The band spent mid-1970 writing and rehearsing new material at a farmhouse at Romansleigh, Devon, and the new songs were recorded at Advision Studios in London in the autumn.

While the album retained close harmony singing, Kaye's Hammond organ, and Chris Squire's melodic bass, as heard on earlier releases, the new material also covered further styles including jazz piano, funk, and acoustic music.

They arrived at a cottage in Churchill, north of Barnstaple, but felt restricted there and were not allowed to make any noise after dark.

They advertised in the local paper for a new location,[10] and moved to Langley Farm in Romansleigh, near South Molton, some 20 mi (32 km) away.

[12] Following rehearsals, the band booked Advision Studios in London with producer Eddie Offord and spent the autumn recording.

[14] Several weeks into the Langley Farm rehearsals, manager Roy Flynn came to tell the band he was leaving them and taking money he believed he was owed.

[15][16][17] On 23 November 1970, the group were involved in a head-on vehicle collision at Basingstoke, while returning from the previous evening's gig at the Plymouth Guildhall.

[19] Howe mostly used a Gibson ES-175 semi-acoustic guitar and a Martin 00-18 acoustic for recording, though he did attempt to play a variety of styles with the two instruments.

Anderson wanted the piece to start quietly and develop, leading into a large church organ sound, before moving into the funky second movement.

[33] The band had difficulty recording the initial "Your Move" section, which was resolved by making a tape loop of bass and drums, over which Howe overdubbed a Spanish laúd,[34] miscrediting it as a "vachalia" on the album's credits.

Unable to get a satisfactory photo in the studio, Franks took the band round to his flat, grabbed a polystyrene mannequin head from a bin, put a 1,000 watt bulb in the kitchen light fitting, and improvised the shot.

Franks credited the sleeve designer, Rolling Stone art director Jon Goodchild, for making the cover a success.

[44] When Yes performed a live version of "Yours is No Disgrace" for the German television series Beat-Club in April 1971, footage of the band was combined with that of another mannequin head spinning over a chair, mimicking the cover's concept.

It was a commercial success and was the band's breakthrough album, selling around 60,000 copies upon release[49] and reaching number 4 in the UK.

[35] At that time British postal workers were on strike, preventing record stores from sending sales reports to Melody Maker, which compiled the charts most followed by the music industry.

Richard Branson owned a record store on Oxford Street in London, the first business enterprise in what he later built up into Virgin Group.

John Koegel, writing for Rolling Stone, praised the instrumental unity between Squire, Howe and Kaye, but missed the cover songs present in the band's earlier albums.

Author Tom Moon preferred the group unity that he felt was missing on later releases and gave a positive impression of Anderson's vocals, saying the melodies in "I've Seen All Good People" were "instantly singable and still somehow deep.

[62] Anderson was worried about the initial response to the album, but after about a month noticed that fans started singing along at concerts, and concluded that this musical style could be developed and still remain popular.

[67] The Yes Album was remastered and reissued in 2003 by Rhino Records with several bonus tracks, including a studio version of "Clap", entitled as Howe intended.