Yes

Morphine

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 21, 1995)
• Original Release Date: March 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B0000009PN
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,830 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #62 in

  Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In a rock & roll world divided between guitar bands and synth bands, Morphine exist in a no-man's zone. The Boston trio has neither guitars nor keyboards and gets by with just drums, sax, and bass. In a pop universe where every singer, guitarist, and keyboardist instinctively goes to a higher note to attract attention, Morphine stay hunkered down low. Billy Conway's tuned drum kit, Dana Colley's baritone sax and Mark Sandman's baritone vocals and two-string slide bass all occupy the same low-end band of the sound spectrum. Morphine's odd configuration would have no more than novelty value if Sandman's songs weren't so good. This album's first single, "Honey White," for instance, rides the back of a fast, angular baritone riff to describe a pretty, young girl hooked on drugs. In the dark comedy of Sandman's rock-noir purr, Honey tells her dealer, "You'll get me when I'm old and wizened and not a day before that." He replies, "It won't be that long." The beat and the humor are essential, for otherwise these jazzy, elliptical mood pieces would become unbearably pretentious. The broken relationship described in "Radar" is a pop cliché, but it's given new life by the shattered R&B riff and by the nit-picking bickering of lines like "If I am guilty, so are you. It was March 4, 1982." In similar fashion, modern paranoia and sexual gamesmanship are nailed to the wall in "Sharks" and "Whisper" respectively. --Geoffrey Himes

From the Label
It's only been a few years since Boston's Morphine first rumbled up from the netherworld and took the guitar out of rock. With just bass, drums, and saxophone, this unlikely power trio has become an international phenomenon, playing for sold-out crowds in both clubs and on festival stages around the world in support of their surprise hit album, CURE FOR PAIN. Having barely cooled their heels after more than a year on the road, Morphine delivered their third Rykodisc release, yes, another penetrating set of "low rock" tunes too addictive to deny.

Consisting of Mark Sandman on two-string slide bass and vocals, Dana Colley on baritone saxophone, and drummer Billy Conway, Morphine continues to turn the alleged restrictions of their instrumentation to their advantage on yes. The album's twelve tracks were roadtested on crowds from Austin to Tokyo, and two songs were, in fact, recorded on the road by the group's soundman Phil Davidson: "Sharks Patrol These Waters" (recorded for a Dutch television documentary) and "I Had My Chance" (recorded live at KCRW in Los Angeles). Other highlights, recorded at Fort Apache with Paul Q. Kolderie and the band sharing production, are the driving "Honey White," the rock-noirish "Whisper," the more seductive and poppish "All Your Way," and more experimental tracks like "The Jury."

Opening with the monstrous riffs of "Honey White" (the album's first single) the album takes Morphine's trademark "low rock" sound to new places. Colley swoops and soars like a sax-slinging Jimi Hendrix, and on "Radar" and "Super Sex" he plays tenor and baritone sax simultaneously. While certifiable pop hooks abound, the combo stretch the boundaries of rock on "Sharks Patrol These Waters" and "The Jury," two forays into near-spoken-word territory. Throughout the album, Sandman continues to baffle traditionalists with his provocative two-string slide bass, while drummer Conway's soulful backbeat locks in the groove.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite album... period., December 2, 2001

By A Customer

After comeing home from a *** day of work in May 01', my roommate put in "Yes" and changed my world. Since that day I've been a "Morphine" junky. I am very appreciative to Sandman, Colley, and Conway for providing me with a totaly eclectic sound that takes everything I've ever liked about music and serves it to me with intoxicating songs such as "Whisper". The beautifully simple combination of 2 string slide bass and sax give birth to such sickly sweet ballads as "All you way". I now own all works ,with the exception of "Cure for pain", and I listen to them almost religiously everyday, but "Yes" still finds its way to the cd tray most often. If your new to morphine and the works of genius left by the late Mark Sandman, then "Yes" is a great place to start you're soon to be collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly intoxicating..., September 8, 2005

By	Kristin Dreyer Kramer (NightsAndWeekends.com) - See all my reviews

It's amazing that just a few simple instruments - a sax, drums, and a two-string bass - can come together to create something as complex and ingenious as Morphine's music. I sincerely regret that I never had the opportunity to see them live before vocalist Mark Sandman died doing what he loved the most - on stage in 1999. Morphine had so much more left to teach the music world - and Sandman's death was every music-lover's loss.

Yes is an excellent album - one of my all-time favorites. It's driven by the band's trademark sax - which seems to have a mind of its own. And Sandman's hypnotically playful vocals are dark and distorted - part spoken, part sung.

The songs are erratic and slurred. They feel pleasantly intoxicating - like a few too many gin and tonics. "Whisper" is lazy and seductive - like a Caribbean sunset. "I Had My Chance" sounds like the drunken ramblings of a street-corner bum. The entire album is a collection of experiments - concluding with a curveball. "Gone for Good" is quiet, peaceful, and acoustic - sad, but sweet. It's so unlike the rest of the album, but it's absolutely beautiful.

If you're musically open-minded and looking for something out of the ordinary, Yes is the album to buy. You won't be disappointed. It'll give you a great buzz - and you won't have to deal with the headache the next morning.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful depressing songs, February 11, 2002

By	David Bonesteel (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Morphine really is a remarkable band. When I first heard about them and their minimal line-up consisting of vocals, bass, saxophone, and drums, I was intrigued. However, I didn't expect the music to rise above the level of a novelty act. Boy, was I wrong. Vocalist/bassist Mark Sandman has written strong songs with intriguing lyrics that take full advantage of the available instruments. It's a shame that Sandman is no longer with us. It would have been interesting to hear the musical directions he would have taken in the future.