Yes
Yes - Atlantic 1969
Tracks: 1. Beyond and Before / 2. I See You / 3. Yesterday and Today / 4. Looking Around / 5. Harold Land / 6. Every Little Thing / 7. Sweetness / 8. Survival / 9. Everydays* / 10. Dear Father / 11. Something's Coming*
Comments:
That Yes was an ambitious and progressive band right from the beginning, one cannot doubt after having become acquainted with this, their debut album from 1969. Although the classic line-up with Steve Howe on guitar and Rick Wakeman on keys is not in place, the well-known Yes-1970s sound can already be traced on several tracks. Guitarist Peter Banks is quite excellent and on keyboards Tony Kaye is also very competent.
However, it is probably primarily Jon Anderson and to a certain extent, Chris Squire who, with their compositions, draw the group and its sound, which was to be perfected on later albums such as "Fragile" and "Close to the Edge"
We are at the end of the 1960s, when the psychedelic sound was still predominant, but when also very talented and ambitious young musicians worked seriously to take rock music to completely new places.
"Yes" opens with Chris Squire’s number "Beyond and Before", which is a nice mix of psychedelia and progressive rock.
The album contains two cover songs, The Byrds' "I See You" and The Beatles' "Every Little Thing". On the former, the guitarist gets a good opportunity to show his talent, and the track is overall quite faithful to the original taken from the Byrds' third album. You can't really say the same about the relatively overlooked Beatles song, which apart from the lyrics and to some extent the verses had been changed and expanded into something completely different from the Beatles original. How successful the result is, of course, very much a matter of taste; personally, I like "I See You" by far the best.
"Yesterday and Today" is a subdued Jon Anderson composition, with fine acoustic guitar.
One of the absolute highlights of the album is "Looking Around", also written by Anderson. Here we find much of the classic Yes sound on an inciting and catchy number, which sounds like a hit-song.
"Harold Land" has much of the same, without having quite the same weight; the track is an Anderson/Squire/Bruford composition.
Another acoustic number is "Sweetness", which is quite sweet, but also a bit forgettable.
Another highlight is the final track "Survival", which like "Looking Around" points very much towards future great Yes compositions; once again an Anderson song.
An expanded version of the album contains some pretty exciting early recordings. Three numbers that all are included in two versions. There are Yes' cover versions of Steven Still's "Everyday" and Bernstein's "Something Coming" as well as the group's own "Dear Father" written by Anderson and Squire.
It is definitely a release that a true Yes fan will not want to miss.
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