yes sold out

[Psycho fan]

I still say yes sold out with OYE and Onion. I think it was Magnification where they put limited edition bonus live tarcks on the album 4 seperate ones just to make the album sell. I wish this band wouldn't try to top themselves. just write the music because you like it. I'm sure the next album will be great if yes does that.

[Dragonfly]

I agree, in part, with your statement. I think the "bonus" editions of MAGNIFICATION were a bit of a rip-off. Now that all of those bonus versions have sold, they should include all of the bonus tracks on a rarities set.

But for the two albums you mentioned, PsychoFan, I disagree. With OPEN YOUR EYES, they took an album not meant for the band and turned it into a very fine YesAlbum. With UNION, they took what should have been the second - and superior - ANDERSON BRUFORD (LEVIN) WAKEMAN HOWE album and screwed it up. It was management, first, that sold-out to the reunion idea with YesWest. Then the production team sold-out behind the band’s (bands’) back(s). UNION, in particular, contains some of my favorite YesSongs since TORMATO. OPEN YOUR EYES, too, is an important part of my YesCollection. If I were to lose my copies (regular and surround sound), I would certainly replace them.

O.K., the OPEN YOUR EYES surround sound thing turned out to be a bit of a sell-out, too. Come to think of it, the whole KEYS TO ASCENSION arrangement sucked. I wish that all of the live stuff had been sold separately and that KEYSTUDIO was its own album. (At least I wouldn’t have to refer to all of the new material - collectively - by that stupid name.)

Another sell-out: CLASSIC YES. It was a "best of", true, but implied was that this was something special because it included two live tracks. But did anyone really need another live copy of "Roundabout" or "I’ve Seen All Good People"? YESSONGS had been released previously. Could they not have picked tracks that weren’t already available? Too bad it wasn’t more like YESTERDAYS which, while a compilation of the first two albums, actually contained genuine rarities: "America" (full-length) and "Dear Father". Those two made it an important release to have. That’s how you put out product worthy of the diehards’ money.

The superiority of YESYEARS over IN A WORD: YES has already been clearly laid out. True, the re-mixes on the new set are quite good. Those from the Peter Banks era are downright astonishing. (Did you hear the opening to "Astral Traveler" on headphones? My god!) But six tracks out of how many (?) - and mediocre studio out-takes, for the most part, at that? That was a sell-out. There is so much important, rare, live unreleased stuff out there, it’s frustrating to see the band just sitting on their hands when it comes to making it available to us.

Now there are these new re-mixed albums with their bonus tracks. They'll provide us with a number of important rarities. That’s great, but why not have included all of the rare tracks in a boxed set or two? Why make us buy the albums again? That’s a rip-off.

And I cringe to think how easily the rumored triple-live boxed set may be ruined. Let me guess. Another copy of "Roundabout", "I’ve Seen All Good People"? "Owner Of A Lonely Heart"? And then no sign of important tracks actually played, but never released: "‘The Ancient’, Giants Under The Sun", "Sound Chaser", "On the Silent Wings of Freedom", "Tempus Fugit", "Leave It", "Final Eyes", "Take The Water To The Mountain", "Lift Me Up", "Endless Dream", "Children of Light", "Open Your Eyes", "New Language". Then there’s the endless list of cover tunes Yes has performed over the years... I mean, there's SO MUCH STUFF that they should be releasing.

And it would be nice not to get stuck with having to buy multiple copies of the same song. Just counting standard-release studio, live and compliation albums, I have "Roundabout" eight times! And that doesn't even include all of the versions on video!! J&$@$!!!

Of course, the worst crime is not releasing as much of it as possible. The second worst, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Dragonfly :fly:

[ycantibu]

I cringe when people say any band has "sold out" because that usually means "now the great, unwashed masses know of my little cult band". So, could ya clarify what you mean by "sold out", in reference to Union & OYE?

[nightliner]

Its not the band that sold out, its the record companies. As stated above, Union was the idea of Arista Records, not Yes.

As far as the cd's with bonus tracks, I think you can also blame that on the record companies. The band records the music and turns it over to them. Once that is done, the band has very little say in what happens to it.