Customer Reviews

Yes

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Yes" is the original debut album from Yes not to be confused with "The Yes Album," which was their third album but the first one with which most people would be familiar. "Yes" is not as strong an album, but it is a lot better than you would expect given the level of performance excellent you expect from the group down the road, especially since at this point you have Peter Banks on guitar and Tony Kaye doing the assorted keyboard work. Most of the songs are written by vocalist Jon Anderson and bass player Chris Squire, along with covers of songs by Lennon & McCartney ("Every Little Thing") and Crosby & McQuinn ("I See You"). It is rather strange to thing of the Beatle and the Byrds being major influences on Yes, but there you go. This is an album for lifelong fans of the group to check out, now that it has been reissued. Knowing where the Yes sound ends up, you can hear it in embryonic form, most notably on "Harold Land," which most anticipates the multi-part suites that would consume an entire record side on the group's best albums. However, when you hear the driving sound of the opening cut, "Beyond and Before," you will wonder who you are listening to. Banks does some interesting guitar work on both of the cover songs, especially the atypical version of the Beatles song.


This 2003 reissue is impressive because the bonus tracks add up to more playing time than the 8 original tracks on the album. The informative liner notes are from Mike Tiano. There early and finished versions of three songs, including "Something's Coming" from "West Side Story," which particularly fits Anderson's distinctive vocal style (you will be reminded of Yes' later cover of Simon & Garfunkle's "America"). The before and after approach with these bonus tracks is quite interesting. There are few opportunities this good to go back and look at what one of your favorite groups was doing when they were first starting out, which makes this expanded reissue of "Yes" a real treat.

Other reviews of this album have pegged it as sort of an embryonic precursor of things to come from Yes. I suppose that's fair--but for my money, that is one of the beautiful things about the album: The sweet vocals, catchy melodies and potent Squire_Bruford rhythm section don't get buried behind overly complex arrangements, synthesizers or too many chords in too few seconds. It's fair to call this a pop album with a progressive edge, and this reissue not only brings it out in crisp sound quality gloriously superior to the 1994 Atlantic reissue, but also boasts six bonus tracks (two versions of each of three songs.) Both versions of Stephen Stills' "Everydays" are superior to the "Time & A Word" album version (not to mention miles ahead of the Buffalo Springfield original), and both versions of "Dear Father" have a driving, urgent quality absent from the version previously available on "Yesterdays," and now on the reissue of the above-mentioned second Yes album. About the only disappointing thing I can come up with regarding this cd is: I had hoped when I learned it was being expanded and remastered that one of the bonus cuts would be the "Yesterdays" remix of "Survival," which features some pretty psychedelic phasing on the choruses. That aside, I could not recommend this product any more highly for fans of late Sixties-early Seventies British progressive pop/rock. _I love it; think I'm going to throw it on again right now.

Having discovered Yes's music in the second half of 1996, and have been a Yesfan since then, there's no doubt that admist all the other prog-rock bands I've listened to from then until present day, no other seems to quite match the expansiveness and unique style of Yes.

Having owned the mid '90s Atlantic remaster for a long time now, and knowing how most of Rhino's remastering makes a lot of these old albums sound fresh again, as well as the bonus tracks (which are nothing new, but still a worthy listening) were my enticements to snatch up this, the first Elektra/Rhino reissue of the Yes catalog.

One word can only describe what my ears heard with the opening bass-line of "Beyond and Before"...WOW! The remastering really has bought more warmth to the mid range, more depth into the low-end, and more crispness into the high-end EQ's. My main gripe with the old remaster from Atlantic was that it was way too muddy and there just wasn't that 'warmth' in Jon Anderson's vocals. Also it seems they've done their best in cleaning up alot of the tape hum / hiss noise that usually is a problem with old albums. It's still here (to an extent), but what can you expect from a 1969 issuing? They got around this well.

As for the bonus tracks, they are nothing new. Everyone's heard, by now, these versions of "Dear Father', "Everydays' and "Something's Coming". However, these versions are much, much better sounding than what you hear on the BBC Recordings double-CD set released several times over in 1998-1999. This is not saying I have anything against that compilation..it still gives one an idea of how Yes performed in a live setting back then, plus those tapes were badly deteriorated. The first versions of this trio of songs have the same quality as the rest of the original LP this CD contains. Better yet, these versions are in stereo.

The 2nd set of this trio of songs are mono mixes and have slight changes.

With the tehnical side through, now for the tracks.

There's early signs of Yes's forthcoming sounds that would be matured by the time "The Yes Album" and "Fragile" would come around. For me, the standout tracks here are "Survival", "Every Little Thing", "Beyond and Before" and "Harold Land". All of these to me, show the beginnings of what was to come for Yes.
"Yesterday & Today" and "Sweetness" are sappy in lyrical sense, but still worth a listen.

"Harold Land", (so many songs dealing with war were written back then in those days when war seemed to be on everyone's mind....can't blame Yes for that. I wasn't around for those years, but hearing songs like this tend to give em an idea just how people thought and felt about war back then...and also present day with all the current events and what-not.) is one of their attempts to tell a story without the spacy, mystical lyricisim Jon would throw into later works (Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans, for example)..

There are 2 covers here, the aformentioned "Every Little Thing" (orig. by The Beatles) and "I See You" (orig. by The Byrds), which has great jazz-like drumming by Bill Bruford. "Beyond and Before" lyrically has leanings of later Yes works, and "Survival" as well, along with its odd chord changes....this song goes all over the musical scale.

