"Roundabout" "Close to The Edge" "Awaken" "Sound Chaser" "Siberian Khatru" Sir, you've fallen unknowingly into the YES rabbit hole. There is no way out.
My favourite prog. song by my favourite band, almost 50 years old now, but still ahead of its time. You've now done two of their three greatest songs. The remaining one is "Awaken" from 1977.
@@Rowenband I place The Remembering above Awaken, actually. Awaken has an unsurpassed beginning and end, but when the entire production is appraised, in my POV, The Remembering is superior. Filled with melody & some of Chris Squire's best contributions to the Tales From Topographic Oceans set. One man's opinion...
Awaken for sure. Studio version. - there are no good quality live recordings. But first I really think you need to hear side 2 of close to the edge and the other 2 songs on this album. They're all amazing. Then Awaken. That for me is pinnacle Yes. Although I could definitely get behind a start to finish journey, at least through Drama, but I'd still stick around for the ride after that.
Maybe controversial with some but I would put ‘The revealing science of god’ up there with these three but no argument that Awaken is a must listen track.
This was Alan White on drums at his best in unison with Squire's unmatched bass genius which holds everything together regardless of all the musical twists and turns of the song's mutations. Timing is built in as part of the musical flow and comes from below any urge to consciously count time. For those having rigid structure dependency will find Yes music to be very unsettling because the band is offering you a journey and so you should take it as it comes without expectations and just delight in the ride. The music may seem chaotic at first and therefore "crazy," but in reality it's extremely unconventional well designed outpouring of collective genius!! Fifty years later, Yes is still an undimmed musical giant just the same as they were when they first emerged.
Bruford took a few more adventures in "time" as his mad genius was more jazz and improv oriented and why he ended up leaving in the end. White is a solid and brilliant technical drummer and held Yes together even in the craziest passages of music and between style changes.
This is Yes at their most jazzy, experimental, maybe a little over the top. This song is based on the book War and Peace which is why it’s so intense and builds up to the crescendo !
Per Jon Anderson the lead singer, this piece is inspired by the book War And Peace. The “battle” section of this piece that begins at 12:10 is the most intense section of music that Yes ever made. Without fail, every time I hear it my adrenaline level instantly rises. And then after the battle comes the beautiful “soon” part to finish the song. Incredible! This piece is a tough listen the first few times when the listener doesn’t yet know the material, but it keeps getting better with each additional listen. It’s the opposite of pop music where you get immediate satisfaction that starts wearing down the more you listen.
Jon and Alan would stop by a junk yard on their way to the studio and get old car parts, etc. The put these on a big rack in the studio and pounded on it the during the War movement. At some point, the whole thing fell over. That's on the recording although I can't tell where.
I recommend you listen to the other side of Relayer next, Sound Chaser and To Be Over, since the whole album has a continuity of excellence and originality.
Side two of the Close to the Edge album is two songs "And You and I" and "Siberian Khatru" Both songs are brilliant and if you're a Yes fan need to be heard.
I absolutely agree. Not only is CTTE the best epic song ever put together, the CTTE *_album_* is the greatest prog album ever composed, not just on the strength of the title track, but when And You And I and Siberian Khatru are added in, you end up with the PERFECT Prog album. It just keeps coming at you with greatness...
Released in 1974. Bohemian Rhapsody was released a year later. For all the talk of the latter being a masterpiece (which it is), it is dwarfed by the epicness of this.
" An earthquake of music"🤣. I discovered this in 1978 at the ripe old age of 14. It has been my favorite ever since, but, " Awaken ", is encroaching. Hear the studio cut, then see Jon Anderson perform with Todmobile. It'll bring tears to your eyes.
You actually get YES!! The general listener does not. Yes is an experience. Soul lifting. Ethereal. Just being around these guys, you get the positivity of their souls. TY! Turn of the Century, Holy Lamb, Awaken live 2003 in Montreux, Yours is no disgrace live from the Union tour- the video is mind blowing. ☮️❤️
I love the guitar playing by Steve Howe, but lately when listening to old Yes recordings I get more and more impressed by the bass guitar lines Chris Squire plays. A delight for the ears. Back then in high school late seventies I typed monthly a personal top 100 list of my favourite songs (no computers then) and this song was number one all the time.
The final ‘Soon’ movement was released as a single. You can see why. The Relayer album is a particular triumph for Steve Howe. No one else plays guitar like this. It applies to all three tracks. Awaken on Going For The One is the final pinnacle song of this astonishing six album run. Either it or To Be Over from Relayer will be played at my funeral. Maybe both.
From Close to the Edge through Tales From Topographic Oceans to Relayer, Yes produced a body of work that has never been matched. A remarkable trilogy. All done in a twenty four track studio, produced by Eddie Offord.
One of the great Yes epics. Yes did not make just one long epic masterpiece but did it so many times with equipment of the early mid 70's. To hold together such long epics clearly puts them on the very top shelf of music. This song was inspired by the novel war and peace. It is just as relevant today as the day it was released and will always be relevant and should never be lost in the past. The war movement has so many layers, transitions, effects and sounds it is like coordinated chaos as war is. You should look up the racks of car parts they put together generate the clashing metal effects. Then when the war is over and there is peace over the land such a beautiful tune. If you listen to Jon's voice you will notice how it changes tone in the peace movement "Soon" compared to the first section in the call to war. Such amazing music, thank you for helping keep it alive at this time. HINT: Listen to side 2 next Relayer is a great album. With Patrick on keys he put a whole new sound in Yes for only the Relayer album. Sound chaser is amazing. Try to count the number of influences and genres in that piece but it all goes together so well and then "To be Over" to close out the album.
