (although it may merely be the case that by strongly emphasizing the d in "this is a song called clap" it gives the impression of an extra syllable such as could be interpreted as the word 'the.') The Rhino reissue clears this matter up and correctly refers to the song as "Clap" on the traycard, as Steve Howe intended.
Sources
- The Yes Album, CD booklet essay, Bill Martin, c.2003
- AllMusicGuide.com
- "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c.2002
- Prog Archives: The Yes Album
