The Cavern
Rock & Words
YES
"Catch my knowledge higher than the day
Lose as much as only you can show
Though you've seen me, please don't say a word
What I don't know, I have never shared”
“C”
Main Decade: 70's
Main Eras: Progressive (1968-???)
Key Members:
Jon Anderson, Vocalist
Chris Squire, Bass
Rick Wakeman, Keyboards
Steve Howe, Guitar
Bill Brufford, Drums
Key Songs:
Starship Trooper, Close To The Edge, Roundabout, We Have Heaven, Changes, Going For The One, Yesterday And Today, And You And I, The Clap, The Fish, Time And A Word, I've Seen All Good People, Owner of a Lonely Heart, The Gates Of Delirium, Heart Of The Sunrise, South Side of the Sky
Yes?
Yeah!
I say, no!!!
Well, maybe…
Generally, with Yes, you either love them or hate them. They're one of those bands that are hard to get into, and you have to listen to them a lot to develop a taste for them. Jon Anderson's voice isn't exactly beautiful. It can be quite grating because of the tone and the constant high notes. At first, Anderson's voice can sound like a drill, but once you get used to it, you realize he's an excellent vocalist, with an incredibly high range and an amazing array of vocal resources. Otherwise, Yes meets all the standards of a prog band: songs with huge, complex structures, exceeding six or seven minutes, and sometimes even ten; pompous lyrics with some philosophical attempts, which occasionally work, or medieval themes, which generally don't; a lot of classical influence; huge keyboard and guitar solos (which don't stand out much on these early albums, remember that neither Howe nor Wakeman were in the band yet); and, in general, that aura of great pretension that surrounds all prog bands.
I even like their epic, lengthy songs. Well, some of them. Yes manages to fill songs with ideas and great melodies to maintain interest in the complex, lengthy songs that would come in their prime. Of course, not all songs achieve this. With Yes's epic songs (and, frankly, with all epic songs in history), only two things can happen: They are works of art in terms of construction, tension management, transitions, multi-part arrangements, solos, and so on, becoming ass-kicking behemoths; or they remain pretentious attempts, becoming unbearably tedious and more effective than chloroform. The lyrics are definitely a weak point. Jon was a very spiritual guy, but I think the lyrics only made sense to him. They're not all terrible, and at least they don't delve into Tolkien-esque fantasy, but like many lyricists of the '70s, they get lost in their pursuit of depth, trying to sound more impressive than they actually are. Or maybe that was cool back then, because it seems to be the trend. In short, they're not as bad as Robert Plant, but they're not a genius like Peter Gabriel either. Anyway, as I was saying, Yes is a difficult band to get into on first listen. And especially on their early albums. But as they progress, finding their sound and incorporating the virtuosity of Howe and Wakeman, the band grows and matures along with their sound, reaching a tremendous level.
Yes was formed in '68, when Jon Anderson and Chris Squire met at the La Chasse club and realized they shared the idea of a rock group with complex vocal harmonies like Simon & Garfunkel. Anderson already had some singing experience from 1964 in various projects. Squire, for his part, had been in the band The Syn, had already recorded a couple of albums, and since the band broke up, he dedicated himself to perfecting his bass technique, seeking a very technical and fast style, à la John Entwistle. Chris was in a group called Marbel Greer Toyshop, and Jon began rehearsing with them as lead vocalist. The band's drummer quit and was replaced by a certain Bill Bruford, a drummer with a strong jazz influence who also had experience in other bands. Hey! We already have the foundation of Yes! They needed a more professional guitarist, so Chris invited Peter Banks, the former guitarist of The Syn, to replace their current, rather more improvisational one. The last to join was Tony Kaye on keyboards. With the lineup complete, they changed the ridiculous name to a much shorter and more positive one: Yes.
Their first performances were in mid-1968, focusing on taking covers and reworking them beyond recognition, with complex arrangements, long instrumental intros, intricate three-part vocal harmonies, and generally many classical arrangements, which at that time were more aimed at emulating the sound of the Moody Blues or Procol Harum. They soon began to attract attention. The Rolling Stones hired them for a private party. There, they impressed Cream so much that they ended up opening for their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall. By the end of the year, they were the house band at the exclusive Marquee. In early 1969, they signed with Atlantic, did a short tour, started getting radio airplay, and in the summer went into the studio to record their first LP.
Their self-titled debut album was released in July 1969 on the Atlantic label. The band still sounded a bit raw, with covers like the Beatles' "Every Little Thing" and the Byrds' "I See You" that weren't the best choices. At least the Beatles had a trillion better songs to choose from. All in all, it was a good debut, and Yes, with their album and first tour, established themselves as one of the most promising acts for the coming decade.
