Close To The Edge is an absolute masterpiece.

Relayer and Close To The Edge are some of the finest prog ever recorded.😍 Jon Andersen's voice on "Soon" is as close to perfection as you could find.

The Relayer track 'Sound Chaser' is absolutely extraordinary. A kaleidoscope of shifting moods and tempi. It's my favourite piece by Yes.

Congrats for rating "Drama" higher than most would. It's a top 3 for me, and has been underrated since it's release.

To Be Over -- one of the most beautiful songs ever made. I always get the chills.

Machine Messiah and Tempus Fugit from Drama are so underrated, potentially are both top 10 tracks

"The Yes Album" is my favorite and always has been. "Starship Trooper" is my favorite Yes song and probably in my top-20 overall. "Drama" is underrated and too often overlooked. Thanks, Pete.

Great! My personal favorites are: Close To The Edge, The Yes Album and Fragile. Also the first album Yes is very good.

About 1973 I heard Close to the edge for the first time with big head phones. I was 14 yeas old. I came from a lot of years listening to County music and pop. But that album changed everything to me from that point on. Best yes LP hands down. I can only listen to it ever other year or so because if I hear it every track gets stuck in my head for days. Not a bad thing but a major part of what captured me at a young age. And what stuck with at nearly 63 years old today.

'Tales from Topographic Oceans' is my favorite Yes album.

1) The Yes Album. I saw them live during this tour 2) Close To The Edge. Perfect. 3) Relayer. I absolutely love "The Gates of Delirium". 4) Tales from Topographic Oceans. I still keep finding new details nearly 50 years later. 5) Fragile. PS: I remember seeing Yes the first time they ever appeared on UK TV. It was on a kid's programme on ITV called "Magpie".

"Close To The Edge" is without doubt one of the greatest prog-albums of all time!

Funnily enough I've heard Yes songs longer than this 21 minute video. Sheesh.

Relayer and Tales are my top 2 then Close To the Edge and the Yes album... I am a huge Yes fan!! You do a great job ranking the albums...

Before even watching the video, I'm predicting Pete's Top Three as follows: 1) The Yes Album 2) Closer To The Edge 3) Fragile Now lemme see if I'm right...

After leaving Yes, Patrick Moraz moved to Rio de Janeiro/Brazil and joined a local prog band called Vimana. The band dissolved soon after and three former members of the band, Lulu Santos, Lobão and Ritchie, obtained huge success as solo artists on our rock scene from the early 80's. Just a curiosity almost nobody knows...

Close to the Edge, Relayer and The Yes Album, three absolute masterpieces, for sure.

Pete, another great ranking, similar top 5. I have always liked their first album a lot. 1. Close to the Edge 2. Relayer 3. The Yes Album 4. Going for the One 5. Fragile 6. Yes 7. Tales from Topographic Oceans

Drama is a great lp,.I agree whole heartedly!

My top 3: The Yes Album. Timeless Going For The One. Great sound. Drama. Perfect production. The bass playing is just the best.

Thanks for posting this! Every album is great, but you can't deny that Close to the Edge is a Yes masterpiece and probably one of the greatest Prog albums of all time.

I've got the Steven Wilson remixes vinyl box set, those are my favorite Yes albums.

Thank you very much for another enjoyable video. It is your positive, sincere and respectful attitude that makes them fun to watch. I must also thank you for the videos you made in memory of Neil Peart. We were all shocked that day and your videos helped me a lot.

Love where you put 90125. It is so very dumped upon by the fans of the 70s version of Yes. Chris Squire is indeed all over that album, and Rabin's guitar on that album is sublime. Great position for "Drama" as well. Tempus Fugit is phenomenal.

