Search - Yes :: Yes

Only the beginning for Yes. Great sound too!

Matt | WI United States | 02/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

This reissue of the very first Yes album is a treat for fans

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 07/30/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

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"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.



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An Old Fave Just Got Better

Lawrance M. Bernabo | 02/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."