Charts: CAN #22, US #5, JPN #37, AUS #15, FRA #9, GER #27, ITA #17, NLD #10, NOR #18, UK #4. FRA & US: Gold.
After keyboardist Rick Wakeman left the group in May 1974 over disagreements with the band's direction following their double concept album Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Yes entered rehearsals as a four-piece in Buckinghamshire. They auditioned several musicians, including Greek keyboardist and composer Vangelis, before settling with Swiss musician Patrick Moraz of Refugee who incorporated elements of funk and jazz fusion to 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". The painting originated from a watercolour sketch Dean had done while studying in college. 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." 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". The sleeve includes an untitled four-stanza poem by writer Donald Lehmkuhl dated October 1974, and features a 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. At the 1975 edition of the NME Awards, the album won Best Dressed LP.
Dean has said that "The Gates of Delirium" may be his favourite Yes track and that he felt the album should have been named after it. By 2020, the painting had been on sale for $6 million.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relayer)

Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).