I have said that after 49 years of following progressive rock, that YES' Fragile became the template, the music barometer by which I conciously or unconsciously measured other Progressive rock records. If I felt - CLOSE TO THE...EDGE of Delerium ( LOL!) with a new proggy release, that repeat of the " Fragile Factor" was truly attained! Next year March, 1971, will make 50 years of listening to YES. I was 15 when I started the proggy musical journey. When I was 18, 19, these 1970's YES albums ( and many other Prog lps ) partly defined who I was- huge impact. My friends and I were basically typical pot smokers and record hounds! So when that higher sonic awareness , that musical threshold crossing was met , I knew I was born at just the right moment in the rock and roll time line! I have broken down the YES sonic stuff into 3 main bunches: ________________ Relayer CTTE Time & A Word Drama TALES YES ALBUM Fragile GTFO TOMATO YES _________________ 2nd Attention : -------------------------- Union Keys One and two Fly From here Fly From here return T. ABWH Magnification Ladder Turn the page TALK 90125 _________________ Final Eyes: -------------------------- OYE H&E Big Gen When I started listening to what we now refer to as Progressive or PROG in 1971, I was moving forward from a solid decade of AM TOP 40. All of the vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys, 4 Seasons, 5th Dimension, Moma's and Poppa's, Spanky and our Gang, along with the arrangements of the Beatles, British invasion, motown, etc., were the "music stew," the impression and early formulation that set the table to be open for YES. I wasn't smoking anything when I first listened to YES. That was 1973, and I include that accelerated, deeper mental listening experience / condition because the impact set the Prog rock in...STONED! HA-HA! That list above fluctuates! Although the pot has been finished for over 13 years now, the enthusiasm for Prog and YES remain to this day! 500 Prog bands later!! Onward!

Your top 3 are the same as mine. Good to see the Yes Album & Drama ranked so highly.

I got tears in my eyes, hearing how you comment these fabulous LPs and tracks. For personal reasons, Tales and Going are above ... all ! But I love your ranking.

I don't know why DRAMA is so underrated by Yes fans. It's a great album and my favorite one two weeks ago. I love "Into the lens".

Great video. Yes was our church music back in the day. Tales was *special* and reserved for certain times. Side three, The Ancient is unique in the world as almost its own genre. The last minute of Ritual is the pinnacle of Yes magic. I recently received the MoFi One Step Fragile. All I can say is Wow. It's a whole different experience. Utterly mind blowing. I hope they someday release a few more Yes titles using this technique. I was 18 and in London when Going For The One was released. What a great time we grew up in.

I agree, for the most part...heheh. The band that took me from a metal musician to a prog-rock band here in NS. Serious 80's metal guitarist/singer, then...acid while riding in a kayak at night on a lake when someone put on Yessongs on loud speakers.

Another good one Pete. Definitely, "Close To The Edge" was Yes' pinnacle. Keep 'em coming!

1) Relayer 2) Yes Album 3) Fragile 4) Close to the Edge 5) Tales From Tropagraphic Oceans All 5 are perfect albums from start to finish. Life changing music.. seriously

One of my favorite songs fro the Big Generator album is "Shoot High, Aim Low."

Yes with Moraz sounded great. Live recordings from that lineup are amazing.

In my opinion, "Heart of the Sunrise" is the best trip they've ever recorded!

I got into Yes mostly because of The Ladder and Magnification, the production of both albums is excellent and I really enjoyed the way they made use of the symphony on Mag, I think Edge is one of the best albums from their more progressive era in the 70s

Close to the edge. One of those albums on which a band seem to be channeling something from above ....as a gift to humanity 😀⚡️😀. It’s that good. Mozart comes to mind. I hated it when I first heard it but I persevered. It suddenly became one of my top 10 albums. How they mixed it I’ll never know. There is so much going on. I actually feel sad when I hear that people have heard it and hate it and wouldn’t listen to it twice. It’s definitely a grower.

Close To The Edge is one of those albums whose cover looks like it sounds.

Yes...12 years old. My neighbor's brother comes back from Vietnam. Lots of vinyl. YES-FRAGILE was one of them. I went from Partridge Family to Tull-Floyd-Heep and Yes in 10 seconds flat. So I checked out their previous stuff. "Time & A Word" and "Yes" I got on 8-track tape from Columbia Record Club. After a lifetime growing up with this band and their family tree of success. Just this ..."Release Release' is a helluva rock & roll song. "Harold Land" is a gem that is worth digging for. "Friends of Mr. Cairo" is a brilliant solo surprise. Thanks Pete. The rest of the library is a history of required listening. And I have'nt even watched your video yet. Great stuff !

