I see YES is planning to play “Relayer” in its entirety next year on their planned tour. So I went back and listened, maybe I missed something the first time around. Nope, it is still the mediocre, overly long thing it was years ago. It must be a thin line between the magic of “Close to the Edge” and “Fragile”, and this recording.

I wish I liked the music on this as much as I like the cover, for it really is a great cover. I think Yes got a bit too big for their britches on this and Topographic. Both albums do have good music on them. It is the most complex music Yes made in the 70’s. Not as immediate as their other albums in the 70’s. These albums are growers for sure. Great musicianship as usual and Anderson sounds great. Not one my favorite Yes albums, but still worth having.

I am a fan of MOST Yes music and have been one since 1974. I've seen them 8 times between 79-17 (ARW). I did like Drama but otherwise consider Jon Anderson essential to any Yes lineup. Had Tales from Topographic Oceans been condensed into the best single album then, I would venture, the period from Close To the Edge - Going for the One represents the pinnicle work of the definitive Progressive Rock band. Listen to the harmony under the melody pedal note at the very end of Gates. Listen to the counterpoint that opens To Be Over. Moraz's solo on Chaser is perfection as is Howe's modal guitar work. But, as with all great Yes music, it's the synergy of the players and the brilliant result of their often painstaking compositional methods. These albums - by a band relegated "dinosaurs" during the punk era of the late '70s - are still relevant and a real treasure to be discovered by yet another generation,.

You either like listening to extended pieces involving complex rhythms and key changes or you don't. Yes built their group and sound around the idea that there may be "rules" to music but that those rules are meant to be bent and twisted. Relayer with Patrick Moraz is one of the groups most ambitious and "best" albums in their catalogue. If your idea of being a Yes fan involves listening to Roundabout and Owner of a Lonely Heart then you have no business critiquing their finer material....Jazz ??? Yep..Jazz and Blues and World Music and Rn'R and Singer/Songwriter....all those styles are present in Yes' music. Get a clue.