Yes - Relayer
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Free Music Notes for Relayer
Free Music Review: Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music
Hit: 5 Stars
In a volume published in Italy in 1979 for 'Longanesi & C', titled "The Big Of Pop Music", the famous musical reviewer Pier Tacchini wrote, in a long survey about the 'Yes', that the album 'Relayer' "was not up to the prevoius ones" and that this was mainly due to "the presence of Patrick Moraz at the keyboards" who had given rise "to some regrets for the fair-haired Rick Wakeman, a much more important figure both from a musical and scenic point of view".
Nevertheless, I remember that, more or less in the same period, I listened to the album for the first time, at some friends' home and I immediately got an excellent opinion as one of the best works of the famous English band. Today, more 20 years later, listening again, with great attention and concentration, to the CD appropriately expanded and remastered by 'Rhino Records', I must confirm, without any esitation, my first impression. I would also add that with the passing of time the value of this work by the 'Yes', dated 1974, has increased instead of decreasing. As a matter of fact, 'Relayer' can be placed, even more than 'The Yes Album', immediately after and very close to the tops reached by the British group with 'Fragile (1971-72), 'Close To The Edge' (1972) and 'Keystudio' (1997, 2001).
The contribution of Patrick Moraz, there can't be any doubts, is here excellent and distinguished, even because of the musical trend of the whole album pervaded with a jazz-like taste. Both Jon Anderson and Chris Squire as well as Steve Howe express themselves at a very high level as usual, while Alan White, unlike other performances which, in my opinion, were not completely convincing for the rhythmic solutions as in 'Going For The One' (1977) and 'Tormato' (1978), manages, here, to combine strenght, vigour and power with smoothness, agility and creativity.
Wonderful the pieces 'The Gates Of Delirium' (21:55) and 'Sound Chaser' (9:25), slightly inferior the third and last track 'To Be Over' (9:08).
An impartial and objective evaluation would call for 4,50 stars, but, as the album has always been underestimated because of Wakeman's absence (whose talent and qualities are not under discussion), my proposal of evaluation rises to 5 stars.
[English version revised by Guerrino Maccaferri]
Free Music Review: wow
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is brilliant. It's probably yes's second best album (after Tales from Topographic Oceans). Sure, Bruford isn't the drummer, Wakeman isn't the keyboardist, but this album proves that yes doesn't need either of them. Patrick Moraz is a great keyboardist, and while not as skilled as Wakeman, has a very interesting style, one which I like a little better than Wakeman's style. He is certainly very good with the synthesizers, which the middle section of "Gates of Delerium" proves, with all the noises he makes with the synth. Alan White was at his peak on this album, and holds his own very well against Bill Bruford. It's a different, more straightforward style, but his drumming on this album is certainly excellent, and certainly more exciting than Bruford's style. Plus, he uses the junkyard kid in the middle of Gates of Delerium, which I absolutely love.
As for the songs... brilliant. Gates of Delirium is my favorite yes song. It builds up for about 10 minutes, then goes into a long, driving, and energetic instrumental section, where every member of the band shows off their skill to the fullest extent (except Anderson that is). It eventually winds down to a slow section called "soon," which I take as the cry of the soldiers left on the battlefield, waiting for their final moment. It's beautiful. The lyrics fit very well, describing a battle. That battle takes place in the middle section, and even has weird noises (compliments of Alan White's junkyard kit and patrick moraz'z synthesizer skills) to go along with it.
Next is the insane, driving, and LOUD Sound Chaser. With its extended guitar solo, fast keyboards, and manic vocals, not to mention loud, jarring, and awesome drums. It's very experimental.
To close it is the slow, beautiful To Be Over, a great song, and Moraz'z keyboards provide most of the beauty here, along with Anderson's vocals.
Overall, brilliant, experimental prog rock album. Too bad Moraz was only with Yes for one album, and too bad Yes went way downhill after this. (Going for the One was decent, but not much more than that). Get it if you like prog rock or yes, but if you are new to prog, get fragile first.
Free Music Review: As progressive as YES could ever get
Hit: 5 Stars
Relayer is sadly often overlooked. In my opinion it shares the same league with Fragile, Close To The Edge and Going For The One. Putting Relayer in perspective, it was a fresh recovery from the ill-executed Tales From Topographic Oceans (TFTO). Although it was rumoured in 1974 that TFTO's follow-up would be a straight rocker album, Relayer proved anything but standard. In fact, Relayer's progression surpassed previous Yes albums on a few levels. It is difficult to put Patrick Moraz' influence on the album in perspective, as he was brought in after most basic tracks were already delivered on tape. However, any stuff that he added was completely superb. If you listen closely to the melodic scales he uses in his solos (i.e. To Be Over, Sound Chaser), his musical vocabulary sounded more progressive than any of Wakeman's work (of course, with the exception of Close To The Edge).
