Yes: Yes (cobalt vinyl, indie exclusive) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

This indie exclusive presses the debut on 180g cobalt vinyl in a gatefold jacket, part of Rhino's Start Your Ear Off Right series. Lester Bangs praised it in Rolling Stone for its 'unexpected thrust of musical power.'

This edition

• Cobalt vinyl
• Indie exclusive
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Lyrics insert
• Pressed in the Czech Republic

About the album

Every prog institution starts somewhere, and Yes started out in the summer of 1968 playing British clubs with sets full of rearranged covers. Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Peter Banks, Bill Bruford and Tony Kaye won over Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun at an audition at London's Speakeasy Club, signed in March 1969 and headed into Advision and Trident Studios that spring.

The covers made the cut too, with The Beatles' "Every Little Thing" and The Byrds' "I See You" turned into long, adventurous workouts. "Beyond And Before" opens with Squire's busy bass and those soaring harmonies, "Looking Around" and "Sweetness" were the singles, and "Survival," built by the whole band, points straight at the epics to come. "Harold Land" borrows its name from the American tenor saxophonist, though its lyrics deal with the effects of war. Paul Clay produced alongside the band.

Bruford named that one by calling out "Harold Land" as he walked through the room when someone asked what it should be called. We've tried the same method for the shop's filing system, with somewhat less distinguished results.

Also at Kops: more Yes on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Atlantic / Rhino (cat# RCD1 8243), a reissue of the 1969 album.