Yes: My Two Favorite Albums

 

Yes have been one of my favorite bands for years. One of the pioneering progressive-rock acts, it's hard to deny their sheer brilliance, and musicianship. For me, I love all of their albums, and every style of music that they dabbled in, but if I'm being honest with myself, these two albums are my favorite. 

"Close To the Edge", and "Relayer" have a lot in common. Stylistically, they have a very similar feel. At least, in my (possibly flawed) opinion. Both albums start with epic tunes, each taking up the entire first side of the album. And they both have two tracks each on the reverse side, both tracks also being pretty epic, in both length, and in composition. 

"Close To the Edge", the title track to the band's fifth album, is just under nineteen minutes long, and is essential prog-rock listening in my opinion. The album goes through many changes, and is broken down into four sections, "Total Mass Retain" being my favorite part of the tune. Side "B" is made up of two classic prog tunes as well. "And You And I", and "Siberian Khatru" are both every bit as good as the first side. It's easy to see why this would be a favorite, not just for me, but for many fans of the band.

"Relayer" kicks off with the nearly twenty-two minute epic, "The Gates of Delirium". This is my second favorite Yes tune of all time (the first being "Mind Drive"). The keyboard player is different than "Close To the Edge", and he brings a little something different to this fantastic track. "Soon", the closing section of "Delrium" was also issued as a single, but to me, it just doesn't do the track justice. This song needs to be heard in full. "Sound Chaser", and "To Be Over", each at over nine minutes long, close out the album in fantastic fashion. 

For a while I tried to pick between the two, in case anybody were crazy enough to ask me what my favorite Yes album was. As I get older, I think I realize that I don't have to pick between the two. And generally when I play one, I play the other. I just have to. They need to be heard together. And after these, maybe I'll play "Drama", which is my third favorite Yes album. Who knows?