Listening to YES: YES, Side One (vinyl) Reaction and Opinion

[@lenpey]

I See You is an old Byrds song. David Crosby was in the Byrds prior to CSN.

[@allanmartin1005]

Cannot wait for "Time and a Word", Astral Travler will blow you away, it was a shape of things to come, the guitar rift still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Another good one Jim.

[@jeffschielka7845]

Aaah YES, back to the beginning where it all started. The rest as they say is history!😎

[@saurian11]

Yesterday and Today. A Beautiful Song!!!!!!!!!

[@bradgrauer9148]

There was a song that they did called yes that was with Trevor Horn as lead singer when John Anderson left for awhile

[@yes_head]

You're thinking of "Tempus Fugit" from Drama.

[@JJ8KK]

From Day One, YES's special magic was the rest of the band mates realizing that they needed to build Their Sound around *Chris Squire's Industrial-Melodic bass inspirations.* It made them unique within what was then the prog universe. Then of course, they found a jazz drummer--Bruford--who injected his own experimental flair into the sound, creating the Best Ever "rhythm section" in Progressive Rock. Add to that Jon Anderson's unique vocal timbre & his own sense of melody+harmony made them Stand Out within their experimental genre. Peter Banks & Tony Kaye were not musical slouches and were able to make the kinds of contributions the band needed. Adding virtuoso musicians Howe & Wakeman later generated compositions of unique majesty that will be remembered & appreciated 150 yrs from now. (shaking my head in wonder...)

[@jamesgabbert9375]

I absolutely love this album. The seeds of what's to come are there, but in it's own right it is such a great album. I love the cover versions. So creative.

[@JimNewstead]

Couldn't agree more!

[@randyhammill9021]

The Yes Album was named that because even though they had released two albums before, the band felt they had finally put together an album that fully defined the Yes sound. They felt it made a significant statement and was the first “Yes” album.

[@azkenmedia79]

Kinda fitting that the first notes on this album are hammered out by Chris Squire, given how central he was to everything that came after.

[@concatinate]

I do love the warm, slightly rough psychedelia of the earlier Yes! And it's as thoroughly English as a cold day at the beach.

[@LedBeatle-vz4ui]

Can't wait for you to hear the next one! "Time and A Word" is where Yes really caught my attention. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this album, but their second one appealed to me even more. "Then" is one of my favorite Yes songs, and "Sweet Dreams" may be simple lyrically yet it really inspired me and made me feel happy. "Astral Traveler" is very interesting and experimental. I love the vocal effects on it! I'm really glad I dove into their catalog during one of the craziest years of my life (last year).

[@paulvalletta01]

Great choice Jim, this album really captures the sixties sound, out of the sixties into the 70s, great choice again.

[@JJ8KK]

I believe *I See You* was a Crosby song when he was with The Byrds, if I'm not mistaken...

[@Frankincensedjb123]

First two albums weren't bad, but there was a quantum leap to The Yes Album, and the only difference was Steve Howe. That says a lot. I remember Anderson saying that writing with Howe helped him write better and more prolifically.

[@fabrikk60]

That's true, but Peter Banks was a fine guitarist in his own right. When Howe first joined Yes and needed to play some of the old songs on stage, he often copied Peter's solos verbatim, realizing they couldn't really be improved on.

[@ChromeDestiny]

Beyond and Before dates back to the pre Yes band Mabel Greer's Toyshop. That band featured Chris Squire and Peter Banks in it's original lineup. Jon Anderson joined during the last days of Mable Greer's run then the group morphed into Yes.

[@doiminiclynch5208]

Great album, great video. Thanks

[@joolz4848]

You need to get hold of the album The Haunted Melody by the Steve How Trio, There are jazz covers of the Yes tracks, Mood ofr a Day, Siberian Kattru and Close to the Edge.

[@Biofilmz]

I haven't heard this since my bed room as a teenager - great to hear! It is often said that Steve Howe was influenced by jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, but you can really hear the influence in Peter Banks as well. This was way better than I remembered.

