Jah

Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm reviewing YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! (And the whole world is happy, because apparently I must review Yes before my Web site can be good. Well, I'm a crowd pleaser even though I write some of the sloppiest reviews on the entire Internet.)

I will say that even though I'm a self-professed fan of such big'n'boring prog rock bands such as Genesis, Procol Harum, Renaissance and Jethro Tull, I have never been able to get into Yes. The reason for this really eludes me, because ... I LIKE GENESIS, PROCOL HARUM, RENAISSANCE AND JETHRO TULL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Well, I've made attempts to listen to Fragile in my past, but for some reason have never been able to sit through it. ... Albeit I admit I didn't give it much of a chance!

Anyway, here I am. I'm going head first into the Yes discography. Will I like this band in the end? Or will I hate them? Only time will tell, my friends.

I enjoy their debut album, at least. It has some problems, but we can't by any means expect all first albums by prominent progsters to not have problems. This album isn't particularly prog-rock, either. There's certain strong progressive rock leanings in here, but ... this is really just a rock album! ... Hey! I like rock albums!

Yes also proves to be solid songwriters here. There's some dang good melodies all throughout this album. There's also a bunch of uninspired musical interludes and empty introductions and conclusions in these songs. This is really a mixed bag. Sometimes I'm listening to these fantastic and thoughtful tunes such as "Yesterday and Today" and then I'm listening to some goofy intro to "Harold Land."

When I'm finished listening to the album, I do fondly remember the beautiful moments of the album and convieniently forget that the stupid parts existed. Besides, the stupid parts weren't stupid enough to ruin the album, so ... there's not a whole heck of a lot to complain about.

This is a good album. And a strong start for our favorite band named after synonym of "Indeed."

Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10 (A solid if imperfect debut from our favorite soon-to-be-prog kings!)

Average Song Score: 8.8 (Yes are very good songwriters. This is evident from the very beginning! Even though this isn't a full fledged prog-rock album, it has strong elements of it. I like their rock 'n' roll anyway!!!!!!!!)

Album Tilt: 8.5 (This holds up fairly well as an album. They pepper too many of these songs with meaningless instrumental passages and so-so introductions.)

Artist Rating: 8.5 (This was tough for me to decide. On the one hand, this is art-rock. On the other hand, none of this is actually wildly unique or moving.)

Track Reviews

Beyond and Before 9/10

So, I was thinking about life and love and the pursuit of happiness recently and the theory of evolution and I have come to a ground-breaking conclusion that I think you'll be interested in ... Oh wait, I'm reviewing Yes. OK. Back on topic. Yes sucks. There. I said it. Got that off my chest. This is the first song I ever reviewed of Yes, which makes it historical. Since this moment is going to go down in history, I had better make this track review a dang good one. Here I go... This song is pretty interesting. It's not exactly prog-rock. Rather, this just sounds like a regular, bluesy inspired rock tune. It has some very nice guitar in it, which isn't something that I expect from Yes. The guitar licks are nice, too! SWEET! And the melody is nice. Granted, this ain't a *great* melody, but it is formidable. This is a nice old rock tune from a boring old prog rock band.

I See You 8/10

This is an interesting song. It's jazz-rock! It's also nearly seven-minutes long, so ... you can tell how that diggy old rock band came up out of this. The instrumentation was done pretty well, and I really enjoy the melody. I have a bit of a beef with this overlong instrumental passage, though. ... It's not too interesting, and it's easy to space out and not pay attention through it. Bluh! This was a very good effort, though.

Yesterday and Today 10/10

Aw, now this song is nice!!!! Yeah, it sounds like an old hippie tune, but that's in a totally good way. The melody is extremely catchy. The overall feel of it is light, reserved, sweet and thoughtful. And, it's less than three minutes long! This is a *very* well done song, and it sticks with me.

Looking Around 9.5/10

Oooh! This is moreuv that rock stuff that the kids like so bloody much. I don't have a problem with that, dudes! I really enjoy the groove (which is played partly on ELECTRIC ORGAN) and the melody is catchy. The mood of the song is happy and upbeat ... Even when it goes into quasi-classical interludes, this song continues to be toe-tapping and enjoyable. Awesome.

Harold Land 8.5/10

What's with the introduction and conclusion of this song? It's not even very interesting! Just this old thing with the organ that's not melodic and totally goofy. Man. Poop. The middle of this song is extremely well done, though. However, it's hardly the best this album has to offer. This is the most "prog" song of the album. It's strongly influenced by classical music. I enjoy the catchy melody! The instrumentation isn't incredibly intriguing, but ... it works well. This song is good. If it just weren't for that totally misfired intro and conclusion.

Every Little Thing 7.5/10

EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC!!!!! ... Oh wait. Wrong band. Wrong decade. I took the wrong drug this morning. Well, this song doesn't start off too well, I'm afraid. It's just a bunch of drumming and some uninteresting guitar licks. And it goes on like this for more than a minute. Blah. (And what's with the Beatles riff in the middle of this?) When the song actually pipes up, I'm not too interested in it. The melody is a far cry from the album's best. ... Um ... Well, Yes can't be inspired 100 percent of the time, you know! Otherwise people other than nerds would like them.

Sweetness 9/10

THIS SONG IS SWEETNESS!!!!!! ... Oh baby. You know it. I know it. President Bush knows it. Osama Bin Ladel knows it. We all know it. Yes rules! ... This is a very pretty song that'll charm the pants off you. In fact, I have an inkling to get up right now and remove my pants. That's how this song makes me feel. This is a slow-paced song that's semi-similar to "Yesterday and Today" except not quite as nice. But ... Yes would've made a decent folk-rock song. They didn't *have* to go all prog-rock, you know.

Survival 8.5/10

Dudes, just because you're about to become a full-fledged prog rock band doesn't mean you have to write all these elaborate introductions to your songs. I mean SERIOUSLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. This introduction sounds all proggy, too, with a lot of rambling organs and stuff. Well, at least the introduction doesn't suck like the one on "Harold Land" does. At least we can be proud of that. The actual song doesn't surface until about a minute and a half of that hogwash is up, and ... it's some nice 'n' slow guitar strumming. And then that Jon Anderson dude starts singing a pretty melody. I like pretty melodies! ... Yes sure knows how to do those things all throughout the album, which I would never have guessed. If they could just stay focused throughout THE ENTIRE THING and not write these empty introductions and musical passages, we would really be in business.

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