Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Yes
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2014
Running time: 93:02
Rating: 4/5
In 2013 and 2014, Yes were in the middle of the highly ambitious ‘Three Album Tour’, on which they played three classic albums live, »The Yes Album« (1971), »Close To The Edge« (1972) and »Going For The One« (1977), each in its entirety, though not in the chronological order of their release. So »The Yes Album«, which actually came out before »Close To The Edge« and »Going For The One«, only got played in the third, closing part of their shows, which had no negative consequences, since all three of these masterpieces are special sonic chapters in their own right, courtesy of three different versions of the legendary English prog rock band.
The Three Album Tour will also be remembered for being the first one on which Yes appeared with American singer Jon Davison (Glass Hammer), who was far more convincing as a replacement for original vocalist Jon Anderson than his Canadian predecessor Benoit David (ex-Mystery), with whom the prog rock veterans recorded their previous live album, »In The Present – Live From Lyon« (2011), ‘as a finale’.
On that one, besides David, the main talking point was probably the short-lived Yes keyboardist Oliver Wakeman, who had stepped in for his famous father Rick at the time. Oliver was soon replaced by returnee Geoff Downes (Asia), also a superb keyboardist, though not quite the genius that the ‘old’ Wakeman is. Downes, who had already been a member of this legendary band briefly in the early eighties, brought along a rather distinctive approach to the keyboards while still respecting Rick’s legacy, and that quickly showed at the gigs, for better and for worse.
This live release, »Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome«, was recorded in Bristol and is also the first official Yes live album with Davison and Downes in the lineup, which immediately gives it a special stamp. Unfortunately, the big downside of this double live release is that it doesn’t include the full performance of »Close To The Edge«, which is without a doubt a big, big mistake, even if it was a rational decision, made at the cost of a possible triple version of this otherwise pretty high-quality recording. The most demanding and grueling part of the show, where Downes had to show off all his varied keyboard skills just to keep up decently with Wakeman’s legacy, is therefore missing.
Well, at least there’s some consolation in the fact that the »Going For The One« performances in particular came to life with a special charm. Besides Davison’s excellent vocal performances, where it’s sometimes hard to tell that it’s not Jon behind the mic, since he’s almost a vocal twin brother of his and, unlike David, has no trouble at all hitting the higher vocal registers while also having his own charisma, Downes deserves credit for that too, adding some of his own improvisational ideas here and there without spoiling the original structure of the individual pieces. You can hear it already on the opening classic »Going For The One«, where he threw in a few short hammond organ improvisations that weren’t in the original, which spices up this very good performance even more.
Guitar doctor Steve ‘Mr. Owl’ Howe and Chris ‘Fish’ Squire on Rickenbacker bass were in their standard top form again that evening, just as you’d usually expect from them, though Howe wasn’t ‘a hundred percent’ everywhere. Alan White was solid too, but in places a bit more rocker liveliness wouldn’t have hurt. Davison deserves special congratulations for his superb rendition of the vocally quite demanding evergreen »Turn Of The Century«, which, paired with the hit »Wonderous Stories«, came across as one of the most magical and ethereal moments of the entire live recording.
»Parallels«, where Howe and Squire once again impress with their complex guitar and bass lines respectively, is a song Yes have only rarely played live in the past, but this incarnation of the British prog titans managed to capture its original essence with minimal deviations. The performance of the unforgettable super-epic »Awaken« was a real challenge, and the whole quintet put in their absolute maximum. Davison once again carried out his singing mission with distinction, while Downes did quite well on the somewhat more demanding arrangements originally played by Rick Wakeman.
The second disc contains the complete performance of the masterpiece »The Yes Album«, which probably still stands as the most important album in the entire Yes history, since after Howe’s arrival in 1971 and the major stylistic shift, it catapulted them into the prog rock elite at the ‘last minute’. More than four decades after its release, »Yours Is No Disgrace« comes across in the current band’s hands as a high-octane, energetic bomb, with Howe once again unerring in his vehement stroking of the guitar strings. Besides »Yours Is No Disgrace«, the solo number »Clap« also still remains his most representative piece.
The song »A Venture« also deserves the special attention of all the long-time fans. Yes played it ‘live’ for the first time on this tour, and it features an extra, brand-new piano solo in the intro, while the three best-known »The Yes Album« classics, namely »I’ve Seen All Good People«, »Starship Trooper« and »Perpetual Change«, come across as considerably more predictable due to how often they get played, even though these are very solid versions too. Also missing from this recording is the »Fragile« (1972) hit »Roundabout«, which Yes played as an encore on this tour, but its absence is far from a catastrophe, even though, along with »Owner Of A Lonely Heart«, it’s the best-known song in their history.
This latest live document from Bristol, featuring stellar full-length performances of two classic Yes albums, is eloquent proof of why it’s a good thing that the elder statesmen of progressive rock, despite the respectable age of most of the band’s members, are still roaming the touring circuit instead of reading bedtime stories to their grandkids by a crackling fireplace about the bygone years of their greatest glory. Even though Rick Wakeman and especially Jon Anderson are practically irreplaceable, the current version of the band, which recorded the studio album »Heaven & Earth« in 2014, has managed to prove that it can confidently and unburdened play familiar and lesser-known standards from the huge Yes musical treasure trove without them, and there are no obstacles whatsoever to possible new studio projects either.
Lineup
Jon Davison – vocals, acoustic guitar
Steve Howe – electric and acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
Geoff Downes – keyboards
Alan White – drums
Production
Yes
Track List
CD 1:
1. Going for the One
2. Turn of the Century
3. Parallels
4. Wonderous Stories
5. Awaken
CD 2:
1. Yours Is No Disgrace
2. Clap
3. Starship Trooper
4. I’ve Seen All Good People
5. A Venture
6. Perpetual Change
