YES, IN SHORT

Few bands have done more to define progressive rock than Yes. Conceived in London in 1968, bassist Chris Squire and vocalist Jon Anderson bonded over a shared ambition to fuse rock's energy with the harmonic complexity of classical music and the improvisational reach of jazz. The band rapidly built a reputation on the London club circuit for ambitious covers and tight vocal harmonies, and their explorations began.

The lineup that would define their golden era coalesced in 1971, when guitarist Steve Howe replaced Peter Banks and keyboardist Rick Wakeman replaced Tony Kaye on Fragile (1971) and Close to the Edge (1972). This is where Yes staked its claim as one of progressive rock's defining acts. Close to the Edge, built around a single side-length title track, became a genre landmark, showing that rock music could sustain the structural ambition of a symphony without losing its visceral drive. The follow-up, Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), pushed even further, spreading four interlocking suites across a double album inspired by Hindu scripture. 

The commitment to extended compositions, side-long suites, shifting time signatures, and interlocking counterpoint between instruments and voice is what set Yes apart from more song-oriented contemporaries. While other amongst the 'prog' community eventually pulled back toward pop structures, Yes retained a fondness for long-form compositions, cementing an identity built on scale and ambition rather than singles.

In this context, the idea of a Yes singles album might seem a little odd. YesSingles brings together twelve radio-friendly edits of tracks from the period 1970—1983. Despite not really being a 'best of' LP or even a thorough survey, it does two things well. Firstly, it offers long-term fans a selection of hard-to-find single edits (such as "Roundabout", "Soundchaser" and "Soon"), neatly collecting those rarities. Secondly, this single disc offers a tasting board of some of the band’s strengths: the glorious harmonies, melodies that stay with you forever, and the sheer variety of melodic invention and arrangement. Ballads like "Wondrous Stories" and "Soon" provide a sweet-toned entry point for a band whose ambition ranged far beyond the radio single yet who were always drawn back to the rock fundamental of writing a good tune. 

The 2023 Rhino-Atlantic release comes on bright lemon vinyl with an orange-black splatter overlay. Lovers of coloured vinyl will be delighted. Fans of Yes album cover art have less to cheer about; the sleeve design of YesSingles is distinctly underwhelming. Slightly reminiscent of Big Generator’s flat graphics, it does seem more like an uninspired high school homework exercise than something to excite the imagination, as Roger Dean’s classic artwork for the band did (and still does).

Ultimately, the collection reinforces a familiar conclusion: Yes were never a singles band. Their reputation rests on landmark albums such as The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Relayer and even 90125. Yessingles is therefore best viewed as either a brief introduction or an intriguing archival companion. It documents how an ambitious progressive rock band occasionally met the commercial world on its own terms, while reminding listeners that the long-playing album was always Yes’s natural artistic home.

© Bruce Jenkins—July 2026

NOTE: 7" singles in the photo are for display purposes only!