乐评：Yes《Relayer》

乐评来自：

豆瓣：Relayer (豆瓣)

虾米试听：虾米音乐

"Relayer" is my fourth review of a Yes' album. When I reviewed their sixth studio album "Tales From Topographic Oceans" of 1973, I wrote that when it was released, the reactions were divided between fans, critics, and even inside the band members. The band member that most criticised the album was Rick Wakeman. That even forced him to leave the group. On the other hand, Bill Bruford was invited to join King Crimson, to replace Ian Wallace on drums. He accepted. In reality, King Crimson makes a type of music much closer to what he always wanted to do.

《Relayer》是我第四次评论Yes的专辑。当我评论他们的第六张专辑即1973年的《Tales From Topographic Oceans》时我写到，当它发行后，粉丝与评论家的反应是分裂的，甚至乐队内部也是如此。Rick Wakeman对专辑批评最多。这甚至让他被迫离开乐队。另一方面，Bill Bruford被邀请加入King Crimson，代替Ian Wallace作为鼓手。他同意了，因为事实上King Crimson的音乐风格其实是更接近他想要的。

So, the line up on "Relayer" is a bit different of the line up on "Tales From Topographic Oceans". The line up on "Relayer" is Jon Anderson (lead vocals), Steve Howe (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), Chris Squire (vocals and bass guitar), Patrick Moraz (keyboards) and Alan White (drums and percussion). The new keyboardist of the band, Moraz, left Refugee, a progressive band which was formed by him in 1973 with Lee Jackson and Brian Davidson. Both, Jackson and Davidson, had previously worked with Keith Emerson on The Nice, before he have left the group to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer. White was a drummer who had worked before with John Lennon and George Harrison, and when he was touring with Joe Cocker, he was invited to join Yes, which he accepted immediately.

所以，《Relayer》的创作人员与《Tales From Topographic Oceans》有点不同，他们是：Jon Anderson (主唱), Steve Howe (人声, 吉他), Chris Squire (人声，贝司), Patrick Moraz (键盘) 和 Alan White (鼓和打击乐)。新的键盘手Moraz离开了Refugee乐队（1973年由他和Lee Jackson与Brian Davidson成立的前卫乐队）。Jackson 和 Davidson也曾和Keith Emerson一起在The Nice乐队，但后来Emerson成立了Emerson, Lake & Palmer。White是曾和John Lennon与George Harrison合作过的鼓手，当他和Joe Cocker一起巡演的时候，他被邀加入Yes，他立马同意了。

"Relayer" is their seventh studio album and was recorded at Squire's home, mixed and released at the Advision Studios in London, in Autumn of 1974, and was produced by Yes and Eddie Offord. The album has three tracks, and all the tracks were written by the group. The first track "The Gates Of Delirium" is the lengthiest track on the album and it's also one of the biggest tracks ever made by the group. It was inspired by the Leo Tolstoy's famous romance, "War And Peace". We can divide this theme into two parts. In the first part, the song begins with a kind of a prelude of a battle, which leads us into a musical section that represents the different stages of the battle. However, Anderson described it as a war song with a battle scene, but he doesn't explain or denounce particularly what was the battle. The second part entitled "Soon", was released as a single in 1975, and represents the aftermath of the battle. The lyrics are about the futility of war, and this is one of the most aggressive musics of the group, musically and lyrically. This is a perfect epic theme, made by the band. In my humble opinion, "The Gates Of Delirium" is with "Close To The Edge" the two greatest masterpieces composed by the band. The second track "Sound Chaser" is a more experimental track, with great influence of jazz, probably due to Moraz's influence. He is a pianist with a classical musical education, but he suffers from a major jazz influence, than Wakeman suffers. This theme contains some diverse improvisations by the individual band members, and all play an individual musical part on the track, which makes to the music a more difficult implementation. This is clearly and undoubtedly, the most frenetic and aggressive track ever made by Yes. The third track "To Be Over" is the most calm and melodic song of the album. It seems that the peace arrived after the storm. This theme has soft keyboard arrangements, accompanied with a pedal steel guitar, also used on the first track, and an electric sitar. Both instruments are played by Howe. It's a beautiful ballad, very soft and emotional, and represents another masterwork by Howe. It represents the perfect end to an excellent and perfect album.

