Yes is a progressive rock band that formed in London in 1968. Although the arrangement of the band has changed many times over the years, founding members Jon Anderson and Chris Squire may be considered the core of the band. Despite many lineup changes, occasional splits and the huge changes in popular music, the band has lasted for over 30 years and still retains a strong international following.

Their third, fourth and fifth albums, recorded in 1971-72, defined the classical Yes sound. Yes enjoyed enormous commercial and critical success around the world and became one of the most popular concert attractions of the day. They also notably benefit from the tremendous advances in live music technology that were taking place at that time, and they were renowned for the high quality of both their sound and lighting. Some consider the album Close to the Edge to be the high point of the whole progressive rock genre. The three-record live collection Yessongs, recorded on their world tour in late 1972 and early 1973, raised the bar for rock album packaging to a new level. It was a hugely motivated project and undoubtedly a major gamble for their label, Atlantic Records.

It was one of the first rock triple-album sets, featuring live versions of all-original material from the previous three studio albums. Their next studio album, Tales from Topographic Oceans marked a change in the band's fortunes. It was a difficult to understand concept piece, sprawling across four sides of a double album. It earned mixed reviews and left many feeling that the band was beginning to overreach itself, even though it was a solid commercial success.

The group toured through 1975-76 and each member recorded their own solo album. These mostly demonstrated that in the case of Yes, the whole was indeed greater than the sum of the parts. Yes were being held up by supporters of punk and New Wave, and ironically, Yes would outlast almost all the groups of that era as well.