Search - Yes :: Yessongs

One of the greatest live albums ever

woburnmusicfan | Woburn, MA United States | 02/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1973 live album was originally 3 LPs, now 2 CDs. It's my favorite Yes album and possibly my favorite live album by anyone. The album includes a couple of tracks ("Perpetual Change" and the "Long Distance Runaround/The Fish" sequence) from the 1972 "Fragile" tour, with Bill Bruford on drums. The rest of the album was recorded later that year on the "Close to the Edge" tour, after Bruford had left to join King Crimson and was replaced by Alan White. All three songs from "Close to the Edge" are here, and they're all highlights, played with more confidence and intensity than on the original album, as the band was now getting a better feel for the finished pieces. The rest of the songs are all from "Fragile" ("Heart of the Sunrise" is also a highlight) and "The Yes Album", except for a Rick Wakeman solo excerpt from his "Six Wives of Henry VIII" album. I've heard others complain about the sound quality, but it's not at all bad for live albums of that era, and I find it better than on the later "Yesshows".



As it was a 3-LP set, there is inevitably some padding: a long Bruford drum solo on "Perpetual Change", an interminable Chris Squire bass solo on "The Fish". Heck, the band even included four minutes of music recorded by someone else -- the album begins with a recording of the last movement of Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" that played as Yes took the stage. Most of the tracks are at least as good as the originals, except for "Roundabout" and the overstuffed "Fish". Some guitarist friends think that Steve Howe's solo on "Starship Troopers" pales next to the original.



(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

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