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"Relayer" is an album that recalls the old "Sesame Street" song, about one thing being different from the others in a group.
For one thing, the album cover, though done by Roger Dean, is both sepia-toned and a bit menacing, what with that coiled serpent on the front - a definite contrast to the bright colors and fantastic landscapes of earlier Dean covers. For another, Rick Wakeman is gone, and his place on this album is filled by Patrick Moraz, whose keyboard style is less "embroidered" and more straightforward. For yet another, the entire tone of "Relayer" is all over the map; the first track, the album-side-length "The Gates of Delirium," has a very raw sound to it, mostly owing to Steve Howe's famous "hybrid" Fender Strat, which gave a harder edge to all those birdlike guitar trills and runs. Plus, the topic is war - the hype, the agitprop, the battles, and finally the aftermath (trimmed and released as a single called "Soon," included as an extra track on this edition) - so the roughness may be Yes's way of reminding us that "War is hell." "Sound Chaser" is so wild it's feral; it's mostly in 5/4 time, and the best advice for listening to it is "expect the unexpected." It does sound like they were having fun on it, so there is that. "To Be Over" is actually more traditional Yes, with Steve alternating a birdlike slide guitar with that rough Strat. While we're on the subject, the album's structure actually mirrors that of "Close to the Edge" - three tracks, one on the first side and two on the second.
As I mentioned, this edition has "extras" - the aforementioned "Soon," plus an edited version of "Sound Chaser" (which made me very, very glad I heard the album version first) and a studio run-through of "Gates of Delirium" (interesting as a look at Yes's "process," but not worth hearing more than a time or two). Still, all in all, this is a worthy Yes album, even if it is very different.
A word on the delivery: When I first unwrapped the album, a sliver of plastic fell out. The disk tray itself was undamaged, thank heaven, but due to the "enviro-friendly" packaging (with the disk tray glued to a cardboard cover) I was unable to simply grab a spare case and transfer the endpapers and disk to that. But since the disk played just fine, and since the album purchase included the "auto-rip" feature, I saw no reason to quibble.
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Great Music... Great Art... the '70's at it's best!
Yes... This masterpiece was released my first year of college... Oh boomer!I have the original vinyl album ..probably paid $2.99 for it... still treasure it!I believe it is the contributions of Patrick Moraz ... One of many keyboard players who shared in the ...Yes experiment... over the years.. that make the album 'Relayer' a unique soundscape. (But ..then most of the band's releases were unique also). But even more so with this release. IMHOI read that the album's Epic 'The Gates of Delirium' was brought to the band ...almost the fully formed by vocalist/Jon Anderson. The band's blend of Jazz, and Classical influences... supercharged with rock & roll is delightfully realized in this song.Yes... As a live act.. this band was as 'tight' as any in the late '60's and '70's. The tour for this album was fun to have seen. Deep down... they reminded me of a Jazz ensemble... the well crafted songs did not fully reveal the band member's abilities to Jam! together...The expanded material makes this a must ...for any 'Yes Heads' out there... the studio run through of 'Gates of Delirium' is precious.This CD Package was very well crafted and the Roger Dean artwork still looks great at any scale.
Top reviews from other countries
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RALPH THORNDIKEReviewed in Mexico on August 29, 2021
Que el rock ya es parte de la cultura universal y se debe tratar como un tesoro valioso .
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