Yes Albums - reviewed & ranked by emptysquares

I started listening to Yes when they were still considered pretty cool and their intricate music, strange lyrics and ethereal vocal harmonies sounded to me to be something new. With the coming of punk rock in the late 70’s, Yes quickly became super uncool and in the UK the gestapo-like music press would keep it that way for the next 25 years.
In the 80’s, Yes began chasing US commercialism but Trevor Rabins ‘boy band pop with added guitar shredding’ formula held little appeal for me and it seemed that a group that once strived for originality were now trading in clichés. And so it was that I lost interest in Yes for the next 35 years or so.
In 2020, when the Covid-19 lockdown gave me some enforced free time I thought it might be interesting to catch up on the 10 or so studio albums that passed me by. Listening to their catalogue I was struck by how much time and energy they spent trying to repeat their brief 1983 commercial success when it must have been pretty obvious to everyone that their shelf-life as chart popsters was always going to be fleeting - what manner of teenager wants a poster of fucking Yes on their wall?
It seems to me that while Yes may have started life as idealistic 60’s dreamers, these particular hippies became accustomed to expensive lifestyles… and an existence as cult musicians from a bygone era was never going to pay the bills. And so began the long & futile chase for radio-friendly songs aimed to please an audience that was no longer interested. Sadly, much of their later material is compromised to some degree due to this.
Despite all this, the Yes back catalogue has a lot to offer and the band created some truly unique moments in rock history – and who knows, there may still be life in the old dogs yet.

