Published on May 16, 1999
It’s been some time since we reviewed Yes, but I have this
feeling that anytime I dare to take on one of the fathers of
progressive rock, some people out there cringe. You see, back in
1997, I reamed the album
Tales From Topographic Oceans, and people have yet to
forgive me for that. It’s almost as if any time I dare to review
something from Jon Anderson and crew, I’m going to piss on it worse
than a drunk in the john of his favorite corner bar.
So, it’s kind of reassuring that reader Jeffrey Mewbourn
suggested that we review
Yessongs, the three-record live set from 1973. Why not? It
had been some time since I dug this one out of the Pierce Memorial
Archives, and I was up for spending a couple of hours in front of
the stereo.
Now, I know I’m gonna take heat for some of the things I have to
say; after all, I’m not going to gush over every single note on
this album. But, for the most part,
Yessongs is a worthwhile journey that might seem to be a bit
of overkill to the newcomers, but is actually a quick listen.
First, let’s get the complaints out of the way, so those who
blindly follow the band can get their flame e-mails out of the way.
First, I question why the band chose to feature material from only
three of their albums, all of them their most popular works. (They
had five albums’ worth of material by this time, but neither
Yes nor
Time And A Word are represented on this collection.) Second,
it takes some time for the sound levels on this album to really get
to a good level; at the start, it seems like forever until you hear
any crowd noise or the opening notes of the excerpt from “Firebird
Suite”.
The only other negative I’ll touch on at this time is that
Yessongs is not an album geared towards the incoming fan.
Rather, this was an album for those who had been listening from the
beginning and who knew what to expect from Yes. If this is your
first taste of the group (and I find it hard to believe there’s
someone out there who hasn’t heard songs like “Roundabout” or “I’ve
Seen All Good People”), you might walk away from this album a
little confused.
Okay, now that I’ve really stirred up some people’s blood, let’s
talk about what Yes does right on this album – and there is a lot.
Yessongs is a very good portrait of what this band was like
at the progressive peak of their career (popularity-wise, they
weren’t even there yet;
90125 was over a decade away). The band constantly proves
how tight they were as a musical unit; the complexities of songs
like “Close To The Edge” and “Heart Of The Sunrise” are nailed like
clockwork.
Anderson is in fine voice, while Steve Howe often shows why he
was considered to be one of the greatest guitar players ever. I do
wish, however, that they had included the guitar solo that was
featured in the video of
Yessongs instead of “Mood For A Day”; it just seemed to
capture his amazing playing better. (While I’m on the subject of
the video: Can anyone out there tell me what the hell the video at
the start of the tape — which is
definitely not Yes — had to do with anything?)
The solo break from keyboardist Rick Wakeman (who had recently
released
The Six Wives Of Henry VIII at that time) showed that he
didn’t always take the music seriously, and dared to have some fun
with it. And frankly, that was a refreshing thing to hear on
Yessongs; while I’m not claiming this album is heavy-starch
serious, a break like Wakeman’s was an enjoyable interlude.
But it is interesting to note that the solos from bassist Chris
Squire and drummer Alan White (who splits time with Bill Bruford on
this set) almost suggest a more rock edge to the music — making me
wonder if Yes, at this time, was at a crossroad between rock and
progressive music. (The path they’d eventually choose would become
obvious on
Tales From Topographic Oceans.)
Some of my critics might note that I haven’t said a word about
song length — mainly because it isn’t an issue on
Yessongs. All the tracks — except for “Perpetual Change,”
which I just couldn’t get into, despite repeated listens — seem to
fly by, meaning that Yes was doing something very right.
If you’re just getting into Yes, you might want to hold off on
Yessongs until you’ve developed an appreciation for what
they were out to accomplish in the early ’70s; after that, this
album will make a lot of sense. I made the mistake of listening to
it before I had developed some knowledge of the band, which might
explain why I didn’t fall in love with the set on first listen back
in 1987. For the long-time fans of Yes, this will be a slice of the
band’s history that you’re sure to enjoy. I don’t know if
technology makes this sound better on CD, but I can tell you —
with the exception of the volume levels from time to time — there
isn’t a problem on my old vinyl copy.
So, Jeffrey, if you’re still wondering if
Yessongs is worth picking up, I’d say yes — assuming you’re
somewhat familiar with
Fragile,
The Yes Album and
Close To The Edge.