Stunning band and many albums to their greatness. Genesis, Floyd, King Crimson, Dream Theater, Led Zep, The Who, Beatles, Stones, DP, Rush, BTBAM, Moody Blues and many more. Enjoy the Ride.
My second favorite YES song behind 'Close to the Edge'. 48 years listening to this masterpiece and it never gets old! Do Side 2 of 'Close to the Edge', Side 2 of 'Relayer' and the entire 'Going for the One' Album.
An amazing piece of music about the atrocities of war. It takes you through the beginning of the war, the horrors of the war itself, and then ultimately peace. Masterpiece.
The inspiration of many video game soundtracks to come. This was YES at the pinnacle of creative exploration and they would continue on the next album Going for the One. The band was firing on all cylinders during this era. Sublime progressive rock music which was never again surpassed…
I have heard many reactors state " oh, Yes sound like" those or these or them or the other. Truth is, they all learned from or were inspired by Yes. They never really got close in my pinion. There is only one.
I was 14 years old when this album first came out. My friends and I thought this was as great as 'Close to the Edge'. A great song for headphones or to play very loud at a party. A course we all had to go see the tour in early 1975. They sounded even better live and the light show was out of this world.
I'm an old prog dog and... you're a chill kind of fun. ..The Yes peers of the day were ELP, Genesis, King Crimson... for the weirdest sounds in all of prog: The Karn Evil 9 suite or Tocata by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Both are on the Brain Salad Surgery album (1973) -- if the cover looks familiar, it was done by the same artist who did 'Alien' (H.R.Giger, RIP). Enjoy your trip down the prog rabbit hole. Bring snacks, you could wander down a side road and come out with a beard as long as the fellow in your poster. (He looks displeased that someone has tossed an RPG at his head.)
I'll second ELP's Karn Evil 9 suite, about the only prog. track that's even vaguely comparable to the chaos, darkness, and brilliance of "GoD" (and is even longer).
I will third on ELP. But include Tarkus, Pictures at an Exhibition and Trilogy with Brain Salad Surgery. Really I cannot pick my favourite because it changes depending on my mood. All are show stopper albums. If after 48 years you say you will listen to one track but end up playing the whole thing time and time again it must be a winner. But we should let DramaSyd focus on Yes for now.
@@psbarrow ELP and Yes were the Ying/Yang of prog. One dark, mysterious, putting you ill at ease the other so positive, uplifting and leaving you in a better place. Both were so great but so different.
Another great reaction!! You can’t go wrong with Yes. All the albums are great. Especially 70s Yes. The rest of this album is awesome as-is sides 1and 4 of Tales of Topographic Oceans. Awaken is also a classic. Keep the Yes reactions coming. Can’t get enough.
You make me feel warm and fuzzy all over with your reaction. This tour was my first blessing of Yes. There are five more symphonic masterpieces by Yes all epic. But you might want to flip the album over and listen to the next two songs Sound Chaser and To Be Over. You Be impressed with Yes's diversity. Mind blowing.🙏🍁
You cannot Un hear the Gates of Delirium. This is a life altering event. Yes, Rush, and Genesis are the few that have achieved this kind of brilliance in my opinion. Enjoy the prog rabbit hole. It’s where the gold is.
YES really had their strongest peak with those three magical albums from 71 and 72, The YES Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge. However, their sixth studio release which followed, Tales from Topographic Oceans, even though it recieved criticism for being over-ambitious and lacking the cohesion of previous work, it DOES feature some of the most beautiful moments they have ever achieved. It is a double album comprised of four epic pieces that each take up a whole side of each record. I highly recomnend the first, 'The Revealing Science of God" and the powerful final piece, 'Ritual'.... The two in the middle , 'The Remembering' and 'The Ancient' , are worth checking out on your own time and they DO both have sections that can only be described as 'Sublime'
Many years ago when I had to do lots of international travel for work and there no movies or in seat entertainment system then. I used to have a Walkman (remember those?) with a collection of tapes. The one I wore out was a C-180, one side was Tales both sides, the other "The Wall". I really got into tales and it became my favourite Yes album. It is still up there equal with the other Yes epics. It takes time to absorb, get into and really grab hold of such a long and complex work of sound but you are well rewarded if you do.
Interesting how different YES fans hear different things. The first time I listened to TFTO, TRSOG was my favorite side, but with repeated listenings The Remembering eventually came to be my favorite of the four sides. To my ears, it features some of the best stretches of melody in the compilation and also some of Chris Squire's best contributions, IMO.
Pink Floyd..."Dark side of the Moon" and "The Wall" are two of the finest Prog-rock albums ever made...both should be listened to from start to finish in order to get the whole experience.
🐎🐄🐑🌲Just yesterday I took a long drive down twisty, turning, winding, hilly country roads of Wisconsin with the top down. Ridiculously blue sky with big fluffy white clouds. Listening to YES Fragile and Close to the Edge, (very loud of course) it was glorious. YES is always a journey with headphones and eyes closed, but with few other views on the road than rolling hills and fields of Wisconsin farms, horses and cows and sheep, and endless rows of corn and crops, fields of sunflowers, lazy rivers and sun dappled lakes and big woods, it's equally easy to get in the zone while driving. No better medicine. Next time I take Relayer along too. Haven't listened to it in quite a long while and this was incredible. The Gates of Delirium an apropos title. "An earthquake of music comin in." Very nicely put! I'm enjoying your travels through YES. 🌻🌻🌻
Gates would be great on a drive while a big storm was building for part 1. A massive thunder storm with rain in the war section. Driving into a valley with the storm clearing and a new day breaking through for the Soon section. That would be a great experience. For me only Yes can take you to such places.
