Yessongs

[gathernear]

Close To The Edge was probably the peak of Yes' recorded work, Yessongs proved they could pull it off live. Definitive performances of the best of the best 3 albums are represented here. This is my all-time favorite live album by any band!!

[ric]

mine too. i used to play my eight track in my car and go past my house and keep driving.that was many years ago.now i have the cd in my car at all times,and still love to just drive, and appreciate this as much as i did then. ric

[Yes Oz]

Whilst I agree that most of Yes 'epic" works were done in the 70's I believe that it is good that they have moved on from the 20 minute plus peices and evolved slowly into the music we have today (Mag for example). I like, all Yes fans, still love to hear, Tales, GOD, Awaken etc but I think they would have no chance of enticing "new" fans with recordings such as the 70's. If New fans enjoy the 70's stuff than that is a bonus, but I think if they want to appeal to new fans then the way they have developed is the right way to go ( although I will conceed that it doesn't seem to be too successful to date). But I guess if you look at the fans they have picked up since the 90125 days then maybe it has worked. I guess what I am trying to say in my usual clumsey way is that their is a place for all types of Yes music. The epics, the standards, the slightly commerical, they appeal in different ways to different fans. Don't get me wrong, I love the lot. Just trying to take a mid level stance to the way we view their music.

[yesindeed]

the best live yes album ever... so far...

[Purple Wolfhound]

...that this has to be the best live Yes album ever, although that wasn’t the case when it was first released. God, how would I ever make it through THREE vinyl albums of live Yes music in one sitting? Talk about sensory overload! At the time I thought the recording itself was somewhat lacking, sonically speaking. That opinion has changed over the years and this album contains some of the finest versions of Yes’ classic songs that even put their studio counterparts to shame. Chief among them, imo, are: Perpetual Change, LDR/The Fish, Heart Of The Sunrise and Yours Is No Disgrace.

Peace,

Phil

[andriessen]

Yessongs is the best album ever recorded.

Ever since I first heard it in 1974 I have been listening to it over and over and it never tires.

Steve Howe's guitar work is unbelievable! Loud, melodic, crispy, everywhere.

Especially Perpetual Change and Yours is no Disgrace still give me the creeps and sometimes make me cry. Does anybody know that feeling?

Great this album now has its own forum. I do not often come across people with the same passion for this album as I do (and that, like me drive by home because Starship Trooper hasn't finished yet...)

Regards,

[Squireaholic]

I couldn't agree more with the posts so far; Squire's performance of Fish is still a standard by which all Bass solo piceces must still be measured (how many of you used to turn your stereos all-the-way-up during the quiet, jazz inflected section, waitinmg to get blown away on purpose when Chris got loud again?)

I find that I feel sorry for the youngers out there who, brought up on 20-20K digital 'perfection', have trouble with this recording because it sounds old to them. I say, time for a remastering(!).

That should give us all something to debate about for ages...

[Original_Shifty]

okay okay.

Based on this thread and statements throughout this site, I decided to go to my favourite cd store. I said to myself, if by chance Yessongs is there, I'll pick it up. Well I got it, so now excuse me while I put it on my portable cd player. I'm at work so no one better come see me about a computer/network problem. Maybe I'll go hide in the server room for awhile.

[ANTIOCH]

"Yessongs" captures ALL that is YES. High energy performance , musical virtuosity and cleverly crafted epics.
This is YES in their hey-day and although their musicality still shines , I miss the extravaganza
/shows they used to put on.
It ( for me ) was always an awakening , an almost religious experience.
I received the remastered double CD for Christmas and had to put it away in fear of burn-out.

[nightliner]

A classic album, with great artwork and a nice booklet. A must own.

[Original_Shifty]

....ahhhh

Finished!

A very good live album. Although, I've heard more recent versions of Starship Trooper that I like better. The rest though is pretty good.

[YYY]

Yessongs was the only live recording that existed in the early days for many years, so for me its simply holds its own because of the nostalgia factor. It is THE reigning original classic live album.

[BrianD]

This live album has a special place in the hearts of us Australians as it was recorded in an earlier part of the tour that eventually came thru Australia - the ONLY time they have toured here. While we hope that the rumoured 2002 tour to Australia and New Zealand eventuates, this magnificent album captures the music they played in the concerts. The opening 'Firebird Suite' melding into Siberian Khatru forever sends a shiver down my spine as I recall that first glimpse of the spotlight on Rick's gold cape and hair at the beginning of the concert - only to be surpassed by the band exploding into action with full stage lights. A magnificent feeling.

[Original_Shifty]

There is always talk that the upcoming tour will be their last, and I can't see them NOT doing a farewell tour, and hitting Oz on that tour. I'm sure you guys will seem them eventually. But here's hoping for this one as it is such a great show this time around.

[seyyes 2]

...Love Yessongs...but not Wakeman organ sound on "Yours is No Disgrace".....tinny,no bottom...White drumming on intro to "Heart of the Sunrise" sluggish...begging for Bruford...lots of great stuff,tho...sound very upfront,raw....Howe's cute solo in live "Heart" shreds!!..(have not heard it rendered so powerfully in all the shows I've seen).Great album.

