Yes – Yes (50th Anniversary Edition for Record Store Day 2019 on 180g Neon Orange Vinyl)

Limited edition of 6,500. All-analog cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.

Released on 25 July 1969, Yes is the debut studio album by prog rock legends Yes. After forming in the summer of 1968, the band toured extensively across the United Kingdom with sets comprising both original material and rearranged cover versions. They signed with Atlantic in March 1969, and entered Advision and Trident Studios in London to record their first album. Yes includes covers of Every Little Thing by the Beatles and I See You by the Byrds. Two singles from the album were released: Sweetness and Looking Around.

Yes received some positive reviews from critics in the United Kingdom and United States, but was not a commercial success and failed to enter the charts. Scott Campbell of the Arizona Republic wrote that Yes are ‘a promising set’ that deliver on being ‘solid and together at nearly all times’, with ‘strong and competent’ vocals from Jon Anderson. David Wagner, in the Post-Crescent, agreed with Campbell that Yes were a ‘very promising’ group. He recognised ‘a lot of jazz swinginess’ on the album, particularly on the two cover songs, and compared Banks’s guitar style to that of Wes Montgomery which comes across strong on the guitar and drum section on I See You. Wagner rated the band’s original material as ‘generally good’ and ‘fully arranged’ despite the over-sentimental quality of Sweetness, ‘but there are so many delights on so many levels here that it’s hard to complain’. Lester Bangs favourably reviewed the album in Rolling Stone, writing that it was ‘the kind of album that sometimes insinuates itself into your routine with a totally unexpected thrust of musical power.’

Track Listing

Side One

1. Beyond and Before
2. I See You
3. Yesterday and Today
4. Looking Around

Side Two

1. Harold Land
2. Every Little Thing
3. Sweetness
4. Survival

Producer: Paul Clay, Yes

Format: Vinyl / 12” Album Coloured Vinyl (Limited Edition)

Label: Atlantic

Barcode: 603497854189

Release Date: 13 Apr 2019