Yes returns to their prog-rock heyday with new songs and liv
Matthew Schwarz | Bridgewater, nj United States | 09/16/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I have the original, 2 double-disc, sets of this, not this packaging. For fans of classic, prog, mid70s yes this is wonderful. There's about 2 1/2 CDs worth of live performances of their early stuff (e.g. before the 80s), featuring mostly 10-20 minute long songs. Well performed in the mid-90s by the reunited late 70s lineup (Anderson, Howe, White, Wakeman, Squire), which was Yes's 2nd best (let's face it, White may be a fine drummer but Bruford's one of the greatest ever).
But, the real treat here is another 75 minutes of NEW material (well, new when this was recorded in 1997 or so) by this lineup in THE OLD STYLE. Which is to say, the songs here don't sound like what Yes was up to in the 80s or early 90s, and in fact are even more a return to form than their work on ABWH and Union. Several epics, and with a slightly modern edge (mostly in production) so they're not simply retreading old ground, but if you like progressive rock than this is definitely Yes's best work since the late 70s.
Note, if you are mainly interested in the new works, they're probably more affordably (and conventiently) available on a disc entitled "Keystudio" which has all the new stuff and none of the live from here. (You will miss out on the wonderful Roger Dean artwork with Keystudio, though). I think it's a shame the record company didn't release the new songs with the Roger Dean artwork properly and put the live stuff separate - these new songs rank as some of Yes's best work ever, yet they were released as kind of an afterthought."