The Gates of Delirium is a superb 10-minute long epic. It is even superior compared to ALL the epics on the previous Tales album which lacked focus. At least, the Gates of Delirium retained a cohesive focus and a climactic conclusion. However, the live version on Yesshows (recorded with Moraz in 1976) sounds more punchier and muscular, even compared to this remastered version.
Sound Chaser is a real experiment in musical elements, a tour-de-force crossover between Chick Corea's Return To Forever, King Crimson and (some say) Balinese chanting. Much has been said on the other-wordly guitar solo in the middle. Even Patrick Moraz's rhodes intro (again, listen to those scales) and his flashy moog solo sounded unlike anything YES has ever recorded before or ever since.
Relayer is not for everyone, however. It is perhaps one of the hardest YES albums to digest for an average music listener. For those who get over it, it's hard to pull the CD out from your CD player !
Free Music Review: Classically Influenced Rock
Hit: 5 Stars
This is drummer Alan White's first impressive performance with the band. I think it has to do with the fact that the mix is much better than it was on _Topographic Oceans_. Listen to his solo at the beginning of "Sound Chaser" and gape. Patrick Moraz brings a jazz influence to the overall sound. However, I contend that Yes is a classically influenced band. You can hear a Stravinsky-like rhythm (I'm thinking of _The Rite of Spring_) toward the beginning and at the end of "The Gates of Delirium," plus the final chord of the same song echoes Stravinsky's _Firebird_. Yes likes to call their music "songs," but they're closer to classical pieces - especially the 20-minute variety. There's a soundscape of distorted guitar before the "Soon, oh soon" part that makes my jaw drop. Chris Squire has got to be the best prog rock bassist in the business, with only John Wetton for rival. In the middle of "Delirium" he switches from Rickenbacker to his old Fender fretless P-Bass, and there's a part where the synth gets diabolical while Squire plays a few diminished fifths and other hot licks. It's a fast 3/4 just before the drums and bass pound out a series of eighth notes and slow down before the 11/8 section (I apologize to non-musicians if they don't recognize time signatures). I haven't said anything about Anderson's voice; I guess I don't pay much attention to it. It sounds either like a woman's or a little boy's. But as a lyricist Anderson is a master, synthesizing spirituality with Romantic, Victorian, and modern poetry. I regret that we Americans don't get that kind of poetry pounded into us when we're in grade school as the Brits do in "public school." _Relayer_ is a masterpiece of composed, classically influenced progressive rock (also called "art rock"). Listen to it in good health.Free Music Review: An Album for all Moods
Hit: 5 Stars
Relayer is an album that has thankfully gained notoriety some 3+ decades after it was released. This is one of progressive rock's finest moments, in that it features one of the most complex songs ever created (THE GATES OF DELIRIUM). This masterpiece of a song takes the listener across a spectrum of many different moods and sounds. It reminds me of a lot of the stuff from TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS. To some, that may not be a good thing to hear, but this song is stellar in arrangements, lyrics, vocals, keyboards, drums, bass, and guitar.....basically everything shines on this song. The band's energy and enthusiasm is clearly demonstrated in this project. The most refreshing thing about this album is its sense of experimentation. Many call this a transitional album; I somewhat disagree, because it still has the Yes signature progressive sound, with no excessive deviation from their previous stuff. Furthermore, it's refreshing to see them go from a psychedelic song (GATES) to a crazy-sounding high-energy funny and entertaining song (SOUND CHASER), then close with a soft, slow, anemic TO BE OVER. This song ends the album on a very high note, and it happens to be one of Steve Howe's all-time favorites. Oh, and the hiring of Patrick Moraz on keyboards was a pick for the ages. This guy really delivered big-time, and I really liked his influence and ideas. I think that many people will say that Rick Wakeman wasn't missed on this album. Moraz seamlessly filled a huge void. Finally, even though the album has picked up a lot of traction in recent years, I still think that it's underrated and underappreciated. Alan White says that Relayer is probably his favorite Yes album. That's not unusual to hear, in my opinion. This album is just plain awesome. 10/10