Chris Welch - Melody Maker

Tuesday, December 19, 2023 8:22 PM

Yes: Relayer (Atlantic)

Chris Welch
Melody Maker
7 December 1974

Chris Squire (bass guitar), Jon Anderson (vocals), Patrick Moraz (keyboards), Steve Howe (guitar), Alan White (drums), Produced by Yes and Eddie Offord. Recorded on Eddie Offord's mobile equipment, England 1974.

By one of those strange quirks that occur in the process of note selection, the opening theme of the band's newest work bears a curious resemblance to a certain TV theme I remember from childhood, but then, we are at 'The Gates Of Delirium'!

This is the powerful piece which encompasses the whole of side one, and benefits by the time strictures imposed by this single album. The other main theme comes shortly after a "battle" which Alan White's thunderous drums batter forth, then lead the band into a typical Yes statement, recurring patterns overlaid in a variety of textures.

Midway we hear the band at its heaviest, particularly when they get into a surging, rocking feel, with the bass and drums biting into the beat. Then a return to Steve Howe's guitar, singing softly over Patrick Moraz's delicate chordal traceries.

Here is the band at their best, creating tension and release with consumate ease, and preparing the way for Jon's crystalline vocals. His voice takes on a choral quality as he sings with enough emotion to invoke tears: "Soon oh soon the light/Ours to shape for all Will lead us."

It's a beautiful finale, and Anderson's pitching and tone (entirely free of croak), reaches a new level as Patrick's Mellotronic strings take us out on a note of optimism.

New member Patrick fits in so well it hardly seems as if there has been a change, certainly not in the band's musical direction. But we hear the man who came from Refugee, making his presence immediately felt on the aptly named 'Sound Chaser', with Alan's drums following the fleet-fingered Patrick over the sticks.

Then the bass and guitar follow suit, with Alan keeping pace on cymbals until Steve breaks out for a typically angular improvisation. Shortly after the vocals, the whole band unites for a passage of acceleration and slowing down, which must be immensely difficult to achieve without flying off the end.

Patrick solos on Moog, with soaring power, until Jon returns with a brief "Ta, ta, ta!" accompanied by heavy breathing, the whole company being put through one of Mr Offord's amazing machines.

One could argue how much electric instruments, which already produce a wide spectrum of sounds, should be further processed, but undeniably one of the facets of Yes in the seventies is their orchestration of electronics, and few rock bands have taken the technique to such sophisticated lengths.

Fortunately the human content is still very much there, as evinced in Jon's singing and poetry, and in the shining simplicity of the final moments of 'To Be Over'.

That for me is le vrai Yes, and not so much the barrage of technique, and mechanisation. A greater balance has been struck with this relatively low-keyed project, and makes for one of the most successful and satisfying Yes albums in years.