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The Yes Album

THE YES ALBUM

 
The Yes Album  is the third studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released in February 1971 on Atlantic Records.  It is their first album with guitarist Steve Howe who replaced Peter Banks in 1970, and their last in the 1970's to feature keyboardist Tony Kaye.  The album was a critical success and was a major commercial breakthrough for Yes, who had been at risk of being dropped by the record label.  It reached number 4 in the UK and number 40 in the US, and is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over one million copies.  The album has been reissued on CD several times, and in 2014 was given a Blu-ray release, remixed by Steven Wilson.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
When I spotted this album. Time and a Word in a used record bin decades ago, I had to really look at it before I could believe that this is the same Yes who had all those album covers with colorful fantasy paintings.  This is actually their second album and came out in mid-1970.  That was just seven months before the release of what most people probably think of as Yes' first album, The Yes Album, which included their first hit songs, "Yours Is No Disgrace" and "I've Seen All Good People". 
  
(September 2012)
 
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An interesting thing about progressive rock bands is that most of them did not hit the ball out of the park with their first album, the way that King Crimson and Boston did.  As I noted in my last post, the first hit songs for Yes came on their third album, The Yes Album.  Journey didn't make any real noise on the music scene until vocalist Steve Perry joined up for the fourth album, Infinity.  The breakthrough album for Styx, The Grand Illusion was their seventh album.  Leftoverture was the album that put Kansas on the map, their fourth album.  With Trillion though, the band was never given the opportunity to develop an audience or to refine their sound. 
 
(October 2012)