After owning this album on vinyl for 25 years , but not having a turntable for the past 7 years...i finally bought it on cd. It's even better than i remember, an absolutely stunning collection of songs, played with a flair to match any of the later albums by the 'definitive' Yes line-up. Jon anderson's voice is ,as always,simply beautiful. Chris Squire's bass,is, as mentioned by another reviewer forward in the mix,but that can only be a good thing right ?, he drives these songs along brilliantly.Bill Bruford was always in and out of the various line -ups,and we all know how good he is,and here he excels himself during both the subtle moments and the times when these songs simply rock. Tony Kaye's organ ,whilst sounding it's age,(this was 1969 remember),is all the better for it, it just sounds so 'real',and not at all the product of an expensive studio,as keyboard instruments often do.Indeed this entire album is pretty raw,and Peter Bank's agressive guitar style (as opposed to my favourite guitarist,Steve Howe's generally more jazzy,experimental style) is the icing on the cake. Thanks to Banks ,YES ,sound almost like a conventional rock band here,at times,but i said almost, and rest assured, this is bold and daring music. Sure enough as others have mentioned,they cover The Beatles here, but it's two minutes plus into that song, before the vocal starts, the intro is a group of top class musicians , having a great time , and this is most definitely passed on to the listener. It's joyous and infectious.
I'm rambling, this is a wonderous debut album, if you like YES even a little, you need this record. PS- This is one of the few cd's i have bought where the bonus tracks are truly deserving of mention, but they are that special ,i believe this should have been a double vinyl all those years ago.