Among its many distinctions, Yes is that rare band with multiple \u201cfirst albums\u201d in its catalogue. There\u2019s their first as a band (Yes<\/i>), their first with Rick Wakeman (Fragile<\/i>), their first and only with Patrick Moraz (Relayer<\/i>), their first without Jon Anderson (Drama<\/i>), their first with Trevor Rabin (90125<\/i>) and so on. The fact that each of the above albums is distinctly different from all the others is part of why people still care about the band half a century later.<\/p>\n
The Yes Album<\/i> was the group\u2019s first with guitarist Steve Howe\u2014here joining founding members Jon Anderson (lead vocals), Chris Squire (bass \/ harmony vocals), Bill Bruford (drums) and Tony Kaye (keys)\u2014but the element that distinguishes it most from what came before is the music itself; this is the album where Yes the clever young art-rock experimentalists evolved into Yes the pioneering giants of progressive rock. Five-minute tracks expanded to seven or nine or 10 minutes even as songs began to give way to suites with distinctive segments and movements. Howe\u2019s aggressive yet lyrical playing is all over the album, to be sure, but what\u2019s most apparent is how much the band\u2019s field of vision and musical ambition has expanded.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The real question for this edition of the album, of course, is how much difference modern prog savant Steven Wilson\u2019s fresh mix makes in terms of the listening experience. While the differences feel more subtle here than on Wilson\u2019s other remixes<\/a> of landmark Yes albums\u2014especially Relayer<\/i><\/a>\u2014every note feels sharper and brighter, like a freshly-polished gem. \u00a0<\/p>\n Nine and a half minute opener \u201cYours Is No Disgrace\u201d benefits from greater sharpness all around, with both background elements like the supporting acoustic guitar line and foreground elements like Squire\u2019s bounding, bubbly bass line feeling noticeably more prominent than in the original mix. Still, the differences feel incremental rather than transformational. \u201cClap\u201d is \u201cClap\u201d; there likely wasn\u2019t much to be done with Howe\u2019s live-recorded solo acoustic piece anyway.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s early landmark mini-epic \u201cStarship Trooper,\u201d a 10-minute suite stitching together distinct segments composed by Anderson, Squire and Howe, respectively, sees the greatest benefit in the enhanced clarity and separation of the unison lead vocals of Squire and Anderson in the \u201cDisillusion\u201d section. It also feels like the acoustic rhythm guitar part Howe double-tracked under his electric lead in the closing \u201cWurm\u201d section has been dialed up a bit.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve Seen All Good People\u201d leads off side two of the original LP with an Anderson-Squire collaboration in two parts. Opening segment \u201cYour Move\u201d shines with improved separation and crispness for Anderson, Squire and Howe\u2019s three-part harmonies. Squire\u2019s bouncy \u201cI\u2019ve Seen All Good People\u201d feels scrubbed clean but otherwise its old familiar self.<\/p>\n On the oft-neglected \u201cA Venture,\u201d Squire\u2019s agile bass line feels more prominent in the jazzy closing jam, a welcome development. Finally, nine and a half minute closer \u201cPerpetual Change\u201d gains clarity and gentle echo on Anderson\u2019s lead vocal, giving it extra shimmer. There\u2019s also more volume on Kaye\u2019s piano during the mid-song jam, before his be-bopping Hammond line takes over. And at 5:58, a Howe mini-solo has been unearthed from its former location deep in the mix. <\/p>\n Overall, The Yes Album<\/i> has never sounded cleaner or crisper, and the separation in Wilson\u2019s mix allows each instrument to stand out more distinctly than on the original. Still, Wilson\u2019s work on this classic album feels more like a thorough detailing of an already-classic car than a rebuild of its engine. And that feels exactly as it should be\u2014as the saying goes, if it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5713],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46011","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-yes","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46011"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}