With THE YES ALBUM, Yes began an important new chapter in its career and defined much of what the next decade would bring. They had left behind not only their original guitarist, Peter Banks, but also the covers of 1960s tunes by the likes of the Byrds and the Beatles. The arrival of the more hard-edged Steve Howe signaled the group’s ascent into full-blown progressive-rock mode, a style whose parameters Yes helped craft with this recording. Though Rick Wakeman and his classical-influenced arsenal of keyboards had not yet come aboard, Tony Kaye’s roiling Hammond organ and Chris Squire’s busy bass lines perfectly interacted with Howe’s idiosyncratic playing to create a uniquely fugue-like sound, as Bill Bruford’s polyrhythms and Jon Anderson’s angelic voice simultaneously kept things on a more abstract and ethereal plane than almost anything that had been labeled “rock” up to that point. “Starship Trooper” and “Yours Is No Disgrace” would become hallmarks of prog rock and launch a thousand pale imitations by third-string art-rockers for decades to come.

2003 remastered reissue of 1971 album includes three bonus tracks, ‘Your Move’ (Single Version), ‘Starship Trooper – Life Seeker’ (Single Version), & ‘Clap’ (Studio Version). Elektra/Rhino.

Recording information: Advision Studios, London, England (1970).

Yes: Jon Anderson (vocals, percussion); Steve Howe (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Tony Kaye (piano, organ, Moog synthesizer); Chris Squire (bass instrument, background vocals); Bill Bruford (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Colin Goldring (recorder).

Rolling Stone (2/6/03, p.64) – 3 stars out of 5 – “…It was the addition of Steve Howe’s guitar pyrotechnics that finally allowed Yes to find their true identity. The following year’s YES ALBUM is a gigantic leap forward…”
Q (6/00, p.63) – Ranked #86 in Q’s “100 Greatest British Albums” – “…The sound of British prog rock at its most inventive….[It] is Swinging London-meets-Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey…”

Track List:

1. Yours Is No Disgrace
2. The Clap
3. Starship Trooper
a) Life Seeker
b) Disillusion
c) Wurm
4. I’ve Seen All Good People
a) Your Move
b) I’ve Seen All Good People
5. A Venture
6. Perpetual Change

Bonus tracks:

7. Your Move (Single Version)
8. Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Single Version)
9. Calp (Studio Version)

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