Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Yes
Label: Rhino Records
Release: 2015
Running time: 96:50
Rating: 4.5/5
Yes marked 2015 with the untimely loss of their founding bassist Chris Squire, a controversial American tour (controversial because they kept on playing despite the death of the last original member), and new live albums. »Progeny: Highlights From Seventy-Two« is a double live album collecting select performances from seven different venues on the American leg of the 1972 »Close to the Edge« tour. At heart, it’s a trimmed-down version of the 14-CD live box set »Progeny: Seven Shows Fron Seventy-Two«, which contains the complete sets from those seven shows. That move stirs up mixed feelings, but »Progeny: Highlights From Seventy-Two« is a made-to-order live document for everyone who finds the aforementioned box too steep a financial hit, or who simply isn’t as obsessive a Yes fan as the ones who have to own every last live recording of their heroes.
The »Close to the Edge« tour was Yes’s first with drummer Alan White in the lineup. He’d replaced Bill Bruford, the brand-new King Crimson member, just before the trip to North America. Plenty of Yes fans were skeptical about the swap at the time, but White clicked with the rest of the band right away, and today, after Squire’s death, he’s the only member of the legendary group who has stuck around since 1972. Thanks in part to the cleaner sound, his technical chops come across a bit better on »Progeny« than on »Yessongs« (1973), where some critics took aim at Alan’s improvisational approach during the superepic »Close to the Edge«, where Bruford was always in a class of his own, and forgot that White had to learn extremely demanding material in an incredibly short time.
Of the »Close to the Edge« compositions, all three original tracks are here: the exuberant »Siberian Khatru«, the ethereal »And You And I«, and of course the title superepic, the triumphant peak of this thoroughly satisfying live document. The solo spots for guitar hero Steve Howe and keyboard majesty Rick Wakeman are here too. Wakeman was promoting his first (proper) solo album, »The Six Wives of Henry VIII« (1973), at the time, so he tailored his seven-minute solo spot around it, packing in some of the key motifs from that studio classic.
Especially good in this live selection is the evergreen »Yours Is No Disgrace« from »The Yes Album« (1971), which Yes stretched to a full 16 minutes with some inspired improvised passages. It’s where the classic Yes lineup’s extraordinary artistic audacity, improvisational vitality and boundless creative imagination really shine. Naturally, the obligatory »Roundabout« is here too, and in the hands of the classic lineup it’s always a feast for the ears. It was a wise call by both producers to preserve an authentic, true-to-the-era sound on »Progeny«, so the whole collection sounds like it really came out in 1972. The trademark Roger Dean cover is here as well, though it’s certainly not among his most inspired moments.
»Progeny: Highlights From Seventy-Two« is made to order for all those Yes fans who simply aren’t well-off enough to splurge on the relatively pricey 14-CD box »Progeny: Seven Shows From Seventy-Two«, which, as usual in cases like this, will mostly end up in the hands of people who feel no material lack whatsoever, even though they see themselves as big admirers of Jon’s lyrics about personal enlightenment and finding happiness in immaterial things. In 1972, the year they put out two masterpieces, »Fragile« and »Close to the Edge«, Yes were at the peak of their artistic powers, and that makes this a stunning live document with special emotional value for every devoted fan.
Line-up
Jon Anderson – vocals, percussion
Steve Howe – guitar, backing vocals
Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
Rick Wakeman – keyboards
Alan White – drums
Production
Brian Kehew and Steve Woolard
Track list
1. Opening (Excerpt From Firebird Suite)
2. Siberian Khatru
3. I’ve Seen All Good People
a. Your Move
b. All Good People
4. Heart Of The Sunrise
5. Clap/Mood For A Day
6. And You And I
i. Cord Of Life
ii. Eclipse
iii. The Preacher The Teacher
iv. Apocalypse
7. Close To The Edge
i. The Solid Time Of Change
ii. Total Mass Retain
iii. I Get Up I Get Down
iv. Seasons Of Man
8. Excerpts From “The Six Wives Of Henry VIII”
9. Roundabout
10. Yours Is No Disgrace