Overall, great remastering work by Rhino, and a good look into what Yes would become just a short 2 years later.

I just bought this CD last night, and spent the rest of night listening to the disc over and over again. I've already had the previous Atlantic remasters, but this 2003 release really stands out! The opening "Beyond & Before" got me immediately hooked, with clearer bass and vocals, fresher drums sounds. It definitely puts the album several years forward - it adds new "environment", a lot fresher. "Survival" really kicks out Squire bass - and Anderson vocals has more distinctive "feel" (so you can "feel the sound" :-)), in short, it sounds even better than the version that opens the "Highlights" album several years back.
To be honest, this album used to be the one that I rarely listened to, despite claiming myself as Yes-fans for years. This release, however, refresh me so much that I begin to really listen to the whole albums (Survival and B&B used to be the songs that I like from the album).
The extras are also worth to get.
Now, let's hope Rhino will continue the remaster release - with CTTE, TFTO, Relayer, GFTO and Tormato...who knows what we'll get...20 minutes CTTE over the 18 minutes version?

I listened to this album often in my high school days. Yes, under the influence. The two epic covers here are wonderful ("Every Little Thing", "I See You"). The essence of a mind-exploring experience. Today, I still can't wrap my head around this album. I should dig it out again for another go-'round...in a hind-sight way. Five stars!

The "first" Yes album is full of some strong harmony vocals and some great rock/jazz organ and guitar from Tony Kaye and Peter Banks respectively.
Overall this is a strong debut and was mainly made up of the songs from their live act at the time. Early strengths are Beyond and Before, Harold Land, Survival, and the majestic Something's Coming. Also I See You features an unaccompanied Jazzy guitar solo from underrated Peter Banks.

Yes' first album was recorded in the Spring and released in July 1969 with the line up consisting of Jon Anderson (then spelled John), Chris Squire, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford. It was produced by Paul Clay. The album was released with two different covers with one for Europe and another for America although the album failed to chart in either place.

As for the album itself, it starts off with a rather hard edged song called Beyond And Before written by Chris Squire and Clive Bailey. Next up, the band absolutely splendid version of The Byrds' I See You that blows the original out of the water. This isn't a by the numbers cover but rather Yes puts their own stamp on it and makes it their own. Yesterday and Today is a beautiful ballad written by Jon Anderson and shows that he already had a natural talent for these sorts of things. Looking Around ends the first half of the original album on a strong note. The second half begins with Harold Lane and is followed by a smoking take of The Beatles' Every Little Thing which the band, once again, reinvents. Sweetness is full of...well...sweetness. Survival ends the original album on a strong note. The bonus tracks include two different versions each of Everydays, Dear Father and Something's Coming. The sound quality on this remaster is top notch.

Yes' first release is one of the greatest debut albums ever. All of the songs are outstanding, and there is a little bit of everything, from soft songs like YESTERDAY AND TODAY to the faster I SEE YOU. The re-mastering of this 1969 release is nothing short of amazing. BEYOND AND BEFORE sounds crystal-clear, and is a vast improvement from the earlier CD release. There's a certain mood with this album, and maybe the original album cover depicts it best, as they're outside on a cloudy day. For some reason, the mood of the music fits that album cover. I was disappointed to see the new and far simpler cover, but was delighted that they decided to scrap the original cover for TIME AND A WORD (their 2nd album), because Peter Banks isn't even on that cover in 1970. Instead, they put Steve Howe on the cover, as he was just entering the band, though Banks played on it. Speaking of Banks, I'm blown away by some fans and critics that say that Peter Banks is "No Steve Howe." Okay, let's put this into proper perspective: This album came out in 1969---before Moog synthesizers, and while the band was obviously still developing their definitive sound. Why would ANYONE want Peter Banks' work to sound like Steve Howe's on this album? It wouldn't fit!!! Peter Banks was awesome on the first 2 albums, and his stuff is impressive for the type of material they were generating. No one knows what he would have done after 1970, so people can't judge him against Howe. Peter Banks sounds pretty damn good to me!!!! He has some very recognizable riffs, and ones that have withstood the test of time. He also does very well acoustically. To sum up, one can't judge Banks, because he was from a different technological era, as well as a different style of music. However, he is the one who invented their signature unique guitar sound. The song, I See You is the first song to feature the moody carnival-like guitar sound that defines Yes. I highly recommend this CD, because it's their roots that we're listening to, and the sound is outstanding. You'll love it, and YES.....you'll love the guitar!!!! 10/10 P.S. It was Peter Banks who named the group!!!! Also, Jon Anderson asked Peter Banks if he'd like to rejoin the group in 1995----he knew how talented he was!!!!

Though not the "classic Yes" that everyone knows and loves, this debut demonstrates the rather interesting synthesis that Jon Anderson and Chris Squire were attempting to create with a lot of charm. The mission statement was to be a strong vocal group w/ harmonies AND be a powerful instrumental outfit (a combination that seemed to be absent w/ many of the bands in London at that time). The Beatles & Byrds covers demonstrate the group's influences while augmenting the arrangements with strong instrumental updates. "Beyond And Before" is a great opener that stands somewhere between the early Who and the Fifth Dimension. "Survival" has the band sounding a lot like the Association. In all, a great album that came out about 5 years before Yes fans starting scratching their heads asking, "what the hell is Jon Anderson singing about?"

A lot of remastered cds do not show a major improvment over the origional release.... but this one will sonically move you. If you liked the origional, you'll love the remaster!