Amazing. King Crimson might be one of the few bands matching Yes’s virtuosity at that time. That you reacted as you did to “Gates” I can only suggest that you continue with the other two tracks on the album - in order - “Sound Chaser,” which definitely IS a journey through sound, and then “To Be Over.” I have long wondered why Yes and the Relayer album in particular aren’t heralded more as milestones in contemporary (or ANY) music. Also, I truly appreciate your insights to the music you review. Thank you.
Funny you mention King Crimson. I'm not really a fan. Not that they aren't brilliant musicians. Their music just confuses me. This song, I was just thinking hearing it again, it was Yes"s most Crimsonesque song
King Crimson came, scared everyone, but really didn't sell big beyond their earliest albums. A rather forgetten band like Wishbone Ash introduced twin leads in a prog style, had solid sales and had more impact around '74
NOW YOU DONE DID IT!!!!!!! We're talking what words can not describe!!!!!!!!!!! from close to the edge to riding the edge and going over it ! YES's GATES goes deep, dark & funky yet lifts you higher into new realms. The richness & beauty of the composition is the story progresses & expresses itself sonically as well as lyrically with perfection. WAR has never been visualized with sounds so powerfully! The marching, battle, guns, swords, bombs, rockets, clashing, death, destruction, devastation onto ultimate victory to refection, regret , remorse towards the wisdom of enlightenment, ....hopefully! < ALL of YES IN THE 70's should be EXPERIENCED but my issue with REQUEST by the PROG audience is that there are the POPULAR SONGS yet there are other INCREDIBLE SONGS similar that will NEVER GET SUGGESTED in high numbers UNFORTUNATELY such as the bands: CURVED AIR "Piece of Mind" ***** or GENTLE GIANT, HAPPY the MAN, PFM, GRYPHON but you might get mentioned KING CRIMSON especially their RED album.
Any KC tracks are likely to get blocked very quickly by Fripp, which is why there are hardly any reactions of the band's music on YT. Pretty stupid of him as young reactors are how his music will gain new fans and live on beyond him.
Dear Mr Boyd, I was 13 in 1969 when I read a review in British Music Mag saying Led Zeppelin and Yes was the most impressive bands coming out that year. He was right. Few bands have reached into the stratosphere as Yes. The bars, music and composition they have it all! Enjoy! Ignore the Haters. My avatar is from the band Opeth. When ur ready, try "Bleed" from their LP Black Water Park. They are hard, but have angelic passages with great words and feel. ✌️
That _was_ an amazing tone/performance. He's playing with not just the pitch/modulation wheels, but the filter knob as well, all at the same time. And his pitch wheel is set for much more than a whole step. Wakeman, of course, is amazing, but Moraz's left-hand work with a Minimoog is kind of mind-blowing if you try and recreate it live. Even he had trouble replicating it if you listen to the live version on Yesshows. Same goes for his solo on _Sound Chaser,_ where he's switching "sync" off, detuning one oscillator against the other, using its pitch knob, then switching back to _sync,_ and pushing up the modulation wheel. Real mastery of a quirky, temperamental machine. Shame he may have not been treated so well by the band, if you hear his account of his firing.
You can complete the album... and listen to these other great YES albums from side to side : Relayer, Close to the Edge, Yes Album, Fragile, Going for the One. Enjoy the journey...
I have been listening to YES since November 14, 1971, when they opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. They still enthrall me. Now I also get great pleasure when watching others' introduction to their most transcendent works...this being one of them. Seeing the expression on your face of satisfaction, surprise and occasional exultant bewilderment sparked by these sounds that were created 50 years ago with the technological options available to them at that time makes me smile and happy for you in your discovery. Listen on and repeatedly, my friend.
One of My Favorite YESSONGS Thanks for Your Reaction vid!!! There is also a LIVE version of the Gates of Delirium it deserves a listen to... Weather or not you do a reaction vid to it ...
Well, the rest of this album will spin your head off. If you think the bass and drums went nuts on this track (and they did), wait until you hear the next one.
The first time my friend heard this he said yeah yeah great but can they do it live? He never saw it but I sure did and more than once,. You have to wonder how the band stays on track with a piece of music like this. Beyond genius it may all come from another dimension.
Something akin to this would be Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Karn Evil 9": it's another complex, insane war epic. The highest level of musical skill you can imagine.
Yes Fragile. Full album. Notwithstanding my personal bias, as it was my first vinyl in 1972, this album is simply genius. A masterpiece, I shit you not. 🤓 Ps, love what you're doing.
This is music from the oldest part of the Universe! When Aliens come here to make friends, it will be because they heard this song come to them in the Universal airwaves.
"In the trenches with the band ...", a very apt image for the theme of the piece! You are right that sometimes all the band members can be playing around the beat, but the pulse is still there in the middle and they're still so tight and together, despite the complexity, that they can lock together again without apparent effort. I love your intelligent and musically insightful comments. I agree with the recommendation of doing Awaken, but anything by Yes - front to back, beginning to end - will be a journey through sound and a musical adventure all the way.
I have been a Yes fan since late sixties. If you enjoyed Gates of delirium it is even more beautiful and enjoyable live which I have seen several times. An incredible band. Try Awaken from going for the one album. Just as magnificent.
Only have one to go on the Close To The Edge album. Siberian Khatru. It's a winner. One of my favorites that highlights every musician and is dramatic but still accessible is South Side of the Sky from Fragile. I think Bill Bruford on drums makes the song what it is.