[@rcpsammy7186]

So glad you're back to more Yes... This is one of my favorites, absolutely fascinating seeds planted here...Peter Banks doesn't get enough credit in the Yes legacy. Btw, I own 4 pristine copies of this album, with the US and UK album covers. Glad you're digging this. 👍

[@fabrikk60]

I was pretty happy on the day I got a Japanese copy of this album, and could thus get rid of the ugly North American copy.

[@flomalheur7467]

I haven't listened to the Yes album in a long time. Thanks for inviting me to do this. They haven't really found their style there yet. "Looking Around" is probably the closest to that. With "Yesterday And Today" you can already hear a bit of Anderson's later solo work. By the way, "I See You" is original by the Byrds and "Every Little Thing" (other side) by the Beatles.

[@joeychicago6436]

Nice album, you get to see all of the components slowly configuring themself to become YES. Bruford and Squire in 'I see you'. I love Anderson & Kaye in 'Yesterday & Today' Ahhh, I rough sound of Squires bass in 'Looking Around'

[@AllCopsAreBigchungus]

Harold Land and Survival on side 2 are some of my favorites off this record.

[@mike-zf9bx]

Absolutely amazing band, that Bass is Huge this surely had influenced most rock bands. Brilliant Album 11/10

[@lesblatnyak5947]

Chris Squire and Yes the greatest show on earth. These tunes are brilliant and and great insight to Jon and Chris's god given talent thats why I saw Chris 36 glorious times.

[@ericanderson8886]

the memories of skips, lol, them days, but love Yes. Survival on side two is one of my favorites.

[@shyshift]

I didn’t find out about this band until The Yes Album was out in 1971. I thought The Yes Album was their first because the first two hadn’t been released in the USA until much later for some reason.

[@frankmarsh1159]

Wikipedia says the first album got a positive review from Rolling Stone and the Arizona Republic so they had get copies from somewhere. And Time and a Word was released in America with a different cover than the British version in November 1970. Yes Album came out in 1971...

[@Lightmane]

YES. Awesome that you're doing this. So few people have heard their first 2 albums.

[@IllumeEltanin]

^what @Lightmane said^ Totally looking forward to your Yes journey by album side. I would love for you to do the same with the Moody Blues Magnificent Seven albums, if you don't know them in their entirety, from Days of Future Passed to Seventh Sojourn. My personal favorite of those is Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, but they're all worthy.

[@Lightmane]

What@@IllumeEltaninsaid 😀

[@jeffschielka7845]

@@Lightmane 😎

[@Lightmane]

@@jeffschielka7845 😎

[@your_local_dummy4137]

This is a really good debut album. Yes in their formative stages. Always wonder why they choose the amazing path they did? In this album there are many styles. The start is very 60's the middle shows various influences but by the end of this side there are clear pointers of the direction they will go as the sound tends towards a prog style.

[@zepromz]

A little late to the conversation, but the best version of "Looking Around" you will ever hear is on the "Lost Broadcasts" DVD which I believe is on youtube if you search hard enough. Yes in the early days in glorious black and white-o-vision on German TV. it is an absolute treat.

[@mattleppard1970]

Brilliant! I’ve found someone who did the whole thing! Somehow lost my subscription to you, Jim. Glad I found it again. Beyond and Before ❤🎉

[@JimNewstead]

Well thanks goodness for that, and welcome back!

[@mattleppard1970]

@@JimNewstead I loved chatting w you live. You also have System 7! 🙏 Pls do another! My wife keeps asking: why are you watching yourself - I think I’m about 10 years older but also a bald beardy Englishman 😂

[@rollomaughfling380]

I slept on this album, even as a Yes fan, for so long it's embarrassing. When I finally got to it, I was like "Geez, even Lester Bangs gave this a great review-what was I thinking?!" Just a banger, right out of the gate.

[@palantir135]

Oh yeah. My first album was The Yes Album. Remember this album exists from your first review. A proto-Yes album I would call it. A bit Beatles, a bit Crosby Stills & Nash, a bit Jefferson Airplane. Not bad at all but different. Thank you for your reviews of albums by Ghost, Transatlantic and Lion Shepherd, Riverside, Lunaric Soul. I listened to more music by them and I quite like them. Definitely going to stay in my collection. Do you know Antti Martikainen? Quite interesting music.

