Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Yes
Label: Rhino Records
Release: 2002
Rating: 4/5
The final cross-section of everything Yes have ever been up to today is easily the best selection of songs yet, especially next to past best-of compilations of this kind. It’s a five-CD box set packed with seriously interesting material. At last it includes songs that any Yes fan surely wonders why earlier compilations ignored, like Machine Messiah, South Side Of The Sky or Turn Of The Century. On top of that, this ultimate selection also features lesser-known but impressive moments from the band, worthy of all your attention, like Release, Release or Arriving UFO. The nicely designed box comes with a cover by the famous Roger Dean (I have to admit he wasn’t exactly inspired this time) and also serves up a wordy booklet packed with rare photos. The first part is a short biography, telling you who Yes even are, while in the second part English philosopher Bill Martin tries to translate the magic of the Yes universe into as “normal” a language as possible, bringing it closer to us mere mortals. The box set contains no live recordings.
Let’s run through the pleasant surprises first. The first is without a doubt the majestic new version of the grandiose epic The Revealing Science Of God, which is basically the version you can get on the official release of “Tales From The Topographic Oceans” (1973) in the store, except that the “new” version is stretched by a good minute and a half. It contains an intro that’s missing from the original. In the effects it uses, the intro strongly recalls the opening of Close To The Edge, with the waves of the sea (Wakeman’s mellotron) and the “chirping of the birdies”. The other two highlights are the different versions of I Would Have Waited Forever (“Union”, 1991), with solo flourishes from Steve Howe in the outro that the original doesn’t have. Fans of this guitar giant will also find the peak of this compilation in Fist Of Fire (from the Anderson/Bruford/Wakeman/Howe lineup era), which this time is rewound in full with Steve’s unique guitar soloing.
We hit a much less orgasmic realization when we face the duds from the period known as the Paris Sessions (the late seventies, the stretch between the “Tormato” and “Drama” albums). We can forgive them only because they’re part of Yes history and have a right to take their place on this compilation, since otherwise they’re downright dreadful. They simply sound unfinished. The jazzy purist Steve didn’t embellish or noodle over a single lick the way we’re used to from him; the “framed” guitar just stayed stuck on chords. The raw-sounding recordings also mark a strong departure from the recognizable, sonically refined production Yes developed in the seventies. These bonus tracks look like pieces of bigger epics or mini epics that still have to be put together. In their lack of ideas they’re direct proof that the lineup change before the “Drama” album was necessary and welcome in every respect, because releasing the Paris material would have been a disaster for the band. I also can’t quite figure out the band’s move to place the short bluesy number Last Train among the orgasmic lessons of the present and the late nineties like Mind Drive, Homeworld (The Ladder) or In the Presence Of. Including Last Train is one move too many, and unnecessary, and trust me, nobody would have missed it on this compilation.
All the songs are remastered, and the sound, especially on the seventies material, is unbelievably clean and distinct. So the whole thing sounds very promising. I didn’t expect that. In these cases I’d rather keep my nose stuck in the originals, but it’s clear the reproduction of the Yes legacy has been a total success, so we can look forward to the upcoming reissues of the band’s studio albums. Pay attention to the new sound of immortal epics like Close To The Edge or Revealing Science Of God, and the cathartic creation incarnated in The Gates Of Delirium. The grandiose sound of cosmic energy of eternity. Crystal clear, full and harmoniously complete. The compilation is worth every single tolar, and a freshly recruited Yes fan will be especially happy with it.
Lineup
Jon Anderson – vocals
Trevor Horn – vocals
Trevor Rabin – vocals, guitar
Steve Howe – guitar
Billy Sherwood – guitar
Rick Wakeman – keyboards
Patrick Moraz – keyboards
Tony Kaye – keyboards
Geoff Downes – keyboards
Igor Koroshev – keyboards
Chris Squire – bass guitar
Alan White – drums
Bill Bruford – drums
Production
Yes & David McLees
Track List
CD 1:
1. Every Little Thing
2. Sweetness
3. Survival
4. Then
5. Sweet Dreams
6. Astral Traveller
7. Time And A Word
8. Dear Father
9. Yours Is No Disgrace
10. Clap
11. Perpetual Change
12. Starship Trooper
13. I’ve Seen All Good People
CD 2:
1. Roundabout
2. South Side Of The Sky
3. Heart Of The Sunrise
4. America
5. Close To The Edge
6. Revealing Science Of God
CD 3:
1. Siberian Khatru
2. Long Distance Runaround
3. Gates Of Delirium, The
4. To Be Over
5. Going For The One
6. Turn Of The Century
7. Wondrous Stories
8. Don’t Kill The Whale
9. Release, Release
10. Arriving U.F.O.
11. Richard *
CD 4:
1. Tango*
2. Never Done Before*
3. Backing Track 2*
4. Machine Messiah
5. Tempus Fugit
6. Owner Of A Lonely Heart
7. It Can Happen
8. Leave It
9. Hold On
10. Rhythm Of Love
11. Love Will Find A Way
12. Holy Lamb (Song For Harmonic Convergence)
13. Brother Of Mine
14. Fist Of Fire*
15. I Would Have Waited Forever
CD 5:
1. Lift Me Up
2. Calling, The
3. I Am Waiting
4. Mind Drive
5. Open Your Eyes
6. Universal Garden
7. Homeworld (The Ladder)
8. Messenger, The
9. Last Train*
10. In The Presence Of
* – previously unreleased tracks