The first time I saw Yes, this album was new. Some fans were down on them, Rick Wakeman had left the band.... but I still loved their music. The big anti-war epic song.
Gates of Delirum is one of my absolute top favourites by Yes and the whole Relayer album is a must! Thank you! Hope you will continue Yes reactions, I’ll be watching every one of them. In the 80’s they became more commercial, more pop and IMO not as experimental any more, though still GOOD because they are such unique musicians. But their albums from the beginning up until the 80’s is pure gold.
My first YES was their live album YESSONGS !!! I was hooked and then started purchasing the studio albums. Their second live album YESSHOWS is IMHO amazing as well !!! Enjoy your trip down the YES rabbit hole !!!
If I were Yes, I'd be very proud of this song. And, oh, yeah, Steve Howe is absolutely one of the best guitarists ever. And Squire and Anderson and . . . The Relayer show was my opening salvo of seeing Yes live. What an f'ing show.
"Gates" clearly touched you as did "Close to the Edge" & "Awaken". I'd have to recommend "Tales From Topographic Oceans" in it's entirety as a follow up. Double LP, four tracks it is indeed an epic
Thank you for sharing your impressions of this wonderful music. It makes me realise how lucky I was to have been a teenager in the early 1970’s listening to Yes and other prog rock bands, the creativity was incredible and remember everything was analogue and the technology was basic...mellotrons and monophonic synths (moog)..I used to think back then that Yes were playing music from the future...I saw them live in Manchester UK back in ’74 playing ‘Tales’ and Close to the Edge’....it still sounds like music from the future and it is wonderful to see younger generations enjoying it today.
Yes! "Front to back, start to finish, beginning to end." Your instincts are spot on. I'm subscribed and ready to welcome you to this journey on the Starship Trooper that I've been sailing for nearly 50 years. Let's do this from YES, Side 1, Track 1 and have some fun!
Relayer and Close to the Edge are like twin albums, hard to rank one above the the other as their best. Is Gates of Delerium better than Close to the Edge track? I can't call it. Is And You and I better than To be Over? So close, but I think Sound Chaser is better than Siberian Khatru. So I call Relayer as the top Yes album. But it's close. Rest of the album please. You certainly get Yes.
You should see this performed in Symphonic Yes (2001). It’s posted on RUclips, but in three videos due to copyright issues. Absolutely worth a look, and links come up to take you to the next video. They come together almost seamlessly. It’s a stunning performance. Alan White is amazing on the drums.
Yes from The Magnification album "In the Presence of " masterpiece ! Yes From the TALK album Endless Dream another masterpiece and from the album Going for the One Awaken. I have so many more seen Yes live from 1976-2011 Chris and Alan RIP !
Major props to Steve Howe...that man is a genius on the guitar.
No sampling here. Just pure music and musicianship. Sadly missed these days. Thanks for sharing .
"Roundabout" "Close to The Edge" "Awaken" "Sound Chaser" "Siberian Khatru" Sir, you've fallen unknowingly into the YES rabbit hole. There is no way out.
My favourite prog. song by my favourite band, almost 50 years old now, but still ahead of its time. You've now done two of their three greatest songs. The remaining one is "Awaken" from 1977.
Well I place Ritual and Sound Chaser above Awaken…
@@Rowenband I place The Remembering above Awaken, actually. Awaken has an unsurpassed beginning and end, but when the entire production is appraised, in my POV, The Remembering is superior. Filled with melody & some of Chris Squire's best contributions to the Tales From Topographic Oceans set. One man's opinion...
Watching the old live shows, it's a Wondrous Story, they were so Close to the Edge, you only argue about places if you suffer badly from The Clap
Awaken for sure. Studio version. - there are no good quality live recordings. But first I really think you need to hear side 2 of close to the edge and the other 2 songs on this album. They're all amazing. Then Awaken. That for me is pinnacle Yes. Although I could definitely get behind a start to finish journey, at least through Drama, but I'd still stick around for the ride after that.
Maybe controversial with some but I would put ‘The revealing science of god’ up there with these three but no argument that Awaken is a must listen track.
Could you imagine being the drummer and playing this entire song live!?
He'd probably lose 3-4 pounds by the end! 😮
That's why Alan White always wore bicycle shorts for a concert. Any drummer would get the workout of their life with this band.
This was Alan White on drums at his best in unison with Squire's unmatched bass genius which holds everything together regardless of all the musical twists and turns of the song's mutations. Timing is built in as part of the musical flow and comes from below any urge to consciously count time. For those having rigid structure dependency will find Yes music to be very unsettling because the band is offering you a journey and so you should take it as it comes without expectations and just delight in the ride. The music may seem chaotic at first and therefore "crazy," but in reality it's extremely unconventional well designed outpouring of collective genius!! Fifty years later, Yes is still an undimmed musical giant just the same as they were when they first emerged.
Bruford took a few more adventures in "time" as his mad genius was more jazz and improv oriented and why he ended up leaving in the end. White is a solid and brilliant technical drummer and held Yes together even in the craziest passages of music and between style changes.
I know Bruford is great but, Alan White was the best drummer for Yes.
@@marshabonforte6963 He was one of the best drummer ever!
Time for the song Awaken!
This is Yes at their most jazzy, experimental, maybe a little over the top.
This song is based on the book War and Peace which is why it’s so intense and builds up to the crescendo !
Per Jon Anderson the lead singer, this piece is inspired by the book War And Peace.
The “battle” section of this piece that begins at 12:10 is the most intense section of music that Yes ever made. Without fail, every time I hear it my adrenaline level instantly rises.