[@Grithron2]

1. ICYDK - The expanded CD version of the album is worth finding - it has two versions of Something's Coming (one with the chair verse, one without), the long lost alternate single version of Everydays, which many prefer to the one on Time+Word, and two more versions of Dear Father (though neither can compete with that raw-throated BBC take which most prefer). 2. Jon's "first thoughts, left unedited" lyrics are often a weak spot, but especially so on this album - where later he would simply sound like "broken English", here we have lines that are grammatically correct yet brush-daft 3. For a short while toward the end of his tenure, I See You became a vehicle for Banks to play a Jimmy Page-style epic guitar solo. One such live recording exists - prepare to be underwhelmed (very silly musical quotations, random and forced-sounding Hendrixy noise sections, and not enough Bruford input).

[@rogerpitcher6540]

So glad you didn’t edit out the skipping! Kudos Jim.

[@jeffschielka7845]

Read my comments.

[@JimNewstead]

I'd never do that...do that.... do that....do that.... do that.... do that....

[@jeffschielka7845]

@@JimNewstead Hey now. That was my comment. Lol!

[@fabrikk60]

The very first notes of the very first Yes album are Chris soloing on bass. How appropriate. In some ways his tone was the best on the first two albums. I'm the proud owner of an early 70s Japanese pressing of this album. AND I have a T-shirt of the cover, which does turn heads!

[@sjord67]

You're right when you say it sounds good. I still use this album first pressing as a benchmark when I change bits of my system to make sure it sounds as good as It did before.

[@JimNewstead]

It is such a GOOD sounding record!

[@akaFrits1]

It's a great album indeed, carrying the seeds of their later work. Btw, young Mr. Bill was 19? y/o when he joined Yes.. so much talent.

[@Lightmane]

Every time I listen to this album I like it more. I think that's what good music does to you. I'd love to hear more thoughts from you on what you thought of each song.

[@jeffschielka7845]

Agree.😎

[@Lightmane]

@@jeffschielka7845 😎

[@jeffschielka7845]

@@Lightmane Have you read the articles on Tony Kaye's first solo album coming out? Age Of Innocence. It is a concept album about 9-11. This one i am excited about!

[@Lightmane]

@@jeffschielka7845 I read a little about it and it sounds really cool. Hope it is.

[@jeffschielka7845]

@@Lightmane 🎹🎹🎹😎

[@Azabaxe80]

I absolutely love this record. Although I do not rate Peter Banks nowhere near as highly as I do Steve Howe, I love his tone in this album. I also love how straightforward this record is. I was a Yes fan and was familiar with this album before I became a Byrds fan. My surprise when I realized that "I See You" was a McGuinn/Crosby song was huge. "Yesterday and Today" is to this day one of my favorite Yes songs. There's precious little that I don't love about this side. The only thing that hasn't aged well here is "Looking Around", but here's a Yes song that you can dance to. There wasn't one of those until "Owner of a Lonely Heart" almost 15 years later. BTW, my Yes playlist, appropriately name The Yes House, starts with the first three songs on this record.

[@yes_head]

Ahhh, good ol' vinyl. :-D The first two albums are surprisingly good, considering few in the band had any professional recording experience (Jon probably had the most.) But they had been playing live for about a year and were a pretty tight unit going into the studio for the debut. The Squire-Bruford rhythm section was already firing on all cylinders and turning heads (Phil Collins was an early fan.) Jon's voice was already remarkable, even if he hadn't found his own voice as a lyricist yet. Peter Banks has always been underrated IMO, and Tony's contributions as a harmonic and textural foundation are sorely missed when you get to the later Howe-Wakeman "fight for every space" wars. But even if the debut is a holdover to the late 60s psych era and Time and a Word's use of strings was an uneven experiment, the manifesto for much of Yes' classic music was already at work. And working well.

[@Nebuloid1]

Always put this album in my Yes top 3, don't really understand the negativity...

[@inckyprog6924]

Nice to hear the old album again. There is another nice song from 1969: "Something's Coming". For this they "edited" a song from the West Side Story. Really interesting. However, I don't know how to get this song on vinyl.

