#ctte yes

PROG GIRL SUMMER: PART 5/25

opening with some very beautiful birds and nature sounds, but then morphing into something that felt more Captain Beefheart-esque, if Beefheart was melodic and rhythmic and the musicians weren’t drugged out of any remaining sense of reality. it also felt a wee bit Angine de Poitrine initially, ADP feel very Yes at times to me.

then it settled into something that felt more familiar. i quite jive with this!! i’ve just been walking by the river in my city an hour ago so i appreciated the river lyrics lol

im opening up a bag of candy to enjoy to this album now. i love how each song on this album kinda feels like its own album

now it feels very ambient, very serene. i really adore how Yes manage to balance chaotic and intense sections with quieter, beautiful moments, and none of it feels out of place. going in, i was expecting Yes’s music to be far more aggressive and intense (heck, one of my favourite songs is Tempus Fugit), but i’ve been pleasantly surprised with an abundance of soft and gentle aspects

i am REALLY loving the “i get up/i get down” section. this is so cinematic and even relaxing but then ending on a striking dissonance and oh now we are transitioning into a Wild Juxtaposition and now what the heck oughhfjfhdlough this is Very Progressive all of a sudden. (you can tell i write these as the music is playing)

oh we get a little organ solo. as a treat

and now we circle back to the existing motif!! this is great!!! honestly im going to be so fr Yes feels very classical music in terms of form - this song almost feels like a sonata, since it returns to the existing main motif after having deviated for some time (if i remember the definition of a sonata form correctly, please feel free to correct me if im wrong)

i REALLY liked that song. i am not used to songs being 18 minutes long but that was pretty darn epic

“And You And I” off to a very soft start with some nice harmonics. i like. oh this is a jaunty wee tune, good melody and fun action with the instruments and tone

i must admit im quite in over my head with prog and i won’t pretend that some of this stuff isn’t above what im used to, but i am so happy to get to learn and enjoy it hehehe

ngl a lot of this feels so classical and so videogame soundtrack at the same time. a lot of their music really evokes sounds/feelings similar to the soundtrack of Secret of Mana for me, which could be a totally random association but that’s just how it feels to me personally and im not totally sure why (probably the nature sounds and the very bright and grassy green sort of music these past few albums have had).

we are now on “Siberian Khatru” and this is funky and squangly and rocky. i jive

one thing i really love is how nature-y and airy and clean these tracks feel. i just feel like im outside on a dewy morning listening to this album and i am a SUCKER for a soundscape so i think this one’s my new favourite Yes so far now

prog has taken some time to grow on me but i can feel it happening like bacteria in a petri dish. im finally becoming cultured (🤭)

MY TIERLIST THUS FAR:

1. Close To The Edge

2. Fragile

3. Yes

4. The Yes Album

5. Time and a Word

FAVOURITE SONGS: well this album was only 3 songs long and i loved each one but i had sections of each song i really liked such as the “up/down” part of CTTE and the softness in AYAI, as well as the nature sounds and game sounding synths throughout the songs

PERSONAL RATING: 9/10 but i can see myself bumping up that rating on future listens to a 10/10

WHAT an album that was. this is the longest review ive done so far but the shortest track list yet. i was envisioning a whole landscape in my head. an entire story was coming to life. music that reminds me of nature always does it to me. heck i want to bump that up to a 10/10 already. ya know what guys i think this could end up being a 10/10