And then after the battle comes the beautiful “soon” part to finish the song. Incredible!
This piece is a tough listen the first few times when the listener doesn’t yet know the material, but it keeps getting better with each additional listen. It’s the opposite of pop music where you get immediate satisfaction that starts wearing down the more you listen.
Jon and Alan would stop by a junk yard on their way to the studio and get old car parts, etc. The put these on a big rack in the studio and pounded on it the during the War movement. At some point, the whole thing fell over. That's on the recording although I can't tell where.
I recommend you listen to the other side of Relayer next, Sound Chaser and To Be Over, since the whole album has a continuity of excellence and originality.
Would of been my suggestion
Side two of the Close to the Edge album is two songs "And You and I" and "Siberian Khatru" Both songs are brilliant and if you're a Yes fan need to be heard.
I absolutely agree. Not only is CTTE the best epic song ever put together, the CTTE *_album_* is the greatest prog album ever composed, not just on the strength of the title track, but when And You And I and Siberian Khatru are added in, you end up with the PERFECT Prog album. It just keeps coming at you with greatness...
Awaken, Ritual, And You and I
If you’ve not done it yet ‘Awaken’ from Going for the One 1977. Great that you are discovering Yes. Great reaction
Released in 1974. Bohemian Rhapsody was released a year later. For all the talk of the latter being a masterpiece (which it is), it is dwarfed by the epicness of this.
" An earthquake of music"🤣. I discovered this in 1978 at the ripe old age of 14. It has been my favorite ever since, but, " Awaken ", is encroaching. Hear the studio cut, then see Jon Anderson perform with Todmobile. It'll bring tears to your eyes.
Yeah, once you've passed the gates of delirium, there's no coming back.
You actually get YES!! The general listener does not. Yes is an experience. Soul lifting. Ethereal. Just being around these guys, you get the positivity of their souls. TY! Turn of the Century, Holy Lamb, Awaken live 2003 in Montreux, Yours is no disgrace live from the Union tour- the video is mind blowing. ☮️❤️
I love the guitar playing by Steve Howe, but lately when listening to old Yes recordings I get more and more impressed by the bass guitar lines Chris Squire plays. A delight for the ears. Back then in high school late seventies I typed monthly a personal top 100 list of my favourite songs (no computers then) and this song was number one all the time.
The final ‘Soon’ movement was released as a single. You can see why.
The Relayer album is a particular triumph for Steve Howe. No one else plays guitar like this. It applies to all three tracks.
Awaken on Going For The One is the final pinnacle song of this astonishing six album run. Either it or To Be Over from Relayer will be played at my funeral. Maybe both.
I'm a YES fanatic. Try out Heart of the Sunrise. It has a little jazz fusion. I LOVE it!!!!
Oh man, you're taking a big dive into the Yes catalog.
My favorite band!!!
I’ve watched many reactions of this song, and I have to say that this is better than any others! Really great reaction 👍
From Close to the Edge through Tales From Topographic Oceans to Relayer, Yes produced a body of work that has never been matched. A remarkable trilogy. All done in a twenty four track studio, produced by Eddie Offord.
Now you`ve gone there, Drama.
One of the great Yes epics. Yes did not make just one long epic masterpiece but did it so many times with equipment of the early mid 70's. To hold together such long epics clearly puts them on the very top shelf of music. This song was inspired by the novel war and peace. It is just as relevant today as the day it was released and will always be relevant and should never be lost in the past. The war movement has so many layers, transitions, effects and sounds it is like coordinated chaos as war is. You should look up the racks of car parts they put together generate the clashing metal effects. Then when the war is over and there is peace over the land such a beautiful tune. If you listen to Jon's voice you will notice how it changes tone in the peace movement "Soon" compared to the first section in the call to war. Such amazing music, thank you for helping keep it alive at this time. HINT: Listen to side 2 next Relayer is a great album. With Patrick on keys he put a whole new sound in Yes for only the Relayer album. Sound chaser is amazing. Try to count the number of influences and genres in that piece but it all goes together so well and then "To be Over" to close out the album.
Stunning band and many albums to their greatness. Genesis, Floyd, King Crimson, Dream Theater, Led Zep, The Who, Beatles, Stones, DP, Rush, BTBAM, Moody Blues and many more. Enjoy the Ride.
My second favorite YES song behind 'Close to the Edge'. 48 years listening to this masterpiece and it never gets old! Do Side 2 of 'Close to the Edge', Side 2 of 'Relayer' and the entire 'Going for the One' Album.
I 100% agree with this comment. My favorite 3 yes albums, though everything they did in the 70s was ridiculously good.
I concur 100% with perry's comment !! Original, and great we'll gelled musicians.
An amazing piece of music about the atrocities of war. It takes you through the beginning of the war, the horrors of the war itself, and then ultimately peace. Masterpiece.
The inspiration of many video game soundtracks to come. This was YES at the pinnacle of creative exploration and they would continue on the next album Going for the One. The band was firing on all cylinders during this era. Sublime progressive rock music which was never again surpassed…
ALWAYS LISTEN TO THE STUDIO VERSION FIRST ITS HOW THE BAND PUT THE MUSIC OUT TO THE WORLD.
*THANK YOU !* I always say that to newcomers to any artist not just YES.
I have heard many reactors state " oh, Yes sound like" those or these or them or the other. Truth is, they all learned from or were inspired by Yes. They never really got close in my pinion. There is only one.
