2000 Great Songs #1489: Starship Trooper

While my lack of patience for Jon Anderson's helium-pitched vocals kept Yes at arms-length for a big chunk of my life, I eventually got past it (mostly; I still prefer the musical passages) and came to enjoy quite a bit of the band's music, at least through the mid-70s. So it does feel a bit lazy, for my second Yes pick on the list, to return to the same album as the first. But, hey, 1971's The Yes Album is pretty great, and while I equally love the next few records, I find myself visiting this one more often.

"Starship Trooper" is undeniably peak prog, a multi-part suite with fussy performances; yet it's got a nice pop hook in the main riff, a cool little jangly acoustic bit in the middle, and that soaring extended coda (which, if you fade it early, makes it a more manageable tune which should've gotten a little more classic radio attention). And Anderson is relatively restrained, with some pretty multi-tracked harmonies to boot.

Live 1972:

Live 2004:

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