In the 1970s, this was what us serious boys listened to, put off Bowie and glam by homophobia (Men wearing make up? They’ll be sporting earrings next!) and intellectually above mere pop music.
Yes, Genesis and ELP were the monster trio of prog, and were bright lads who went to good schools just like us. Then came the musical year zero of punk and these prog dinosaurs completely disappeared, apart from still filling stadiums and selling millions of records.
But this is where it all started for Yes. After two albums that failed to interest the record buying public, they’d brought in seasoned pro Steve Howe and it all fell into place for what many consider the classic core of Anderson, Bruford, Howe, and Squire. Starting with Yours Is No Disgrace, the Yes classics continue into Starship Trooper and I’ve Seen All Good People. The arrangements are still from the simpler earlier era, but the complexities, extended pieces and nonsense lyrics are classic Yes. Steve Howe’s playing quite simple riffs, with Chris Squire’s bass and Bill Bruford’s drums underpinning and allowing them to be heard; Tony Kaye seems to be making do with just piano and Hammond organ, while Jon Anderson and Chris Squire’s harmonies deliver lyrics which sound profound unless you actually try to extract any meaning from them.
And it’s a good listen. These are all tunes I’ve listened to regularly over the last fifty (!) years, and it was nice to listen more deeply to the construction of the songs and realise it’s much more orthodox rock than I’d thought. I get why many hate Yes, and a decade later I’d probably join them. But this album marks the start of a run of a few years’ work that still stands up, the longer pieces far better than the couple of short ones.
4* - I really enjoyed revisiting this, and it delivered more than I expected.
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