4. YesThe Yes Album

My prog phase! Being 12 or 13 is the age to get into classic rock, and I was listening to Led Zeppelin, Hendrix and all that. My sister gave me a Yes album for my 13th birthday, I think because some of the boys hanging around with her were into prog. It really is sometimes just what music happens to fall into your lap. But I had a strange love affair with this band, they were my next big love.

Again, weirdly, I’m happy to report that love affair has never diminished. I’m a secret Yes lover! They definitely had a classic phase, for three or four albums. Some of the earlier tracks are lovely and folky, but it was definitely all about The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge, those three classics.

Perhaps people won’t be expecting this one. I’m not going to try to defend Yes, they have got daft lyrics, but the one thing that links many of the LPs here is bands. I’m a band person. I love bands. First and foremost, I love pop music. Secondly, I just love bands, I believe in the power of the band. Yes definitely had this power, you could hear the five of them sitting down to make something, whether you liked it or not, that was original. I’m talking about the classic line-up, which came together for this album, which includes Rick Wakeman. Sometimes it sounds like they are all solo-ing at the same time, including Chris Squire the bass player. They are all going: “listen to me, listen to me”, but it works.