The Yes Album Song by Song Thread

Great summary! Haunting is the perfect word, something I always felt w/ this track. And most def under-rated. I've always loved this, just as much as any track on the album. Whereas Clap serves as a nice jaunty break between two pieces of bombast, AV serves as a beautiful transition from the down-to-earth AGP to the cosmic PC. It fits perfectly and serves it's role precisely. And as you said, it gives Tony the lime-light. His touch is perfect; Wakey probably would have overdone this I bet. And the lyrics are compelling; a deeply flawed alcoholic who tries to teach his sons the errors of his ways. Even though it's not expressly in the lyrics, the melancholy tone of the music always told me redemption was coming.

 

Definitely not as noticeable as the other tracks on the album, but still a great little tune to give a break before Perpetual Change (which I’ll definitely get to later). Even if it isn’t a super classic Yes track, it still holds a special place in my heart as a cool little jam.

 

Never saw that; I'll have to check it out. But the most powerful (and bizarre) use of Yes in cinema has to be Buffalo 66 (wrong album, I know).

 

Don't agree w/ your last line (though I understand where you're coming from), but heartily agree with the beginning- and beautifully put!

 

I first discovered this album in this thread.

Seriously, I mean, I was aware it existed but I have never listened to it, and am not intimately familiar with it. Will give it a shot in this thread.

 

So you'd have the freshest recollection to give us your initial impression! Bring it on.

And maybe when you do, tell us of your exposure to other Yes, just for context.

 

This is such a great thread, thanks MusicMan1998 and everyone else in it. I love Yes threads

 

It really is. Yes fans are so well spoken and, with only a few exceptions, polite and courteous. I’ve enjoyed reading about these songs and people’s passion for the band.

I will admit I’m more of a casual fan than a hardcore (even though I own all their albums and know all their line-ups off the top of my head). Still, I admire the band’s great musicianship and enjoy a lot of music to a great degree despite never seeing them live.

 

A Venture is probably the least favored track within the album, although, the vocal harmonies and the flavor of hippie/renaissance music is relative to its composition. This seems like it was composed from Time and a Word or could have dated from those sessions, but that's just how I hear it, pure speculation on my part. For a record that has little filler, this track is forgivable and unlike other groups' lesser material, A Venture gets away with being an acceptable lower-tier cut. 5.5 Out of 10 or a C+ rating.

 

I dig A Venture, have from the first listen. I really enjoy the piano work on this one.

Maybe its the more sparse arrangement on this tune, but its probably the best sounding song on the album

 

Me too! I love that boogie vibe...

 

No offense, but you must be a casual Yesfan- and not been in too many Yesthreads- if you haven't seen us get pretty cantankerous! The arguments about what constitutes the "real Yes" alone can really get things boiling- and many Yes threads in the past 10 years often devolve into such nonsense (of which I've been guilty of to an extent myself).

But we can be pretty well-behaved as long as no one stirs the nest; usually threads like this that focus on the music are pretty safe. Two of my all-time faves were started by @Rose River Bear - the album by album thread and the infamous CttE was the pinnacle of rock (which he ended up regretting starting, but I and many others thoroughly enjoyed.

But we are generally well-spoken; I like to think we're smarter than the average bear as well, but I could be a lil biased...

Sorry you never got to see them live; as good as the albums are, they were even better live. Some of the most magical experiences of my life were at Yesshows; the energy is so powerful and transporting, it's like you're not on this earth anymore.

 

Huge fan of this album!

A couple points: would have loved the studio version (from remaster bonus tracj]k) of "Clap" in place of live version (although live version is good).

People talk about a huge Tony Kaye mistake on "A Venture". I've listened to the song countless times and don't hear anything wrong. Could be that I like some jam bands and out there music, so sometimes wrong notes sound ok as long as not jarringly out of place.

 

Well, I've been listening to that track over 40 years and I never noticed it- nor have I heard others mention it. But I'm far from an expert on music composition.

 

Oh, I’ve participated in the Yes? NO! threads many times. I know the band’s history and membership very well.

I guess I should have limited my comments to *this* thread as it’s been fun. Overall, I stand by my comments about Yes fans. Good people (no pun intended).

 

I've Seen All Good People
I like this song, but not as much as a lot of people seem to. I was pretty surprised to find out that it is possibly the most popular song from The Yes Album. It's a good song and the first section is very pretty, but I don't think it's nearly as good as the three "epics" on the album.

A Venture
I think this easily the weakest song on the album. It's not bad, but not memorable compared to the other classics on the album.

 

Oh, I agree we're All Good People (pun intended), but we're also very passionate and that can gets things going...

 

Ever check out the all-purpose argument thread? It was funny, cuz that's where the Drama was 'sposed to go, but it never really did...

 

Yes (pun intended) I was in that thread a lot.

 

Great record! My favorite one by Yes.

My sister would play "Yes Album" all the time when I was 11.

A song like "A Venture" (which you are not likely to hear unless you play this particular record) feel like the soundtrack of that part of my childhood.

 

AV is a good song but the weakest track. Simple, straightforward, kind of a breather... still, very pretty melody, good change of pace, and nice lead into what follows...

 

Let's not start that up my good man. We all have strong feelings about certain things like line ups lol

 

A Venture

A nice British folk inspired tune from John. The verse melody is very folk inspired but with Jon's brilliant sense of rhythm added in. Melancholy sounding in G Minor. Steve adds jazzy flourishes. The songs outro is a jazzy instrumental section. The song starts out rhythmically simple but gets more complex as it progresses. Steve does a nice solo on the extended version that was originally cut. The extended outro sounds polymetric at points but I am not sure. The song starts out almost T Rex like.

 

A Venture

I enjoy this song a lot, but it's hard to compete against the epic songs on the album. It's one I never seek out, but it's a good listen and a welcome breather between All Good People and Perpetual Change.