Music / The Yes Album

"I've seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied, I'm on my way!"

"Yesterday, a morning came, a smile upon your face.
Caesar's Palace, morning glory, silly human race.
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place.
If the summer changed to winter, yours is no disgrace."

—"Yours is No Disgrace"

The Yes Album is the third studio album by Yes, released on 19 February 1971. It was the first album to feature Steve Howe, who replaced Peter Banks on the guitar and introduced an acoustic sound alongside the Portuguese guitar. After facing the prospect of being dropped by Atlantic Records given how the first two albums failed commercially, The Yes Album was a commercial breakthrough for Yes. The following March, "Your Move" from "I've Seen All Good People" was released as a single.

Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Yours is No Disgrace" (9:41)
2. "Clap" (3:17)
3. "Starship Trooper" (9:29)
   1. "Life Seeker"
   2. "Disillusion"
   3. "Würm"

Side Two

1. "I've Seen All Good People" (6:55)
   1. "Your Move"
   2. "All Good People"
2. "A Venture" (3:20)
3. "Perpetual Change" (8:57)

---

Principal Members:

• Jon Anderson – vocals
• Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
• Steve Howe – guitars, backing vocals
• Tony Kaye – keyboards
• Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals

---

Starship troper, go sailing on by:

• Boléro Effect: "Würm" employs this, starting with a keyboard riff slowly joined by more instruments, though it's capped with a guitar solo.
• Epic Rocking: "Yours is No Disgrace", "Starship Trooper" and "Perpetual Change" all clock in above or around the nine minute mark. "I've Seen All Good People" is no slouch either, being almost seven minutes long.
• Instrumental: "Clap", which is Howe's solo piece. The version originally released on the studio album was from a live performance in London's Lyceum Theatre, though a studio version eventually got released in the 2003 Rhino Records remaster.
• Lyrical Cold Open: "I've Seen All Good People".
• New Sound Album: While retaining elements from earlier albums (eg close harmonies, Hammond Organ, bass rhythm), they transitioned away from covers and Beatles-esque Psychedelic Rock and adopted acoustic and jazzy sounds, also introducing elements that firmly establish them as a Progressive Rock band from then on.
• Protest Song: "Yours Is No Disgrace" has subtle protest song themes based around The Vietnam War, contrasting the suffering of soldiers in Vietnam with people partying in Las Vegas (Caesars Palace [sic], mentioned in the lyrics, is a famous casino and resort in Vegas). According to Anderson, the song is a commentary on how the kids fighting the war had no choice but to fight, and that it wasn't their fault.
• Shout-Out:
  • The title of "Starship Trooper" is apparently a Literary Allusion Title to the novel Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, though it doesn't really have any connection to the novel other than the title. Anderson got the idea of a "Starship Trooper being another guardian angel and Mother Earth" after seeing the novel's title and wrote the lyrics around that concept.
  • The first part of "I've Seen All Good People" has two references to John Lennon: one of the lines is "Send an instant karma to me, initial it with loving care", and towards the 3-minute mark during the scatting chorus, Anderson can be heard in the left channel singing "All we are saying, is give peace a chance!".^note This is Hilarious in Hindsightinvoked when you know that Alan White played the drums on "Instant Karma!"
• Spell My Name with a "The":
  • It's important to include the The to set it apart from the self-titled debut album Yes.
  • Inversely, the second track isn't called "The Clap". Unfortunately, Jon Anderson announced it with the wrong name, resulting in the record company mislabeling it for a while.

---