《Relayer》是乐队的第七张专辑，在Squire家中录制，在伦敦的Advision Studios混音和发布，在1974年的秋天，由Yes 和 Eddie Offord发行。专辑有三首歌，都是乐队成员共同写的。第一首歌"The Gates Of Delirium"是专辑的至高点，也是乐队做过的最庞大的歌曲。它受到托尔斯泰的传奇史诗《战争与和平》的启发。我们可以把这个主题划分成两部分。在第一部分，歌曲以类似战争序幕的样式开篇，带领我们进入音乐演奏部分，它代表了战争的不同阶段。Anderson虽然描绘说它是一首说战争的歌曲，但他没有解释是哪一场战役。第二部分的标题是"Soon"，在1975年作为单曲推出，代表了战争的余波。歌词是关于战争毫无价值的。这是乐队最有进取心的音乐部分，无论是音乐还是歌词上。这是完美的史诗之作。在我看来，"The Gates Of Delirium" 和 "Close To The Edge"是乐队最伟大的两大杰作了。第二首歌"Sound Chaser"则更为实验，有爵士乐的严重影响，也许是因为Moraz。他是受过古典音乐教育的钢琴家，但他比Wakeman更受到爵士乐的影响。这首歌包含许多不同的即兴演奏，乐队每位成员都在歌曲中有自己的独特演奏，这使得歌曲实际上是很难完成的。这无疑是Yes做过的最狂热和最有进取心的歌曲了。第三首歌"To Be Over"是专辑中最安静也最优美的歌曲。就像是暴风雨后的平和。这首歌曲有温和的键盘段落，伴随踏板钢吉他，这也在第一首歌中运用，以及一个电锡塔琴。所有器乐部分都是Howe演奏的。这是优美的民谣，非常温柔和感人，是Howe的另一个杰作。也代表了这张优秀而完美专辑的完美结束。

The art cover on "Relayer" was, once more, featured by Roger Dean, the artist responsible for the most of the album's covers of the group. This is probably my favourite album's cover of him, ever.

专辑的封面艺术再一次由Roger Dean创作，这位艺术家复杂乐队的大部分专辑封面艺术。这或许是我最喜欢的他的创作了。

The critic's reactions to this musical work were divided. Some said that the band was lost, and they were without inspiration and creativity. But others said that this was a truly masterpiece, and that probably this was the best album ever made by the group. Anyway, being or not their best work, commercially speaking, the album was a great success, reaching gold, and entering in the British and American charts.

对这张音乐的评论反应也是分裂的。一些人说乐队迷失了，他们没有灵感和创造力了。但其他人说这是真正的杰作，也许是乐队做过的最佳专辑了。无论是不是他们的最佳杰作，专辑在商业上获得了巨大成功，达到金唱片，进入英国和美国排行榜。

Conclusion: For me, "Relayer" is the second best studio musical work of Yes, soon after their fifth studio album "Close To The Edge" released in 1972. The "Relayer's" sound, is without any doubt quite different from what the band had already produced before, creating new atmospheres, with instrumentation and musical performances extremely complexes, dramatics and realistic lyrics. And it's definitely more influenced by jazz. Sincerely, I think on "Relayer" we can clearly see the new musical influences in the group, essentially brought by the new band's keyboardist. We can say that "Relayer" is a product of Yes, in a transition musical phase. The final result was a tour- de-force album, by this legendary group. They moved into a different direction from their epic, "Tales From Topographic Oceans". Definitely, if you don't have it yet, you must buy it soon. This masterpiece must should be part of your musical collection.

结论：对我来说，《Relayer》是Yes的第二佳作品，稍差于它们的第五张专辑即1972年的《Close To The Edge》。《Relayer》的音乐无疑于他们之前的很不相同，用乐器和高度复杂的音乐表演、以及戏剧化与现实主义的歌词创造了新的氛围。而且肯定深受爵士乐影响。我们可以清晰看到在《Relayer》上乐队受到新的音乐风格影响，从本质上来说是乐队新的键盘手带来的。我们可以说《Relayer》是Yes转变音乐阶段的一个产物。其结果就是这个传奇乐队创造了一张代表作。他们进入了与他们的史诗"Tales From Topographic Oceans"不同方向的阶段。如果你还没有它，你一定要买一张。这张杰作一定会是你音乐收藏的一部分。