~|Does the colour of the sun turn crimson white
Does a shadow come between us in the winter
Is the movement really light
And I heard a million voices singing|~

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Yes! It is finally time to check out one of the most recognized Prog bands. Growing out along side bands like Genesis and King Crimson, this group has kept going strong for more than 40 years now! Today we will be going through some of the records from the vast library of Yes. This prog rock ensemble has had a total of 19 members in the band, with several reformations. They're giants in the world of prog rock, and rock in general.

Using traditional band instrumentation with symphonic soundscapes, their music takes you on a journey into a prog rock fantasy land. Yes was one of the first Prog Rock bands I was introduced to, and growing up it was amazing to find music that has this sense of wonder to it. If you're into prog rock you've probably either heard of this group or seen their cover art, as it is pretty recognizable, painted mostly by Roger Dean, the cover art sucks you in even before you get a chance to put on. For our first record we'll start off with their 5th record, and my introductory album to Yes, "Close to the Edge"

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Here we see Dean from the Venture Bros. dipping his toes in the waters!

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Close to the Edge

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Coming out in 1972 this album came out following the tour for their previous record, and it is the 2nd record with a new keyboard player. The album starts off with the 18 minute monster title track, "Close to the Edge". Composed of 4 suites, the track instantly drags you into this world with animal and nature sounds slowly getting drowned out by a choir of strings, before finally breaking into a groove. The track is very representative of the prog rock scene at the time, creating these wild instrumental trips before introducing a metaphorically based lyric to ground the listener.

The album moves on from this to a shorter(10 minute) piece, "And You and I". Built up once again from 4 suites, leading to the finalizing "IV. Apocalypse". It's a more mellow acoustic guitar based track, that slowly evolves to a very uplifting end to all things. After this the album goes on to the final track "Shiberian Katu" a song that works almost as an ending credits to the story you've just been a witness to, with a very solid structure and a great prog rock jam out session.

The natural way to do it is of course with the opening track to the album, and the title track "Close to the Edge"!

"Close to the Edge"

Tales from the Topographic Oceans

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Their sixth album, once again with a cover from Roger Dean, this one has a bit more to it than "Close to the Edge", showing off a bit more of this world you explore whilst listening to it. This one is even bigger than Close to the edge in terms of track lengths, and is composed of 4 tracks, ranging from 18-22 minutes. It's another journey that should be taken in it's entirety rather than trying to grasp it by skimming through.

The record starts off slowly once again, with an ambience of a vast landscape, this time completely void of life. Slowly growing synth strings lead us onwards, with an almost post rock vibe to it before finally a choir of voices usher us into the hall. This explodes into another prog rock jam fest, laced with sultry synths, drum fills and meandering guitar solos.

On this record we'll start with the 3rd piece, "'The Ancient' (Giants Under the Sun)". A track that starts of with erratic percussion and discordant leads before breaking out into a huge mostly instrumental freak out before landing smoothly to the sound of acoustic guitars and an uplifting hymn.

"The Ancient' (Giants Under the Sun)

Fragile

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This is the groups 4th recording, and the first record that introduced the synth genious Rick Wakeman. It also happens to feature one of my favorite instruments, that I've mentioned before, the Mellotron! This record has a bit more of a standard arrangment feel to it, compared to the previous records we've checked out. Starting off with the now very recognizable "Roundabout", a track that has turned into a meme due to the build up of anticipation in the way the first couple of bars are built up

One example of the meme, with neil degrasse tyson

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The record goes on to shorter pieces like "Cans and Brahms", a rendition of a classical piece by Brahms, and "We Have Heaven", a track with an almost meditative psychedelic feel to it, with mantras being repeated around you around a stable rythm until finally the door is shut and we move on to "South Side of the Sky". This is a longer track, a classical prog rock track with a lot of weird melodies and ever changing rythms, switching between being in harmony and chromatic melodies.

The final track I'll show you today of course has to be the most famous one on the record, "Roundabout". It's a great track besides all the meme hype. A very cool uplifting feel to it with a very free feeling to it, like you're floating above the planet looking down.

Roundabout

All right, that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed todays edition of Alphabetical Order, a blog series where I write my opinions on parts of an artists discography. If you liked it or if you hate it, let me know! And if you wanna keep up to date, you can follow me. Until next time, peace out!

Warning, going too far into prog land could land you in a floyd hole, and that's not pretty

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You can get more info or support the artist by checking out these links:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/50263-Yes
http://yesworld.com