Their second album, Time and Word, from 1970, again featured two covers, but this time they dared to include orchestral sections. The result was mediocre, maintaining the same level and immaturity as their debut, with some improvements and setbacks. But Peter Banks was the most disappointed and affected by the inclusion of the orchestra and quit the band shortly after the recording process was completed. A guitarist from a band called Tomorrow, a certain Steve Howe, joined and appeared on the album cover, even though he didn't play a single note on the album, much to Banks's chagrin. Despite some initial setbacks, the album was a relative success.
The Yes Album was released in January 1971, with Howe now playing the guitar parts, and he also incorporated a host of exotic instruments to round out the sound. The album showcased the band's maturity, even though the recording sessions were more of a collage employing highly experimental techniques. The songs are good, powerful, particularly "Starship Trooper," considered Yes's masterpiece, and the album reached number 4 on the charts. After the tour for this album, in which they opened for Iron Butterfly and Jethro Tull, Tony Kaye quit due to problems with Steve Howe, who was demanding that he learn to use more complex keyboard instruments like the Mellotron and synthesizers, which were still relatively new to prog bands at the time. Following Kaye's departure, they recruited a classically trained keyboardist who had been in the band Strawbs. His name was Rick Wakeman, who would prove to be an enormous virtuoso on the keyboards and would propel Yes to their peak. It was more daring and virtuosic, offering new textures, greater depth, and a tremendous contribution to atmosphere. With Wakeman, we have the best lineup Yes ever had in its classic period.
The next album, now with Wakeman, was Fragile in '72, a work of art with a classic structure, featuring each member playing solos, and Wakeman sounding spectacular not only on keyboards but also on the Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, and a host of orchestral and choral sounds that left even Howe speechless. "Roundabout" became one of the group's signature tracks and propelled the album to commercial success, and the subsequent tour was also a smash hit. Officially, Yes could be considered part of the elite, the very best of Prog and Rock in general.
Close to the Edge, also from '72, would be their most ambitious album, with extremely long tracks of almost 20 minutes and a more extensive collage of sounds than previous albums. Despite its complexity and difficulty, the album was a success. But Bill Brufford left the drums to join King Crimson, where he supposedly would have the opportunity to contribute more. This departure broke up Yes's very brief supergroup. Alan White, who had played drums with John Lennon on his early solo albums, joined as a replacement. With White, they recorded the triple live album, Yessongs, from the world tour promoting Close.
Tales of Topographic Oceans was released in 1973, a double album that received mixed reviews. It seemed the band's spark was beginning to wane, and they were heavily criticized for the songs being so long that they filled an entire side of each vinyl record. Furthermore, the songs were beginning to sound cold, pretentious, and boring, with soulless solos inserted simply to impress. Rick himself was disgusted with the result and ended up quitting the group after completing the tour in 1974. Wakeman's replacement was the Swiss musician Patrick Moraz, whose background leaned more towards jazz than classical music, and his sound changed the group once again, a change that became noticeable on Relayer, released in late 1974. They released another track, "Gates of Delirium," a song inspired by Tolstoy's War and Peace, which clocked in at over 20 minutes. Although this song is tremendous and one of the most technically demanding for the band, the rest of their work sounded increasingly weak, pretentious, and far removed from the sound they had achieved in their classic lineup.
In 1976, Moraz was fired, and Wakeman returned to keyboards for the albums Going For the One and Tormato, after having released his solo albums. Subsequent albums began to decline, amidst the rise of the disco and punk movements, which were precisely a response to the progressive rock that Yes represented. In 1980, Jon Anderson left the group, but instead of finally disbanding Yes, they brought in the keyboardist and vocalist from The Buggles and released the dreadful Drama in 1980. The increasingly decadent band spent the 80s and 90s like a synth-rock dinosaur, breaking up and reuniting with lineup changes, producing lightweight music and occasionally unbearable experimentation, with some flashes of brilliance, but generally far from the level of the 70s. In the 90s, they even managed to briefly revive their virtuosic lineup with Anderson, Howe, Squire, Brufford, and Wakeman, recording a fairly decent live album called Keys to Ascension.
A great band, without a doubt, that at its peak was incredibly creative and powerful, with a truly dazzling quintet of virtuosos. Unfortunately, ego clashes and excessive pretension would be the band's creative end. Like most prog groups, they didn't know when to call it quits and clung to releasing garbage throughout the 80s. But in the 70s, they were undoubtedly a giant, especially with Fragile, Close to the Edge, and Yessongs, which are great albums, among the most representative of all prog rock. And live, they must have been a delight and a display of virtuosity, at least until the mid-70s.
In short, many love them and many more hate them. But not many people really know them, except for a handful of songs. Yes is a great band, a classic of Progressive Rock that certainly made mistakes and was very unstable, but for what they did in their early years, they deserve at least a C. So if you haven't heard them, I recommend you give them a listen.
By Corvan
Aug/30/2011