[Awaken82]

yessongs - best recorded versions of siberian khatru, yours is no disgrace, perpetual change and close to the edge that Yes have ever done. To this day, I can't stand listening to the studio version of Close to the Edge after hearing the powerfull version on yessongs. The studio version pales in comparison! Those songs mentioned above are played impeccibly and I think it tops anything off of Keys to Ascension or House of Blues. I like the way they jammed on those songs which they omit nowadays when they play those songs. A few gripes however.. and you and i is played way too fast and is rather sloppy in my opinion. And the sound quality is again, not that great. But, the performance more than makes up for it. Overall, Yessongs is the Yes album I listen to the most.

[vad]

Yessongs is the best live album I've ever heard. CttE and AYAI sound great. Virtuosity, energy, and it has all of my favorites from the previous three studio albums. The songs from The Yes Album come so alive with Rick playing and Steve ripping. The Yours Is No Disgrace solo on this album is my favgorite guitar solo of all time, as is Rick's keyboard solo on CttE. Hearing this version of CttE was what hooked me forever into being a bona-fide Yes groupie. This was the first Yes album I ever heard, and I was so totally blown away that it's not even funny!

[yesskater]

Originally posted by Squireaholic

I find that I feel sorry for the youngers out there who, brought up on 20-20K digital 'perfection', have trouble with this recording because it sounds old to them. I say, time for a remastering(!).

That should give us all something to debate about for ages... [/B]


I remember buying the triple-LP NEW for about $11.00. I was -always intrigued by the swish/swirling effect in Alan's hi-hat/cymbal playing (most noticeably during Steve's solo in "Yours Is No Disgrace"). John Bonham used on "Moby Dick" as well from The Song Remains the Same.
Are there any drummers/musicians out there who can give us lay people a term for that effect?


The LP has more photographs of the band and inspired artwork by Roger Dean. And as far as I'm concerned, Yessongs contains the most intense concert version of "Heart of the Sunrise" than any other live album.

[1yesfan]

Along with 9012live the Solo's, Yesssongs was the first Yes album that I cut my teeth on with this group which for me started back during the BG tour.
The songs that most impressed me so much were YIND and SHTrooper!

[deus ex Machina]

My hat goes off to "Yours is No Disgrace"

And why should I pick that song? technically all songs are excellently performed. This double album serves as both testimony that Yes isn't "all studio" and that they rock out and do it with more musicianship than pretty much any other band since. I may be wrong, but show me a band with the combined musicianship that can hold a candle to Yes. There are some that come close, but ultimately I can't really recall out of all the billions of rock bands ive listened to, any that really equal the
->combined<- level they do.

Anyways back to my reasons for picking "yours is no disgrace." Because its the one song on the album they actually made better on the live album by one factor. They got rid of the bounciness of the studio version and made Howe's guitar crunchy. I love the studio version, but that bounciness keeps the song from transcending the limits of age like alot of their other songs. Buuuuuuut, On the live version, YIND becomes a song to ROCK OUT!! and AIR GUITAR to (or real guitar if you can play).

[gathernear]

Steve's playing is so aggressive on this album! YIND is a great example. But so is Perpetual Change. And the solo at the end of Siberian Khatru is mind-blowing! What a way to start the show. Wow! I could go on and on with examples.

[RobAdams]

When I first heard YESSONGS I was in awe. The studio recordings are impressive, but hearing them perform these songs in concert raised my opinion of YES even higher. I love the whole album. The YESSONGS versions of SIBERIAN KHATRU, HEART OF THE SUNRISE, PERPETUAL CHANGE, THE FISH, CLOSE TO THE EDGE and YOURS IS NO DISGRACE, for me remain the definitive live takes of these classics. Rick's HENRY VIII excerpts track is also one of the album's highlights. MOOD FOR A DAY, well what can I say....I haven't heard a version of this that hasn't made me feel good. STARSHIP TROOPER is decent on YESSONGS but there is a version that just knocks me out....There was a bootleg album called IN THE ROUND from an FM broadcast of the TORMATO tour. I don't have it anymore, but I used to, and the version of TROOPER is killer. Has the most intense WURM I ever remember hearing. (That boot also had a terrific MADRIGAL into SILENT WINGS OF FREEDOM. )
I love YESSONGS so much that I often will play YESSHOWS right afterward, because I can't get enough of hearing their live 1970's recordings. Whenever I hear these albums, my mind goes back to 1978 and my first Yes concert. I remember well that chill of excitement that surged through my body the moment they started playing SIBERIAN KHATRU. I seem to recall I even laughed triumphantly to myself as if to say "I'm really here, finally seeing these guys in concert!". Almost like the bad B movie mad scientist kind of laugh.....

[RobAdams]

I would gladly welcome a new 20 minute Yes song. I would hate to think they are writing their material in the context of time limits. I wouldn't want Yes to write songs specifically designed to attract new fans. I'd prefer to have them write from their hearts.

Peace

[andriessen]

With great pleasure I read Chris Welch' book 'Close to the Edge; The story of Yes' but I was surprised it hardly mentions Yessongs.

P. 136: "In May they released the triple live album Yessongs, originally intended to placate the band's hardcore following. It became the biggest selling album thus far, soaring to Number 7 in the UK album charts and Number 12 in the States."

That's all about their best record ever!!

Does anybody know other biographies that have more information about the album and the tour?