Feeling the tinge of psychedelic thrills, Yes’ self-titled debut is a hint at the progressive rock foundations they would lay just a few years later. An album of interest only to those who want to hear the journey from debut works to what they went on to achieve with The Yes Album and Time and a Word. The latter album, their follow-up, is perhaps the best example of Yes as a fully-fledged sound, but their self-titled effort has the cut and roar of an out-there, psychedelic rock experience. There is still something inherently Yes about their sound but mixed in there is an exploration of the rock genre, of what it was to become. Yes is an album ahead of its time by an incredible distance. Longing for another in a never-ending heatwave, little flickers of instrumental perfection, Yes shows they were at the peak of the genre briefly, and went unnoticed while there.
Opener Beyond and Before is proof enough of this. Incredible instrumental scope that is now being heard in pockets of The Windmill Scene and improvisational rock. Pair it with I See You and Yes provides two of their very best songs. Lyrically it feels weightless, as it would for even their most popular works, but it serves the purpose, which is the instrumental sections. Even I See You drifts off into instrumental brilliance, from the sensational riffs provided by Peter Banks to the steadfast, crucial percussion skill heard throughout. Where Beyond and Before and I See You are beyond anything else the band would do, there is plenty to love about the rest of this self-titled effort. It feels bold yet understated. Yesterday and Today builds in the piano, popular at the time but never quite incorporated into the progressive and psychedelic rock spin quite like it is here. Yes even strips back their sound, the essentials laid out with barebones effect. Astonishing, truly.
Looking Around has those same cool guitar riffs built into it though the frightful ingenuity begins to fade. What we hear from Yes after their third track is the progressive rock style, the hit-and-miss flavours of their sound for the next few decades. Some of it, like Looking Around, is very likeable even if it streamlines the emotional core heard on earlier Yes songs. Incredibly groovy songs with a keen-eared focus on what melodies work, which transitions are needed where, but not backed up with anything of heartfelt connection, or anything to muse on for long after. Instrumental brilliance only gets you so far, and it limited Yes on later albums. For Yes, though, it remains a roaring experience filled with promises for the future which were, arguably, not made good on.
Harold Land captures an unfortunate English whimsy which lingers in the lesser works of Monty Python, it captures that lighter, frilly experience and does nothing with it. How can you? A sick to the stomach sound but Yes overhauls their instrumental pieces and brings with them a momentum which hides their lesser lyrical moments. Fundamentally great rock is overwhelmed by the niche Yes chases. Their straight-shooting style on Every Little Thing reflects the joys of their wider sound on Beyond and Before, but they chase it off in search of lyrical novelty and lightness. Love is in the air, and it overwhelms the intensity the band shows off in their guitar and percussion work. A shame, but a definite, great album which is overshadowed by the success Yes had with lesser works.
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