Excellent video! Good that you are obviously a fan. There are a few videos out there where some bloke with zero qualifications (like being a fan) is ranking stuff. For me 90125. I think I’ve played that album more than ANY other album in my collection, across all the artists I’m a fan of. Just perfection.

***SPOILER ALERT*** I'm a newcomer to Yes, knowing only Roundabout for 20 years. I'm now swimming very happily in their library and find their work endlessly fascinating. Rich with so many layers. Clearly, Close to the Edge is the masterpiece. Fragile is great. Topographic Oceans is mixed, but the good parts are great. So when you tagged Relayer as #1, an album universally criticized, I had to go to it again. My first effort didn't last long at all. I loved how you pointed out the Mraz was a better fit than people say, and what if he had continued with the band to further gel his sound with theirs. Really great point, and I feel very appreciative that you pushed me back to the album. Mraz is so much looser and free with his parts, something I wish Wakeman was better at. Maybe Wakeman's best parts are more memorable, but they don't flow. They feel stiff and sometimes like they were shoehorned into the song. Mraz is much more in the flow of the music. Anyhow, great point by you and thanks for the excellent content.

Tales From Topographic Oceans is my favorite album by Yes. I wish it could've been longer lol

the title track to Close to the Edge can be tear jerking how beautiful it is. One of the most solid performances of all time.

I have to admit a nostalgic fondness for Close to the Edge because it was one of the very first modern albums I ever listened to. My brother had borrowed a really nice stereo system from one of his high school buddies and told me to lie down with one of the enormous speakers close to each side of my head. And what was playing? Close to the Edge! Unbelievable. I have an even somewhat more wild story about Yes. Place yourself in the home of a former Secretary of Defense with like four of your high school buddies who are taking a chemical trip that is spelled with three letters and are enjoying the run of the enormous house my friend's father was on vacation, and as the sun is coming up, Heart of the Sunrise is playing and we are all staring out of the huge plate-glass windows overlooking the golf course in the back yard and one of your friends says "Jon Andersson has a Pretty voice", accent on Pretty. It seemed so profound at the time, but at least it is true, he does have a pretty voice.

1- Relayer 2- Topographic 3- Close to the edge 4- Fragile 5- Going for the one

My list: 1- Going For The One 2 - Tales From Topographic Oceans 3 - Close To The Edge 4 - Relayer 5 - Fragile 6 - The Yes Album 7 - Drama 8- AWBH 9 - 90125 10 - Talk 11 - Keystudio 12 - Fly From Here 13 - Tormato 14 - Magnification 15 - Yes 16 - Ladder 17- Big Generator 18 - Heaven And Earth 19 - Time and World 20 - Open Your Eyes 21 - Union

I would rank The Yes Album as no.1 simply because it still feels fresh and was unique at the time, a real breakthrough album, then Relayer, Topographic and then Going For the One. I was 10 years old at my fist Yes Concert in March 1970 at the Pop Proms at the Festival Hall in London, where Jon Anderson wore a weird silver one piece kind of wet suit! . As far as live appearances one of my favourites was the Tormato Tour in 1978, when they used the opening music from Close Encounters of the Third Kind...just mind blowing! Thank for the list Pete.

Close To The Edge is my vavorite YES album too! It's one of the greatest prog rock albums in history of world rock music!!!

My Top 5 Yes Albums: 1) Drama 2) Going For the One 3) The Yes Album 4) 90125 5) Toss-up between Relayer and Yes

I got to see the Relayer and GFTO tours, unforgettable!!

Hi Pete. I'm really enjoying your rankings videos, thanks for putting so much thought and effort into them. All the best, James, UK

Been a Yes fan since 1982, i met Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman in 2010 after a concert in Perth, Scotland. I was like a nervous schoolboy although i was 43. Love your album ranking, pretty similar to what i would have chosen, well done.

