YES Cover Art by Roger Dean Hand Signed JON ANDERSON w/coa and Photo

Description

Earth Day 2000 by Bob Masse Auction on E-Bay
Relayer
is the seventh studio album by the English
progressive rock
band
Yes
, released in November 1974 by
Atlantic Records
. After keyboardist
Rick Wakeman
left the group in May 1974 over disagreements with the band's direction, Yes entered rehearsals as a four-piece at bassist
Chris Squire
's home in
Virginia Water
, Surrey. During this period, they auditioned several keyboardists including
Vangelis
before choosing Swiss musician
Patrick Moraz
who incorporates elements of funk and
jazz fusion
on the album.
Relayer
is formed of three tracks, with "
The Gates of Delirium
" on side one and "Sound Chaser" and "To Be Over" on side two.
The album's sleeve was designed and illustrated by English artist
Roger Dean
, who had designed artwork for the band since 1971, including their logo. In his 1975 book
Views
, Dean picked the cover as his favourite for Yes, and the recording he enjoyed the most. He revealed his intention of depicting "a giant 'gothic' cave" for the sleeve, "a sort of fortified city for military monks".
[38]
Speaking about the cover in 2004, he said: "I was playing with the ideas of the ultimate castle, the ultimate wall of a fortified city. That was more of a fantastical idea. I was looking for the kinds of things like the
Knights Templar
would have made or what you'd see in the current movie
Lord of the Rings
. The curving, swirling cantilevers right into space."
[39]
The images depicted in many of Dean's album covers set an otherworldly tone and are an identifiable part of the band's visual style. For
Relayer
, the warriors on horseback reflect the lyrical themes of war present in "The Gates of Delirium".
[40]
The sleeve includes an untitled four-stanza poem by writer Donald Lehmkuhl dated October 1974, and features band photograph taken by Moraz's former Mainhorse bandmate, Jean Ristori.
[nb 1]
The album's CD reissue features two additional paintings, and further unused designs are included in Dean's 2008 book
Dragon's Dream
.
[41]
At the
1975 edition
of the
NME Awards
, the album won Best Dressed LP.
This print was produced in 1990 by Record Art and later distributed by MUSICOM. Jon Anderson signed this in a private session. a photograph of Jon taken during that session is included with purchase. NOTE - Roger Dean signature is not on this print.