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A thing of beauty, the songs were recorded in short sections which were then spliced together with a razor blade & sticky tape. I have read some smart-arse millennials complaining that they can hear the edit points, but this was recorded decades before Pro-Tools, cross-fades & undo buttons and in my opinion producing an album like this in 1972 was a feat akin to travelling to the Moon in a tin can equipped with even less processing power than Donald Trumps brain (but more than yours if you think it was faked).
V:Jon Anderson; g:Steve Howe; b:Chris Squire; k:Rick Wakeman; d:Bill Bruford
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,558
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The first Yes album to feature guitarist Steve Howe who wasted no time in demonstrating his full range of tricks and tones. Chris Squires bass did things never done by a bass guitar before and Brufords intricate drumming gave the whole thing a unique feel. The songs, whilst relatively simple compared to what was to come, were melodic and uplifting and 'Yours Is No Disgrace'; 'I've Seen All Good People' and 'Starship Trooper' became permanent fixtures in the Yes setlist forever more.
V:Jon Anderson; g:Steve Howe; b:Chris Squire; k:Tony Kaye; d:Bill Bruford
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,867
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Drenched in the then newly-invented digital reverb making it sound as if the whole thing was recorded in the worlds largest cathedral combined with Wakemans use of church organ and Anderson has never sounded more like the lead choirboy. In the UK the success of the single 'Wonderous Stories' helped to propel the album to the top of the charts while in the opinion of many fans, 'Awaken' was the latest (and for some final) addition to the canon of classic Yes works.
V:Jon Anderson; g:Steve Howe; b:Chris Squire; k:Rick Wakeman; d:Alan White
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,461
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4. (=)
United Kingdom Yes
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A solo track for each member of the band is a very 'prog' thing to do and Yes just about got away with it on Fragile - although Bruford could only muster a stream of musical spasms that is prematurely spent in 37 seconds flat (the song title 'Five per Cent for Nothing' was a bitter reference to the severance agreement struck with recently sacked manager Roy Flynn) and for contractual reasons Wakeman was limited to a tame rendition of a Brahms piece. Thankfully, the rest of the album was all jolly splendid and with Wakeman on board, the classic Yes sound was now fully formed.
V:Jon Anderson; g:Steve Howe; b:Chris Squire; k:Rick Wakeman; d:Bill Bruford
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,076
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Following their somewhat disappointing debut album, Yes decided to kick-off the follow-up with a mash-up of an obscure Richie Havens blues/soul number combined with the theme tune of a 1950's western movie complete with added strings performed by students from the local music college. Whilst this did somewhat expose the shoestring budget, somehow it worked and is great fun as is the rest of the record. Behind the scenes, the bands association with engineer / producer Eddie Offord started here and both the sound and the composition are a huge leap forward from the debut.
V:Jon Anderson; g:Peter Banks; b:Chris Squire; k:Tony Kaye; d:Bill Bruford; Royal College of Music Strings
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
329
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6. (=)
United Kingdom Yes
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The 22 minute epic 'The Gates of Delirium' is supposedly based on 'War & Peace' although I think George R.R.Martins 'A Song of Ice & Fire' is closer to the spirit of this piece even if it was written 20 years later. The cold metallic production creates a suitably hostile effect and by the time you make it to the final 'Soon' section, you are left feeling as if you have been through something of an ordeal. Classic Yes. The two songs on the second half of the album are less convincing. 'Sound Chaser' finds them attempting a jazz-fusion 'Mahavishnu Orchestra' type thing (for me it doesn't quite work) while 'To Be Over' sounds like an offcut from 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' and overall, you're left with a feeling that the band was searching for a new direction.
V:Jon Anderson; g:Steve Howe; b:Chris Squire; k:Patrick Moraz; d:Alan White
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,417
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My favourite Bill Bruford album. The instrumentation may be conventional jazz quartet but many of the underlying riffs could easily be King Crimson or even Yes. It may not be ground-breaking, but it is the sound of a master craftsman doing what he does best.
S:Patrick Clahar; b:Mark Hodgson; k:Steve Hamilton; d:Bill Bruford
[First added to this chart: 08/24/2020]
Year of Release:
2001
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30
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The fact that drummer Bill Bruford accepted Chris Squires invitation to appear on this should of been a surprise as Squires legendary tardiness rankled greatly with Brufords intense perfectionism and was a factor in him quitting Yes. Indeed it was Bruford who christened Squire 'the fish' for supposedly spending excessive time in the bathtub. Arranged with the assistance of old schoolfriend and The Syn bandmember Andrew Pryce Jackman, the dense instrumentation and unconventional melodic style gave the songs an intriguing and unique quality, often merging into one another giving the album the feel of a single coherent piece.
B&v:Chris Squire; k:Andrew Pryce-Jackman, Patrick Moraz, Barry Rose; d:Bill Bruford; s:Mel Collins
[First added to this chart: 08/16/2020]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
123
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9. (=)
United Kingdom Yes
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Yes began the 80s by having a huge row over money and consequently firing Jon Anderson, which then prompted Wakeman to also quit (2nd time). In an unexpected move they were replaced with the pop duo 'the Buggles' who were riding high with their worldwide hit 'Video Killed the Radio Star' and together they produced 'Drama' which at the time sounded to me like a great Yes sound for the new decade. Sadly, many fans were unconvinced and unspectacular album sales combined with a mixed reception during the following tour led to the lineup disintegrating. Long time manager Brian Lane was fired, Steve Howe left to form the supergroup Asia (taking Downes with him) while Trevor Horn went on to become a superstar producer. Drama indeed!
V:Trevor Horn; g:Steve Howe; b&v:Chris Squire; k:Geoff Downes; d:Alan White
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
493
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Nothing could better epitomise the British prog rock scene than this sprawling double album entirely based upon a footnote (page 83 apparently) of a book given to the singer at the ex-drummers wedding reception. It’s not clear if Jon Anderson ever actually read Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, but as the average prog rock fan thought a Yogi was to be found in Jellystone Park with his cousin Boo-Boo - it really didn't matter.
V:Jon Anderson; g:Steve Howe; b:Chris Squire; k:Rick Wakeman; d:Alan White
[First added to this chart: 06/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,023
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Total albums: 29. Page 1 of 3

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Yes Albums - reviewed & ranked composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 0 0%
1960s 1 3%
1970s 12 41%
1980s 4 14%
1990s 6 21%
2000s 2 7%
2010s 2 7%
2020s 2 7%
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 29 100%
Live? Albums %
No 27 93%
Yes 2 7%

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Yes Albums - reviewed & ranked ratings

Average Rating: 
88/100 (from 2 votes)
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05/02/2021 16:38 TheDude85  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 4395/100
  
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12/30/2020 14:54 matterhornrider  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 5592/100

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From 05/02/2021 16:52
Very descriptive analysis and sincere approach to evaluating the work of this group. Tip of The Cap!
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