I was 14 years old when this album first came out. My friends and I thought this was as great as 'Close to the Edge'. A great song for headphones or to play very loud at a party. A course we all had to go see the tour in early 1975. They sounded even better live and the light show was out of this world.
I'm an old prog dog and... you're a chill kind of fun. ..The Yes peers of the day were ELP, Genesis, King Crimson... for the weirdest sounds in all of prog: The Karn Evil 9 suite or Tocata by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Both are on the Brain Salad Surgery album (1973) -- if the cover looks familiar, it was done by the same artist who did 'Alien' (H.R.Giger, RIP). Enjoy your trip down the prog rabbit hole. Bring snacks, you could wander down a side road and come out with a beard as long as the fellow in your poster. (He looks displeased that someone has tossed an RPG at his head.)
I'll second ELP's Karn Evil 9 suite, about the only prog. track that's even vaguely comparable to the chaos, darkness, and brilliance of "GoD" (and is even longer).
I will third on ELP. But include Tarkus, Pictures at an Exhibition and Trilogy with Brain Salad Surgery. Really I cannot pick my favourite because it changes depending on my mood. All are show stopper albums. If after 48 years you say you will listen to one track but end up playing the whole thing time and time again it must be a winner. But we should let DramaSyd focus on Yes for now.
@@psbarrow ELP and Yes were the Ying/Yang of prog. One dark, mysterious, putting you ill at ease the other so positive, uplifting and leaving you in a better place. Both were so great but so different.
Another great reaction!! You can’t go wrong with Yes. All the albums are great. Especially 70s Yes. The rest of this album is awesome as-is sides 1and 4 of Tales of Topographic Oceans. Awaken is also a classic. Keep the Yes reactions coming. Can’t get enough.
You make me feel warm and fuzzy all over with your reaction. This tour was my first blessing of Yes. There are five more symphonic masterpieces by Yes all epic. But you might want to flip the album over and listen to the next two songs Sound Chaser and To Be Over. You Be impressed with Yes's diversity. Mind blowing.🙏🍁
You cannot Un hear the Gates of Delirium. This is a life altering event. Yes, Rush, and Genesis are the few that have achieved this kind of brilliance in my opinion. Enjoy the prog rabbit hole. It’s where the gold is.
U R absolutely right!
YES really had their strongest peak with those three magical albums from 71 and 72, The YES Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge. However, their sixth studio release which followed, Tales from Topographic Oceans, even though it recieved criticism for being over-ambitious and lacking the cohesion of previous work, it DOES feature some of the most beautiful moments they have ever achieved. It is a double album comprised of four epic pieces that each take up a whole side of each record. I highly recomnend the first, 'The Revealing Science of God" and the powerful final piece, 'Ritual'....
The two in the middle ,
'The Remembering' and 'The Ancient' , are worth checking out on your own time and they DO both have sections that can only be described as 'Sublime'
Many years ago when I had to do lots of international travel for work and there no movies or in seat entertainment system then. I used to have a Walkman (remember those?) with a collection of tapes. The one I wore out was a C-180, one side was Tales both sides, the other "The Wall". I really got into tales and it became my favourite Yes album. It is still up there equal with the other Yes epics. It takes time to absorb, get into and really grab hold of such a long and complex work of sound but you are well rewarded if you do.
The Revealing Science of God is still YES at their musically creative peak.
Interesting how different YES fans hear different things. The first time I listened to TFTO, TRSOG was my favorite side, but with repeated listenings The Remembering eventually came to be my favorite of the four sides. To my ears, it features some of the best stretches of melody in the compilation and also some of Chris Squire's best contributions, IMO.
Pink Floyd..."Dark side of the Moon" and "The Wall" are two of the finest Prog-rock albums ever made...both should be listened to from start to finish in order to get the whole experience.
I saw Yes perform this live in 1975 in Boston A true masterpiece Ethereal . True Art
This is a Journey I took in Concert, one of many YES Concerts. The Sun will lead ALL of us, It's our reason to be here❤😊❤
🐎🐄🐑🌲Just yesterday I took a long drive down twisty, turning, winding, hilly country roads of Wisconsin with the top down. Ridiculously blue sky with big fluffy white clouds. Listening to YES Fragile and Close to the Edge, (very loud of course) it was glorious. YES is always a journey with headphones and eyes closed, but with few other views on the road than rolling hills and fields of Wisconsin farms, horses and cows and sheep, and endless rows of corn and crops, fields of sunflowers, lazy rivers and sun dappled lakes and big woods, it's equally easy to get in the zone while driving. No better medicine. Next time I take Relayer along too. Haven't listened to it in quite a long while and this was incredible. The Gates of Delirium an apropos title.
"An earthquake of music comin in." Very nicely put! I'm enjoying your travels through YES. 🌻🌻🌻
Gates would be great on a drive while a big storm was building for part 1. A massive thunder storm with rain in the war section. Driving into a valley with the storm clearing and a new day breaking through for the Soon section. That would be a great experience. For me only Yes can take you to such places.
Amazing. King Crimson might be one of the few bands matching Yes’s virtuosity at that time.
That you reacted as you did to “Gates” I can only suggest that you continue with the other two tracks on the album - in order - “Sound Chaser,” which definitely IS a journey through sound, and then “To Be Over.” I have long wondered why Yes and the Relayer album in particular aren’t heralded more as milestones in contemporary (or ANY) music.
Also, I truly appreciate your insights to the music you review. Thank you.
Yes I agree Sound Chaser is the most challenging song by Yes. Maybe my favorite also.
To each his own Stuart but it my ever so humble opinion, no band can compare to YES!