If I had three favorite albums from Yes it would be their 80's-early 90's troika of 90125, Big Generator and Union; those three albums got me hooked on the band (especially 90125). Of the three, 90125 is and was my favorite of them because it was the bridge album that convinced me to listen to the rest of their music.

Nice to see some love for Drama. Really like that album. Machine Messiah, Into The Lens, Tempus Fugit... great stuff.

Just wanted to add…about Tales…it’s one of these underrated, misunderstood Albums…Jon explained it in the YesYears Video ! Absolutely beautiful truly well constructed! Nothing on this album is wasted time! IMO!! It’s a pleasure to come back to it!!❤️🙏

Great content, Pete. I love seeing fellow music lovers have a place to just talk music. My top 5 Yes albums are a bit standard fare: - 1. Fragile 2. Close to the Edge - Title track is my favourite Yes track 3. The Yes Album 4. Relayer 5. The Ladder - I know what people are thinking, but I just love it. It is incredibly diverse musically and, though not every experiment hits its intended mark, enough of it does for me to keep coming back to it. 'Homeworld (The Ladder)' is a Top 5 Yes song for me. Also, agreed on Open Your Eyes. Keep up the good work, Pete!

Thank you for your ranking of Yes. 🎤🎸🎵🥁

Drama is my favorite by Yes. Reminds me a lot of Animals by Pink Floyd. It has some great easy listening long mellow songs to lay back and chill to. Haven’t heard all of Yes’s albums but that’s the one that works for me.

I really love the “Fly From Here Suite!” I especially enjoy the version with Trevor Horn. I got into Yes sometime in early 1970 while exploring a record store! I found the very first Yes album. I noticed they covered one of my favorite Beatles tune “Every Little Thing.” I bought the album just for that song and got hooked. I ended up getting every early Yes album. Jon Anderson’s vocals touched my soul. He’s got a heavenly, soaring voice. If Yes had hung onto Moraz, Moraz would never have joined the Moody Blues!

Agree with your list Pete, saw them at Newcastle City Hall in the UK on the Relayer tour they were on fire that night, one of the finest gigs I've seen. Great channel.

"Close to the Edge" then "The Yes Album"...and I know this is contentious...."Drama"

Need to give the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album a listen again. I saw them on that tour, had great seats. One of the best concerts I've seen. I saw Union in the round as well, which was great, but I don't think it quite topped the former. I also need to revisit Relayer too. I bought it on cassette and remember listening to it while I was at home from school sick. At the time, I found it dull and never put it on again. That was 30 years ago. Time for another try!

1.Relayer 2.Close To The Edge 3.Fragile 4.Going For The One 5.Magnification Magnification I think blows their other late era work out of the water. Great picks!

Drama was my first Yes, I found the cassette and it rest in my walkman for long time, beautiful !

Jon Davison not on Fly From Here...that’s Benoit David. FFH really underrated latter day YES album.

Haven't listened to all of Yes' catalog, but my top two is yours but flip 1 and 2. Maybe in terms of a critical standpoint I think Close To The Edge is better (I consider it one of the best albums of the 70s, especially in the early 70s UK rock scene, I would put this release in the top 10 of that time period) but Relayer was the album that got me into Yes. I heard Roundabout a lot of times (and actually have grown to love it more since I got into the band, interestingly enough) and Owner of A Lonely Heart (which like yourself I don't need to hear again) but it was Gates of Delirium that got me into Yes. And even going back to the album to see if it holds up, yeah it holds up amazingly well and I wish that the band went into that direction more, or if not to be bloated, incorporated that style in a efficient manner, but oh well, you can't pine on just possibilities lol

Thanks Pete! Whenever we do episodes of our own show I often come to your channel to get your insight for research, you are a wealth of knowledge and i always love pulling the pete pardo card on Martin when we have debates of our own!

My all time favorite concert was the Close to the Edge tour in 1972. They did the whole album plus majority of Yes album and Fragile. I was blown away by the sheer majesty of the music. Only other show that could come close(no pun intended) was Bruce’s Born to Run tour. Obviously I agree wholeheartedly in your choice for best Yes album. We also share favorite song-Siberian K____.

