The Yes Album by Yes

The Yes Album, the third studio album by Yes, came out on Atlantic in 1971, and it's the record where these London proggers finally cut loose. It was the first with guitarist Steve Howe, who had replaced Peter Banks, and the last with keyboardist Tony Kaye until 90125. The songs took shape at a farmhouse in Romansleigh, Devon, were cut at Advision Studios in London, and for the first time every one was their own.

The close harmonies, Kaye's Hammond and Chris Squire's melodic, muscular bass are all still here, but the tracks now stretch out into jazz piano, funk and acoustic detours, with Howe flashing a whole toolkit of guitar styles, a Spanish laúd included, even cutting his solo piece "Clap" live at the Lyceum Theatre. "Yours Is No Disgrace" and "Perpetual Change" show how fast the ambition had grown. With Atlantic's patience wearing thin after two flops, it became their breakthrough, reaching number 4 in the UK and later going platinum in the US.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.