Funny you mention King Crimson. I'm not really a fan. Not that they aren't brilliant musicians. Their music just confuses me. This song, I was just thinking hearing it again, it was Yes"s most Crimsonesque song
King Crimson came, scared everyone, but really didn't sell big beyond their earliest albums. A rather forgetten band like Wishbone Ash introduced twin leads in a prog style, had solid sales and had more impact around '74
@@RobBCactive I love Wishbone Ash, great bass player and singer : Martin Turner.
NOW YOU DONE DID IT!!!!!!! We're talking what words can not describe!!!!!!!!!!! from close to the edge to riding the edge and going over it ! YES's GATES goes deep, dark & funky yet lifts you higher into new realms. The richness & beauty of the composition is the story progresses & expresses itself sonically as well as lyrically with perfection. WAR has never been visualized with sounds so powerfully! The marching, battle, guns, swords, bombs, rockets, clashing, death, destruction, devastation onto ultimate victory to refection, regret , remorse towards the wisdom of enlightenment, ....hopefully! < ALL of YES IN THE 70's should be EXPERIENCED but my issue with REQUEST by the PROG audience is that there are the POPULAR SONGS yet there are other INCREDIBLE SONGS similar that will NEVER GET SUGGESTED in high numbers UNFORTUNATELY such as the bands: CURVED AIR "Piece of Mind" ***** or GENTLE GIANT, HAPPY the MAN, PFM, GRYPHON but you might get mentioned KING CRIMSON especially their RED album.
Any KC tracks are likely to get blocked very quickly by Fripp, which is why there are hardly any reactions of the band's music on YT. Pretty stupid of him as young reactors are how his music will gain new fans and live on beyond him.
Saw the GG 4 times, love the Crimson of the King Brain Salad that is. Now they're mentioned.👍
Gryphon’s music is truly unique and sad that it never got the exposure it deserved.
YES & GENTLE GIANT TOURED TOGETHER IN 1976!!!🎉🎉🎉
@@caroleann_2142 i missed that bc it was Gryphon with them for me. I saw GG headline with Renaissance in 76
Yes fan since 69. I am always delighted when I see that someone "gets it"
Watching you enjoy this is awesome. YOU, sir, "get it"
There’s only one way up from here, my friend. The song is called Awaken. It’s on Going For The One. Cheers!
Prog on my brother
Treat yourself to the rest of this album you wont regret it and you'll make us YES fans happy, love your reactions bro, stay blessed.
Dear Mr Boyd, I was 13 in 1969 when I read a review in British Music Mag saying Led Zeppelin and Yes was the most impressive bands coming out that year. He was right. Few bands have reached into the stratosphere as Yes. The bars, music and composition they have it all! Enjoy! Ignore the Haters. My avatar is from the band Opeth. When ur ready, try "Bleed" from their LP Black Water Park. They are hard, but have angelic passages with great words and feel. ✌️
Bro! My favorite song for over 40 years... Keep listening to it and when you are anticipating all THE parts it's so AMAZING!
Awesome reaction, dude! Love that you are digging this band! Keep exploring them...there's a lot more to hear!
Sound Chaser. That's all that needs to be said at this point.
I love the jam right before the "Soon" movement...Moraz gets his synth to sound like a huge buzzing bee
That _was_ an amazing tone/performance. He's playing with not just the pitch/modulation wheels, but the filter knob as well, all at the same time. And his pitch wheel is set for much more than a whole step. Wakeman, of course, is amazing, but Moraz's left-hand work with a Minimoog is kind of mind-blowing if you try and recreate it live. Even he had trouble replicating it if you listen to the live version on Yesshows. Same goes for his solo on _Sound Chaser,_ where he's switching "sync" off, detuning one oscillator against the other, using its pitch knob, then switching back to _sync,_ and pushing up the modulation wheel. Real mastery of a quirky, temperamental machine. Shame he may have not been treated so well by the band, if you hear his account of his firing.
You can complete the album... and listen to these other great YES albums from side to side : Relayer, Close to the Edge, Yes Album, Fragile, Going for the One. Enjoy the journey...
I have been listening to YES since November 14, 1971, when they opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. They still enthrall me. Now I also get great pleasure when watching others' introduction to their most transcendent works...this being one of them. Seeing the expression on your face of satisfaction, surprise and occasional exultant bewilderment sparked by these sounds that were created 50 years ago with the technological options available to them at that time makes me smile and happy for you in your discovery. Listen on and repeatedly, my friend.
One of My Favorite YESSONGS
Thanks for Your Reaction vid!!!
There is also a LIVE version of the Gates of Delirium it deserves a listen to...
Weather or not you do a reaction vid to it ...
with most Classic YES you can't go wrong with remastered studio versions. Awaken (whole album is good too), the album Fragile is really good
I've never heard anybody even think of using the pedal steel like Steve Howe. What an imaginative innovator!
How about "Fragile," album or at least "Heart of the Sunrise?"
Well, the rest of this album will spin your head off. If you think the bass and drums went nuts on this track (and they did), wait until you hear the next one.
The first time my friend heard this he said yeah yeah great but can they do it live? He never saw it but I sure did and more than once,. You have to wonder how the band stays on track with a piece of music like this. Beyond genius it may all come from another dimension.
Something akin to this would be Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Karn Evil 9": it's another complex, insane war epic. The highest level of musical skill you can imagine.
Listen the version of this song on the Yesshows album,it will be a must too!!Now it's time for Awaken!!
Your reaction is exactly why I’ve been listening to Yes since 1971. Total Bliss...
Yes Fragile. Full album. Notwithstanding my personal bias, as it was my first vinyl in 1972, this album is simply genius. A masterpiece, I shit you not. 🤓
Ps, love what you're doing.
