GURU: SHINING, FLYING, PURPLE PINUP GURU WOLFHOUND, SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE!!

The PP Guru still on a tangent in commemorating the release of their 3 CD box set of live section encompassing their first eighteen years and a double DVD release of their last major world tour.

For the next two weeks or until Labor Day is over, because that's when the PP Guru plans on embarking on his sonic exploration of these two products, even though he is tempted to listen and watch them now- they both require liquid refreshment. The kind of liquid refreshment that he needs to balance out his cosmic equilibrium. And a little peyote on the side wouldn't hurt the PP Guru either. Labor Day weekend is the only time that the PP Guru can make room in his hectic schedule to fully enjoy the ever minding expanding benefits that these two bookend projects have to offer.

Nevertheless, the PP Guru takes a hour during his eight hour work day to listen to the first 11 or 12 studio albums that the band has done in chronological order and today the PP Guru is up to album # 3

The Yes Album - released on March 19, 1971.

Cover of the Yes album The Yes Album. Copyright Atlantic Records, 1971.

Hmmm, 1971.

1971.

Let's see. 1971.

No sir, the PP Guru doesn't think he can remember 1971 all that clearly. You see, the PP Guru was so truamatized by the Amazing Spider-Man # 100 - that's the issue when Peter Parker was dropping so much acid that he grew six arms out the side of his hips, that the PP Guru had to go through some serious shock theraphy when he was in first grade. He also, as a easy impressionable young lad had trouble pronouncing his 'th' sounds, and was sent off to a speech therapist, because he sounded like such a sissy reading his Dick, Jane, and Sally books. And then there was that time when he stood out in a rain storm waiting for the bus to take him to school and when he arrived to class, his pants was all soaking wet and then the teacher made him wear a big sheet of construction paper as a makeshift dress ...

That's too much information, PP Guru.

The PP Guru didn't get to listen to the Yes Album until he was visiting his aunts out in California in the summer of 1978 and they had friends in Newport Beach who had it in their collection- and he listened to it while getting stoned with them.

Not one of the PP Guru's favorite Yes Albums. Damn, he gets sick and tired of hearing Your Move performed in concert, but yet it is a single solidary album of transition. Peter Banks was replaced by Steve Howe who was a powerhouse on all stringed instruments and styles. It's Tony Kaye's finest keyboard performance before he got sacked (the other members didn't like seeing him playing with one hand all the time) and Eddie Offord debuts his brilliant engineering skills.

The album opens with a sequel of sorts, the Western inspired motif once introduced on No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed on the last album with Yours is No Disgrace. Some noodling with a Robert Heinlein book is the inspiration behind Starship Trooper, which is still regarded as a popular show closer. The PP Guru's favorite tracks are A Venture and the closing track, Perpetual Change.

Best line: Death defying, mutilated armies scatter the earth Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals disappear- Yours is No Disgrace. (Anderson/Squire/Howe/Kaye/Banks) although we know that Jon wrote the lyric.


The Yes Album
(Anderson/Squire/Bruford/Kaye/Howe)

The Yes Album
Album by Yes
Release	March 19, 1971
Recorded	Advision Studios October - November 1970
Genre(s)	Progressive rock
Length	41 min 36 s
Label	Atlantic Records
Producer	Yes and Eddie Offord
Professional reviews
AMG link Rolling Stone (favourable) link
Yes chronology
Time and a Word (1970)	The Yes Album (1971)	Fragile (1971)

The Yes Album is the third album by British progressive rock band Yes. The first release to feature longtime guitarist, Steve Howe, the album was released on Atlantic Records in March 1971. This was the album that finally set Yes's career alight, with the album reaching #7 in the UK and, eventually, #40 in the US, where it was a platinum seller. The Yes Album set the stage for the band's route to superstardom with Fragile and their epic masterpiece Close to the Edge. This was their first commercial success and, reportedly, it had to be or Atlantic was going to cut them loose.

Many features for which Yes became known are demonstrated for the first time on The Yes Album:

• The "democratic" balance of the band -- with each virtuoso member making his own significant contribution -- is seen here for the first time. While other bands were hiring orchestras to provide their songs with a fuller sound, Yes had the talent and the musicianship to be their own orchestra.

• Steve Howe appeared with the band for the first time and played a very prominent role throughout. His solo acoustic song, Clap (forever renamed "The Clap" by Anderson's mis-introduction on the live track) has always been a concert favorite of the band and their fans.

• The band began to explore longer songs with Yours Is No Disgrace, Starship Trooper, and Perpetual Change, foreshadowing the many album-side-length tracks that followed on Close to the Edge, Tales From Topographic Oceans and Relayer.

The Yes Album is generally considered a classic '70's rock album and a highlight of the band's long career with songs such as "Starship Trooper" and "I've Seen All Good People" still staples of classic rock radio.

Track listing

1. "Yours Is No Disgrace" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Steve Howe/Tony Kaye/Bill Bruford) - 9:41
2. "Clap" (Steve Howe) - 3:17
   • Recorded live at The Lyceum, London, 17 July 1970
3. "Starship Trooper" - 9:28
   1. "Life Seeker" (Jon Anderson)
   2. "Disillusion" (Chris Squire)
   3. "Würm" (Steve Howe)
4. "I've Seen All Good People" - 6:55
   1. "Your Move" (Jon Anderson)
   2. "All Good People" (Chris Squire)
5. "A Venture" (Jon Anderson) - 3:18
6. "Perpetual Change" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire) - 8:52

The Yes Album (Atlantic 2400 101) reached #7 in the UK. It also reached #40 in the US during a chart stay of 50 weeks.

The Yes Album was remastered and reissued in 2003 with several bonus tracks.

Personnel

• Jon Anderson: Vocals, percussion
• Chris Squire: Bass guitar, vocals
• Steve Howe: Electric and acoustic guitars, vachalia, vocal
• Tony Kaye: Piano, organ, moog
• Bill Bruford: Drums, percussion

Sources

• The Yes Album, CD booklet essay, Bill Martin, c.2003
• AllMusicGuide.com
• "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c.2002
• Yes Lyrics: The Yes Album
• Prog Archives: The Yes Album

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PS Fragile is next! - Sparky