Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Yes
Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 1974
Running time: 40:31
Rating: 5/5
Unlike ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ (1974), ‘Relayer’ has way more straight-up rock’n’roll sawing and grinding. This is the record where Steve Howe first started bringing flashy guitar ‘glissando’ acrobatics into the Yes sound in a big way. For the first time you can hear the steel pedal guitar taking the lead over the solos of Steve’s first love, his Gibson ES 175. Steve, who’s famous for not being too fond of chords, brings exactly that element into the new Yes sound more often than ever.In the background there’s a curtain of sound laid down on chords, and up front brilliant melodies from the steel pedal guitar, with real multi-harmonic escapes, used in a way the world had never tasted before. After the ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ tour, Rick Wakeman leaves Yes for the first time. The guys pick the Swiss virtuoso Patrick Moraz as his replacement. ‘Relayer’, with just three tracks in total, is a whole new story for the band.
The Gates Of Delirium, a fantastic twenty-minute epic, is the meat of the record. This epic poem, which many fans still call their favorite Yes epic because of its direct rock attitude, is a full-on warning about the utter absurdity of war in all its forms, from the seemingly innocent verbal offense between two individuals on the street to the extreme where madmen use nuclear weapons. In other words, the real antithesis of everything that real peace stands for (sadly an illusion – hey, how many more generations!!!). ‘Relayer’ is much more immediate, direct and punchy in its poetry than its predecessor. The Gates Of Delirium is wrapped the whole time in vibrations of madness and the hopeless wandering of a humanity that forgot its purpose long ago. Moraz and Howe, through their soloing duels, literally bring to life the fear of death, rage, screaming, horror, human suffering and the whistling of shrapnel that ruthlessly slices the air and turns green to gray and azure blue to blood red. Squire and White, gone wild, conjure up a real military march through the rhythm, a march straight to hell with no return! But, as is usual with Anderson’s poetry, at the end of the song, in its closing part Soon, light of full intensity shines through the music. Is this a ray of our rebirth? Soon, soon the moment of the end will come, we’ll reach our apocalypse. Then we’ll be able to look around again, our hearts will be open, we’ll recognize our purpose here on Earth, a purpose sent long ago, a purpose to live the harmony of the melody of life, the Sun will guide us in fulfilling that purpose and enjoying that harmony through the melody of boundless love and peace.
Sound Chaser is a moment of fantastic rock and jazz fusion. The main motif hangs through every round in a proper all-out, crash-and-bang, completely unhinged blowout by the band. A track Yes wrote under the influence of the then-popular rock jazz fusion a la Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis (his ‘electric’ seventies period) or Return To Forever. A new experiment, with Howe’s psychedelic moment in the middle and a cheeky, tasty test of everything his ‘six-string’ and steel pedal guitar can give. A great balance of it all. The rhythm line kills, its speed is supersonic, and before 1974 there had never been a Yes this fast on this planet. In Sound Chaser Patrick gets his moment too, and he brilliantly pours out and whips up the closing solo on his Hammond. Probably the strangest song in their history. But given the guts it takes to try out every possible musical dimension, it’s actually a ‘stunt’ you’d expect from Yes.
The drumming of Alan White, a musician at heart committed to rock, is even more expressive now. The guy’s torpedoing brought even more edge and directness to the sound of ‘Relayer’ compared to its predecessor ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’.
To Be Over is surely one of the most beautifully composed songs in the history of Yes music, with Steve right at the center of the action. This is a real ABC of the steel pedal guitar. Steve put together practically the whole melody, and in the final stage Jon joined him and contributed a line of incredibly coherent verses. The middle instrumental part is outstanding, and it gives you goosebumps in particular. The whole crew drifting off to who knows where, but always with a clear goal. Being Yes. Being an intergalactic exploration fleet. Sensitive, gentle and delicately sophisticated. The other three follow the softness of Howe’s guitar and Anderson’s angelic vocals in perfect tune.
Remember Tolkien’s ‘Silmarillion’? The Ainur, spiritual angels or fruits of Illuvatar’s mind, created Arda (Middle Earth). They sang songs of perfect harmony and created a world with melody. But among them appeared the good-for-nothing Melkor (our first cleric, monsignor and metropolitan would exclaim: ‘Fallen angel!’), the mightiest of the Ainur. This penitent sang in disharmony on purpose, and evil was born. It took an apocalypse for the world to return to the harmony of love and peace. And that’s more or less how all of human destiny is laid out. The cover of ‘Relayer’ follows the verses of the apocalypse (just like the message of Yes) that you’ll find on the pages of the booklet by Donald Lehmkuhl, which were an obvious inspiration for ‘Relayer’. Roger Dean staged armed horsemen (the horsemen of the apocalypse), poisonous fat greasy snakes, and wrapped everything in absolute grayness. A stony grayness from which the walls of an enchanted city rise. So once again Roger and Yes found their common language.
The sound is full, Patrick contributed phenomenal keyboard arrangements, and Yes sound like an orchestra once again. It’s almost unbelievable, but you really can’t miss Rick Wakeman on this record. ‘Relayer’ is a masterpiece in every respect. Yet another proof of how strong Yes were, how far ahead of their time compared to the rock music scene. Sonically and of course as a role model. A model of everything that can be combined in music, of never standing still, moving forward, creating. With every record they offered a new sound, a new expression, they were constant change and still avant-garde.
Lineup
Jon Anderson – vocals
Chris Squire – bass guitar and vocals
Patrick Moraz – keyboards
Alan White – drums
Steve Howe – guitars and vocals
Production
Eddie Oford
Track list
1. Gates Of Delirium (22:55)
2. Sound Chaser (9:25)
3. To Be Over (9:08)