[@ChromeDestiny]

I think the only way to get the studio version on vinyl is on the b-side of Yes' first single Sweetness. They also cut some versions for the BBC that you can get on vinyl. Yes' original guitarist Peter Banks has said Yes' cover of Something's Coming is the closest early Yes got to capturing their live sound in the studio.

[@Anders2112]

Anyone notice the Mission Impossible theme in the middle of I See You? :D

[@shyshift]

Thank you Jim.

[@ryanr5319]

I know old reaction, but had to comment in agreeance of your Yardbirds mention. 😀

[@tonydunbar6251]

Jim, love your reaction...Was a brilliant debut...Peter Banks was bloody good , So was Kaye on Keyboards...Unfortunately Jon Anderson was incredibly ambitious and sacked them down the line for Howe and Wakeman. ..Amazing story this band over the years....

[@pasit1738]

This sounds really groovy at times. Their compulsion for harmony vocals does reach the state of saturation every now and then. Fortunately there's more single vocals in the on later albums.

[@markjacobsen8335]

Those little skip loops are most likely from something in the groove. The wood glue treatment and a wash afterward will probably fix that.

[@JimNewstead]

Thanks - I'll try it!

[@lenpey]

A Time and a Word (their 2nd) seems to be the orphan Yes album. Nobody I know likes it. Nobody but me. It's the same lineup as the first, plus an orchestra. I think it has more beautiful work on it. Covers and originals.

[@cindydahl9635]

Takes so much time to get around to you you you, there's nothing like vinyl 😛🤑😋😋

[@TrevRockOne]

I very seldom listen to any Yes that doesn't feature Steve Howe, but I'll listen along, especially for some more Squire/Bruford greatness.

[@JimNewstead]

How was it for you?

[@TrevRockOne]

@@JimNewstead It's still a good listen. There's definitely great stuff on the album, but the whole thing comes together for me much more once Howe is there. Of course, the classic Yes stuff is a very, very high bar to meet.

[@fabrikk60]

Banks and Howe are very different guitarists. Both have a lot to recommend them. I'm so glad I've never fallen into the fool's trap of "rating" musicians as to which is "best". It's very juvenile, and really impedes a proper broad-minded appreciation for music.

[@jeffschielka7845]

Best part of this video was the skipping! Brought back so many good, good, good, good, good, memories! Lol!

[@JimNewstead]

Hahaha! Not planned, but glad you enjoyed it!

[@jeffschielka7845]

@@JimNewstead Still play my albums. Good ol' discwasher works like a charm. Albums are over 45 years old and look brand new.

[@theanunnaki334]

Igorrr… you have to roll the rrr’s Best band I have heard for the last 10 years. No other band compares to them. They are in a genre all of their own. I love a band that pushes the boundaries of music. Please do some Igorrr.

[@fernandotor3266]

Bill bruford my god!😮

[@lesblatnyak5947]

Jim you should listen to Tormato next. The songs are shorter with a huge variety of their talent showing. Their rock out happens on ReleaseRelease.

[@JimNewstead]

I'll get to it..... but not yet. Need to carry on in chronological order for now!

[@jeffschielka7845]

@@JimNewstead Agree!

[@ganazby]

Yes were a great band right from the start. Up until, well, true believers know.

[@IllumeEltanin]

Regarding this album getting some acclaim as a debut album, this is from Wikipedia: 'Melody Maker columnist Tony Wilson chose Yes and Led Zeppelin as the two bands "most likely to succeed".'

[@jeffschielka7845]

And Rolling Stone hated it. Never gave YES anything positive in 50 years!

[@frankmarsh1159]

@@jeffschielka7845 Actually Rolling Stone gave the first Yes Album a positive review. They hated Led Zeppelin though.

[@fabrikk60]

@@jeffschielka7845 Which is why RS is a waste of time and space. I've never once sought or valued their opinion on any music.

[@martinreed5964]

not a great album to be fair, Steve Howe kicked them into top gear

[@JimNewstead]

Awww, it's pretty flipping good! I agree they became a different band later, but that doesn't make this a bad album.

[@paulprendergast3184]

Definitely not from their golden age.....

[@cindydahl9635]

Takes so much time to get around to you you you, there's nothing like vinyl 😛🤑😋😋