We all love Yes for different reasons. Your bottom 6 would be very high on my list (with the exception of Heaven and Earth - that is my bottom). Magnification is in the top 5 for me.

I agree with you on Drama! It gets no love and I think it is one of their best records. Love that you ranked it high.

Saw them on the Relayer and Going for the One tours and both were amazing. I'm with you on Close to the Edge, one of my favorite albums of all time and their best IMO. Keep em coming, brother!

Dang you have had a killer run of rankings this past week or two of bands I like. Awesome! It is amazing how many outstanding albums Yes produced.

My TOP 3: 1) Close to The Edge - three beautiful songs. 2) Fragile - I love the long songs, sometimes I used to dislike the short tracks but now I found them lovely and it is not usual to release these kinds of albums. 3) The Yes Album - Many amazing songs, I just don't understand "The Clap".

What about Keys TO The Ascension II, which has one epic song, Mind Drive! Jon's voice comes out in all its glory!

Talk is my favorite album. I always go to that one. It just has some amazing tunes and the Endless Dream is such a classic. I grew up with 90125 and Big Generator. I like a lot of 70's Yes but I love the 80's and early 90's of Yes

Thanks Pete, my top three are the same as yours in the same order, although the 80s albums had some songs that kicked ass. The intro riff (and the whole song actually) of Love Will Find a Way is awesome nd Hearts from 90215 is one of my all time Yes favorites.

Starship Trooper-my favorite! Particularly Live on Yessongs

close to the edge is amazing... As you know. I do love fragile too.

Thank you for doing YES. Know what's good on Open Your Eyes? Love Shine. And you said there was nothing proggy on it? The last minute of The Solution is! lol. I was like,"Finally, There's a little trippy Howe noodling and Squire harmonics melding together a-la classic period."

Topographic Oceans # 1 Fragile #2 ( We Have Heaven sends chills up my spine ) , later in life these are the two I still listen to. I bought Topographic when it came out and instantly fell in love with it.

God this is impossible, i’d have to say my favorites are Relayer and Fragile.

Can't argue with any of your top 5. They're all amazing. Relayer may have some of their best work but there are moments I take issue with. The YES Album is special because it's what I consider their "break out" record. Though I'd rate Time and a Word higher than anything post Going for the One.

I owned every Yes Album from The Yes Album up to 90125. Loved them all. I agree that even though I missed Jon on Drama, Steve’s guitar was massive. I loved how he fattened you his sound but was still classic Steve Howe. Yet, I also loved how raw his guitar sound is on Relayer, so pure. Crazy good album. I love the variety of the Yes throughout the 70’s and early 80’s.

I completely agree regarding your comment on Moraz. He is one of the reasons that Relayer is my #1. What they were able to accomplish between 1971-1974 is almost incomprehensible, looking back nearly 50 years after the fact.

If it was just one album with "Ritual" and "The Revealing Science of God" It would be my #4 Album !! Those are Great Epic songs Live !!! : D 1, Close to the Edge 2, Fragile 3, The Yes Album 4, Relayer 5, Going For The One 6, Topographic Oceans For me the Best album is "Yessongs" .. Yeah, yeah I know It's Live but Yes is so much better Live and Prog Bands are Great Live !!! : )

#1 Close to the Edge, #2 Fragile, #3 The Yes Album, "Siberian Khatru" - all time Killer Yes Track !!! This Band was Raw Talent.

Excellent episode Pete I pretty much agree with you for the most part since YES has been my lifelong favorite band. My ranking would place “Tales” at #4 or 5 but that changes over time to because I consider Ritual every bit as strong as Gates Of Delirium. Good work again Pete and look forward to watching more of your video rankings. Btw, how was that Sons Of Apolo show? I don’t think they’re playing Houston Texas so I cannot see them, please let me know...

