Yes History (1968-)

Legendary rockers Yes have made their mark on the progressive rock scene that has managed to transcend four decades. 

Yes: Yes Makes an Introduction

Vocalist Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire met at a nightclub in 1968 by a chance encounter that would change their lives and the face of British rock forever. Over the next couple of months, the duo added a pianist, a guitarist, and a drummer to the bunch to form the popularly syndicated band Yes. With entrepreneurial ambitions, Yes self-marketed themselves by touring for bands like Cream and making appearances on the John Peel radio show. By July 25, 1969, Yes had released their first self-titled album to rave reviews. Yes covered The Byrds’ track “I See You” and The Beatles “Every Little Thing” and also featured the hit original song “Survival”.

Less than a year later, Yes released Time and a Word, their sophomore album which boasted a 30-piece orchestra. Time and a Word included a cover of Richie Haven’s and Steven Still’s “No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed” and “Everydays” respectively and featured the originals “The Prophet” and “Clear Days”.

Yes: The ‘70s

The sounds of Yes featured a musical influx of equally weighted instrumental and vocal constituents and boasted a recording time of the not-so-traditional more than three-minute time length industry standard. Yes’s signature style classified Yes as one of the first progressive bands of their time, as they boasted one of the best rhythm sections of their era. Unlike Yes’s previous two albums, The Yes Album was composed entirely of original and uncovered songs. The Yes Album went platinum and featured the hit song “I’ve Seen All Good People”.

Yes: Undergoes Rearrangement

Along with new alignment, the band Yes featured a new sound and newfound successes that were highlighted by the commercial success of their next two LPs: Fragile and Close to the Edge. Fragile, released in 1972, featured the hit tracks “South Side of the Sky” and “Roundabout” and was remastered in 2003 to include the 10-minute cover of Paul Simon’s “America”. Close to the Edge featured the self-titled track which was over 18 minutes in length and took up all of disc A. There were two other songs featured on Close to the Edge including “And You and I” and “Siberian Khatru,” each of which ran about 10 minutes in length. The success of Fragile and Close to the Edge catapulted Yes to the status of superstardom, making Yes an international household name. The next release, Yessongs was a live three-record compilation of the songs that were performed during Yes’s 1971-72 world tour. Though seen as an elaborate gamble by their record label, Yessongs went on to become one of the best and most well-known live records in history.

Yes: Progressive Over Punk

Wasting no time, Tales from Topographic Oceans, a spiritually influenced album that incorporated Shastic-based philosophy, made its first commercial appearance on December 14, 1973. Though met with waveringly mixed reviews, Tales from Topographic Oceans reached No. 1 on the UK album charts and peaked in the US Top 10 album charts.

Yes went back to studio work on the album Relayer which featured the song “The Gates of Delirium”. The 22-minute track reached No. 1 on the Spanish charts. Following the release of Relayer, Yes embarked on a 1975-76 tour, worked on solo projects, and released their second compilation album Yesterdays. In Spring 1977, Yes released their next studio album Going for the One, which featured shorter song lengths, evident in the track “Wondrous Stories”. Tormato was released a year later, boasting a track listing that included the songs “Release, Release”, “Onward”, and “On the Silent Wings of Freedom”. Though Yes’s characteristically progressive rock style was less favored to the up-and-coming punk sound, the success of Yes’s last two albums proved that Yes had staying power and musical credibility.

Yes: Spawning More Hits

In 1980, Yes recruited the talents of the Buggles’ Geoffrey Downes and Trevor Horns to aide in the production of their next studio album Drama. Drama opened with the hard rock track “Machine Messiah” and featured the songs “White Car” and “Into the Lens”. Following the release of the album Drama,Yes embarked on the Drama tour in support of the album. After the end of the tour, the group disbanded to focus on solo projects.  

With a move to the American West and introduction of a new sound, the members of Yes got back together after a less than two year break and birthed a new album 90125 which appealed to a wider and younger fan base, at the same time bringing life to their older works. 90125, featuring the hit song “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” captured a more modern and technically advanced sound, a bold move that led to Yes’s largest and highest-charted song to date. Yes’s next album Big Generator went three-times platinum and featured the songs “I’m Running” and “Shoot High, Aim Low” and was stylistically more vintage and true to their original style than its predecessor 90125.

Yes: The ‘90s

On April 30, 1991, Yes released their 13th studio album Union, which spawned a more than fitting Union world tour in that the tour united all eight former and present members of the Yes band. Lucrative in earnings, the Union album sold more than 1.5 million records and the Union tour was one of the highest grossing tours of 1991-92. The ‘90s bred five more Yes albums, two of which were live recordings. The studio album, Talk featured the hit songs “Endless Dream, parts I, II, and III”. The 1996 and 1997 compilations Keys to Ascension and Keys to Ascension 2 respectively were a product of Yes’s three-night performances in San Luis Obispo, California. Open Your Eyes, released in late 1997, featured the tracks “New State of Mind” and “Fortune Sellers”. In 1999, Yes released The Ladder, which faired better than its predecessor by peaking at No. 36 on the UK charts and featured the songs “Finally” and “The Messenger” a tribute song to Bob Marley.

Yes: 2008 Tour

The members of Yes released their latest album Magnification in 2001 to welcomed reviews. Magnification featured the title track and “Spirit of Survival”. To honor Yes’s 40 years in the making, the band has announced that they will begin a 2008 tour entitled Close to the Edge and Back. The North American leg of the Close to the Edge and Back tour is scheduled to kick off in July 2008 and end sometime in late August 2008.