Here’s where the story really begins. The third Yes album starts off with the almost fanfare-like intro to “Yours Is No Disgrace” — Bill Bruford’s martial drums, Steve Howe’s chopping guitar, Chris Squire’s massive bass, Tony Kaye’s overdriven organ — before launching into an galloping art-boogie riff, which then falls away, replaced by dual keyboard drones over which Jon Anderson sings the first verse. And by the time the band starts galloping forward again, you know you’re in the presence of an undeniable rock music force. This isn’t the top-volume, in-your-face assault of Deep Purple; there’s intricacy here, and every instrument has its own carefully chosen and maintained place in the mix, even/especially Anderson’s ultra-clean, occasionally doubled vocals and the tight harmonies of Squire and Howe.

The Yes Album represented a gamble for the band. Atlantic was ready to drop them after two unsuccessful releases in a row. Fortunately, they exploded out of the gate with this one. Howe was a much more fluid and multifaceted player than Peter Banks had been, and even got a track all to himself, the live acoustic “Clap.” The songs as a whole were not only unique, but substantially better. Four of the album’s six tracks are absolute classics: “Yours Is No Disgrace,” “Starship Trooper,” “I’ve Seen All Good People” and “Perpetual Change.” Rhythmically speaking, the jazzy swing of the early years is gone, replaced by a hard-rock stomp, leavened with the occasional outburst of country boogie (the guitar solo on “I’ve Seen All Good People” is some mind-warping hillbilly-ass pickin’). This is the first of a string of five (some would say six) classic studio albums in a row, the beginning of Yes’ classic era.