Magnification its a great album, maybe in a top 10 Yes

I’ve been a huge Yes fan since 1977, when I first heard Going for the One. Sadly, I lost interest in the new material after Talk, but even became somewhat ambivalent to the Rabin era with the passage of time. I’d make an exception for the studio tracks on the Keys releases in the ‘90s, but even those aren’t top drawer Yes. My tops list is, with a “wanker’s compromise” in offering a joint second place, because I can’t separate those releases over 40+ years of listening... 1. Relayer 2. Close to the Edge | Going for the One 4. Fragile 5. The Yes Album 6. Tales from Topographic Oceans 7. Drama 8. Tormato At this point in my life, I don’t needs to listen to anything else from the Yes studio discography. I’d echo Pete’s comments regarding Tales - needed a more critical producer and musical “self editing” - and Relayer - the best in jazz fusion created by rock musicians; and I’d love to have heard more with Moraz. The ABWH album is the best re-envisioning of prog by Yes in the post-70s period. Live, that band was one of the very best representations of Yes music, Chris’ absence notwithstanding. A great band, at their best; naff, at their worst. By the way, the singer on the original “Fly From Here” release was Benoit David, not Davison. I think the version released in 2018, with Trevor Horn on vocals, was a notable improvement on the first release.

Open Your Eyes...Close Your Ears :D it's got a couple of decent tracks (Universal Garden, the title track) Can't disagree with the list at all.

tales is one of those prog albums that takes a while to get into. Which you probably know. But this album still grows on you after 20 years. I actually find it extremely listenable.

Fantastic review! Congrats! I agree with you comments about Howe! My favorite one because of the emotional impact it has on me was the Yes Album.

I understand how you have not been a fan of most of the later releases of yes studio albums. I too was in that same mindset. However, seeing how your a big fan of the Drama album you really should give Fly From Here - Return Trip a few listens. I enjoy it more every time I listen to it. In case you missed it, it's basically a re-release of Fly From Here but with Trevor Horn doing the vocals, along with the majority of it being remixed, and including an additional Steve Howe song that he sings. Seeing how the majority of the songs were written years ago (1980) and shelved by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, its another album by the Drama line-up of the band, as a tribute to Chris Squire, due to his death something they would not be able to do again. You really owe it to one of your favorite bands to give that version a few listens if you have not, pick it up. Also, the new From a Page mini album is very good, got the 2008-2011 version of yes with Benoit David and Oliver Wakeman.

Would have loved a Yes with Anderson,Bruford,Howe,Moraz and Squire.

As a fairly big fan of the original lineup of Asia, I was pretty intimidated to get into Yes; but I knew I had to. Other than Don’t Kill The Whale I didn’t really listen to them due to my fatigue of Roundabout following me all the time. The other day I gave Close To The Edge a listen; I was pretty surprised, great album. This video will help me a lot.

Updated ranking of the ones I’ve heard: 01) The Yes Album 02) Yes 03) Time And A Word 04) Close To The Edge 05) Fragile 06) Going For The One 07) Relayer 08) Tales From Topographic Oceans 09) Drama 10) Tormato

“The Yes Album” is as poppy and melodic as prog could ever hope to be-and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 10/10

1. Yes 2. Close to the edge 3. Time and a word 4. The Yes album

Pete, you are a service to us Proggers, thank you, Your perspective 1st, comes from your age (so your choices arrive from what was popular when you were in your prime), not quite old enough to capture the entire Yes Catalog. You left out 2 of Yes's best works, by luck, you remembered leaving ABWH off your list. The other is called, Key Studio, which was an English release comprised of the studio cuts from the 2 live Ascension releases. Although I am a Yes lifer, I'm not sure why Big Generator gets slightly panned. Every Cut holds up!

21. Big Generator 20. Open Your Eyes 19. Fly From Here 18. Heaven & Earth 17. The Ladder 16. Talk 15. Magnification 14. Yes 13. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe 12. Time and a Word 11. Union 10. Tormato 09. 90125 08. Drama 07. Keystudio 06. Tales From Topographic Oceans 05. The Yes Album 04. Going for the One 03. Relayer 02. Close to the Edge 01. Fragile