This is music from the oldest part of the Universe! When Aliens come here to make friends, it will be because they heard this song come to them in the Universal airwaves.
the next song on the album Sound Chaser is soooo nuts! simply amazing
I've been listening to this song since I was fourteen, and that was in 1974
"In the trenches with the band ...", a very apt image for the theme of the piece! You are right that sometimes all the band members can be playing around the beat, but the pulse is still there in the middle and they're still so tight and together, despite the complexity, that they can lock together again without apparent effort. I love your intelligent and musically insightful comments. I agree with the recommendation of doing Awaken, but anything by Yes - front to back, beginning to end - will be a journey through sound and a musical adventure all the way.
Love it when someone GETS IT on the fist listen.
Hard to miss a good time listening to YES. At 16 yrs old this was the shit.
Wakeman out; Moraz in with his custom 3 keyboard Orchestron. Killer album.
I have been a Yes fan since late sixties. If you enjoyed Gates of delirium it is even more beautiful and enjoyable live which I have seen several times. An incredible band. Try Awaken from going for the one album. Just as magnificent.
This piece takes its influence from the book War and Peace.
Wel,ll I was 665 on the like counter. This song is a BEAST in my GenX life line. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Only have one to go on the Close To The Edge album. Siberian Khatru. It's a winner. One of my favorites that highlights every musician and is dramatic but still accessible is South Side of the Sky from Fragile. I think Bill Bruford on drums makes the song what it is.
The first time I saw Yes, this album was new. Some fans were down on them, Rick Wakeman had left the band.... but I still loved their music. The big anti-war epic song.
They bounced back though, by 1976 they were playing to some of their largest audiences and still with the Relayer album lineup.
yes has an amazing ability to make chaos sound beautiful and inspiring
Gates of Delirum is one of my absolute top favourites by Yes and the whole Relayer album is a must! Thank you!
Hope you will continue Yes reactions, I’ll be watching every one of them. In the 80’s they became more commercial, more pop and IMO not as experimental any more, though still GOOD because they are such unique musicians. But their albums from the beginning up until the 80’s is pure gold.
My first YES was their live album YESSONGS !!!
I was hooked and then started purchasing the studio albums.
Their second live album YESSHOWS is IMHO amazing as well !!!
Enjoy your trip down the YES rabbit hole !!!
If I were Yes, I'd be very proud of this song. And, oh, yeah, Steve Howe is absolutely one of the best guitarists ever. And Squire and Anderson and . . .
The Relayer show was my opening salvo of seeing Yes live. What an f'ing show.
It's sort of based on War and Peace by Tolstoy
Yes Sir!
An epic song based on an epic novel.
YES'S "RELAYER" IS ONE OF THE MOST PROGRESSIVES ALBUMS OF HISTORY.
IS THE FAVORITE RECORD FOR DANNY CAREY, DRUMMER OF TOOL...
"Gates" clearly touched you as did "Close to the Edge" & "Awaken". I'd have to recommend "Tales From Topographic Oceans" in it's entirety as a follow up. Double LP, four tracks it is indeed an epic
I'd like to suggest listening/reacting to side 2 of Relayer. Sound Chaser and To Be Over. Truly enjoyed your reaction to Gates of Delirium
I saw them on this tour - amazing to see them do this live!
Thank you for sharing your impressions of this wonderful music. It makes me realise how lucky I was to have been a teenager in the early 1970’s listening to Yes and other prog rock bands, the creativity was incredible and remember everything was analogue and the technology was basic...mellotrons and monophonic synths (moog)..I used to think back then that Yes were playing music from the future...I saw them live in Manchester UK back in ’74 playing ‘Tales’ and Close to the Edge’....it still sounds like music from the future and it is wonderful to see younger generations enjoying it today.
Great watch! My suggestion for your next Yes reaction is 'Awaken". Definitely an experience.
All good people next.
Do it.
You know you want to.
Close To The Edge...YES!
Yes! "Front to back, start to finish, beginning to end." Your instincts are spot on. I'm subscribed and ready to welcome you to this journey on the Starship Trooper that I've been sailing for nearly 50 years. Let's do this from YES, Side 1, Track 1 and have some fun!
Nice reaction. I’ll suggest to finish both albums Close to the edge and Relayer, but everything Yes is amazing. Thx ✌️
I liked the reviewer’s analysis! He nails it when he says, “this is an adventure in sound”.
I think what I love most about this song, is that it takes you on this crazy journey, an epic tale, and it sets you down nice and gentle like a baby.
Flip it over
Relayer and Close to the Edge are like twin albums, hard to rank one above the the other as their best. Is Gates of Delerium better than Close to the Edge track? I can't call it. Is And You and I better than To be Over? So close, but I think Sound Chaser is better than Siberian Khatru. So I call Relayer as the top Yes album. But it's close.
Rest of the album please. You certainly get Yes.
You must watch this live. This tour, Relayer, was my first Yes show. Have not missed one since. Saw them week before last, Steve Howe was on fire!!
You should see this performed in Symphonic Yes (2001). It’s posted on RUclips, but in three videos due to copyright issues. Absolutely worth a look, and links come up to take you to the next video. They come together almost seamlessly. It’s a stunning performance. Alan White is amazing on the drums.
Yes from The Magnification album "In the Presence of " masterpiece ! Yes From the TALK album Endless Dream another masterpiece and from the album Going for the One Awaken. I have so many more seen Yes live from 1976-2011 Chris and Alan RIP !
:) Beautiful reaction.