Yes’ classic 1974 album “Relayer” is available from iTunes in remastered form for $2.97! IF you have it installed, the “iTunes” link above will take you straight there.

I had to post about this when I noticed it for that price. This is a full-length album, but in true prog rock form, only consists of 3 tracks. Which can sometimes fool the digital music stores, but usually they are wise to this sort of thing by now, making all tracks “album only” and making the album sell at a normal 10 bucks or so.

This is a STEAL!

I’m a huge fan of Yes ever since my best friend in 6th grade loaned me “90125″ on cassette. So yeah, I jumped on board during their 80s pop phase. But in the years following, my very same friend continued to loan me Yes albums such as “Drama” and “Going for the One.” And I continued to check out their earlier work from that point. I have every studio album available on CD and their classics such as “Fragile” and “Close to the Edge” are undeniable masterpieces and personal favorites.

“Relayer,” however, doesn’t enjoy the “classic” status among all fans that those other early albums do. It was recorded following “Tales From Topographic Oceans” which some claim had a very large hand in prompting the punk rock movement in the UK. Not inspired by appreciation, but rather strong opposition. One of the band’s stars, Rick Wakeman had left the band, unsatisfied coming off of “Tales” and working up to “Relayer.” He can easily be found quoted as saying that after hearing “Relayer” he was not disappointed that he passed on contributing to the album. In his place Patrick Moraz appeared as keyboardist for his one and only appearance on a Yes studio album. His membership was short lived as Rick Wakeman was invited back for “Going For The One,” an album that does enjoy universal classic status among fans.

So “Relayer” is not a typical Yes album. It was the only one with Patrick Moraz, much of the material was written by drummer Alan White, and it features a good deal of what could be described as (or maybe mistaken for?) jazz fusion. All of those things make it unique. Plus it has my favorite Roger Dean cover.

The first three or four times I listened to it, I thought it was just a bunch of noise. But in typical prog rock form, the more I continued to listen, the more I was surprised at gorgeous passages that I hadn’t noticed before. And it continued to grow on me. Now it’s my favorite of all the Yes albums. “Gates of Delirium” is my least favorite of the 3 tracks. It is, however, a fantastic song. Steve Howe does some inspired and frantic guitar work that is truely unique and seems to me to be completely uncharacteristic of his playing on previous albums. The song is an attempt at a musical interpretation of war. So if you know that going in, it might make a little more sense. “Sound Chaser” is my favorite. It is a technically amazing feat as the entire band shifts tempo suddenly at times and gradually at others. Much of the musicianship is just beautiful in that song. And the last track, “To Be Over” is a slower, mesmerizing melody that ends the entire album with a gorgeous sweet spot. Don’t try to make any sense out of the lyrics at the end, however, as Jon Anderson insists he’s just singing random syllables.

So there you have it, my take on “Relayer” and a place to snag it for 3 bucks if you’re feeling adventurous enough. I highly recommend it. And if you ever play World of Warcraft and see a Tauren hunter riding by named Relayer, give me a holler.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 1:09 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.