The Yes Album (1971)Jon Anderson - Lead Vocals
Bill Bruford - Drums
Steve Howe - Guitar, Vocals
Tony Kaye - Keyboards
Chris Squire - Bass, Vocals
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The Yes Album was not the first album by Yes, but it was the first one released in the U.S., and its title could easily be that of a debut album, a clever alternative to the standard eponymous release. It was also the first album to have a song break into the U.S. charts ("I've Seen All Good People"), and most important to many, this is the first album with Steve Howe on guitar. And finally, it is the first Yes album to contain all original material; no covers. It is generally considered the first album in the classic 70's main sequence.
Thus far, I've tried to somewhat downplay the significance of Steve Howe joining the band, partly because IMO Peter Banks is a very underrated guitarist and did an excellent job on the first two albums, and partly because I feel a bit sorry for anyone who is kicked out of a band on the verge of superstardom. Yes claims that the split was amicable, or even that Banks quit; Banks says he was fired.
The biggest change that came with this album wasn't the sound so much as it was the songwriting and playing. We still have a lot of instrumental excursions between verses and elsewhere throughout the songs, but they are more sophisticated. Guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums are all very strong and each given their moments to shine, as before. The three-part harmonies are still present, with Howe providing the low tenor harmony as Banks used to do. The difference is the songs themselves. The songs on this album show both greater ambition and greater maturity than those on the first two albums.
Side One opens with "Yours Is No Disgrace" which at nine and one-half minutes was the longest Yessong to date. In a way, it starts similarly to how the previous album starts; with a fanfare. This time, however, its a tutti fanfare from Mr. Howe with Mr. Squire and Mr. Bruford, and they are joined by Mr. Kaye providing contrast on his blazing Hammond Organ. "Yours Is No Disgrace" goes through many changes, but keeps returning to the same theme, the same verse and chorus, so it never feels like a song artificially padded by long solos, or composed of shorter bits pieced together. It's a song that just happens to be pretty long and have a lot of changes, and it was to become a Yes concert staple for years to come.
We are then treated to the first of what would eventually become many acoustic guitar solos from Steve Howe. I think it says something when you're the new guitarist in a band, and they let you have an acoustic solo, even placing it second on the album. The tune was named "Clap" by Steve Howe, but the recording is live and you can hear it being introduced as "The Clap" by Jon Anderson, and it is also titled that way on the album. I guess if you're the new guitarist and they let you have an acoustic solo, you take it, and you don't complain that they got the name wrong. Side One concludes with "Starship Trooper", another nine-and-a-half minute song, this time a three-part suite and another fan favorite.
Side Two opens with "I've Seen All Good People", a two-part suite consisting of "Your Move" and "All Good People" and as mentioned, the first song to break into the U.S. charts. The album is rounded out with "A Venture", a short song by Anderson which opens and closes with piano solos by Tony Kaye, and "Perpetual Change", another longish song (just under nine minutes) and whose title would become something of a joke mantra for the band itself, among some fans. Yes has released 20 studio albums over the course of 40 years, but have never gone more than two consecutive albums without a personnel change. Almost prophetically, this album was their first change, and contains the song "Perpetual Change".
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Flash (1972)After
The Yes Album, Tony Kaye would leave Yes for over a decade, and join a new band being formed by former Yesman Peter Banks. The debut album of the band Flash is somewhat more progressive than
Time and a Word, consisting of only five songs, three of which are nine minutes or longer, and the instrumental work is strong, resembling early Yes for obvious reasons. In terms of "progressivity", it is about comparable to
The Yes Album. I encourage fans of early Yes to check out this excellent first album by something of a Yes offshoot.
Tony Kaye left Flash after the first album, and they did not replace him, although Peter Banks did play some keyboards on the second album,
In the Can. It is not as strong as the debut album, and IMO the third album was weaker still, so basically I'm not going to follow Flash anymore in this discography.