Just picked up a $50 copy of this box. (I knew if I waited it would pay off) and I'm listening to Toronto now. (Sounds Great!)
I know I'm in the minority on this but I was never a fan of Yessongs due to the sonic issues even though I acknowledge the track listing is to die for. I've always favored live music over the studio versions, but Yes was one band that never clicked for me live (Haven't heard that many bootlegs because I'd been largely dissatisfied with Yessongs.) (Perhaps I'd feel differently if I picked up the DVD?)
So far, (and I know I'm only mostly through the first show) this is how I expected to hear Yes live. (Along with The Word Is Live of course.) I know realize after reading the liner notes that -- by and large -- early Yes was never recorded properly and maybe that's why I'd always been adverse to it.
I never went into this expecting the fury of Mahavishnu Orchestra, but there's but I really love the vibe and the energy on what I've heard so far. Though this isn't sonic perfection either, I just love the space that each one is given.
This box is going to be such a trip to dig into.
This box is going to be such a trip to dig into.[/QUOTE]
Just got finished listening to the whole set (it took a week). There was so much energy. I even liked the sound screw ups and miscues. It was like being there. Really enjoyed it.
Just got finished listening to the whole set (it took a week). There was so much energy. I even liked the sound screw ups and miscues. It was like being there. Really enjoyed it.
Three shows in and loving the improv (Especially on Yours Is No Disgrace from Duke. I think it's Duke.)
YES sunshine inn AP NJ.jpg
I found this YES concert poster for their 1972 stop in my home-town of Asbury Park NJ.
The resolution is poor but it is a cool looking poster
Is that an actual image that was used by Yes as a concert poster?
Because I know that exact image you reference was used as a front cover for a ROIO (for the two [incomplete] shows mentioned on the cover).
1972-02-21%20-%20Sunshine%20Inn%20&%20The%20Academy%20of%20Music%20-%20Asbury%20Park%20&%20New%2.jpg
That logo is pretty horrid to be used for anything official.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
I disagree with your comment on the sound. I've got the Japanese hybrid SACD of Yessongs, whichever, I think, abo as good as that record will ever sound - and it is an improvement. But I still prefer Progeny? Yes, there are mistakes (Howe totally loses his way during the Intro solo on one show's CttE; the missing Anderson you mention), but sonically I don't find it at all murky or booty. No, it's not super hi fidelity that we might have hoped for, but the mix of the band is (a) closer to how I recall it (I was at the Ottawa show), so you can hear Wakeman's parts much more clearly; and (b) there's a lot more punch to the overall sound. If anything sounds murky to me it's Yessongs, though as i say, the Japanese SACD hybrid is a significant upgrade on that front. Still, it feels somehow flat to me (White's drums, in particular) and I think you may be right about it being a 42-year friendship.
But though there are tunes on Yessongs that aren't in the Progeny setlists, it's Progeny I find myself turning to when I want to hear Yes when it was at the absolute top of its game. Other than the Relayer tour (what I'd give for a good quality set of live recordings from that tour!), I don't think Yes was ever this edgy or risk-taking...and warts and all, Progeny captures that vibe, IMO, far better than Yessongs.
It's ok...you're not alone...though as I said in my last post, the new Japanese hybrid SACD of Yessongs is, I think, about as good as it is possible to get without having the original multi tracks available for a remix. I'm also a big fan of life music and really enjoy hearing bands I love in a live context. I always felt it kinda separated (without wanting to sound sexist) the men from the boys. Some groups' like Gentle Giant, not only excelled in performance, but their arrangements were so different that owning live releases from them is truly like owning two different recordings. And they adjusted the arrangements over the years, so while Octopus ultimately became a medley, it changed from year to year.
Maybe not the fury of MO....but the risk taking? That's what makes Progeny such a great reminder for those like me who were actually there...and for those who weren't, the chance to hear what they were like when they really were at the top of their game.
Enjoy! It's been some time and this has been a long thread, so I hope folks don't mind my repeating the link to my view of the box set at All About Jazz. Here you go!
^^ The original multitracks are available. That's where we got Progeny.
guess I'll drop this here, too...
So, I've had this thing for three years now, and I'm still unhappy with the mix. Clean, yes. But erratic and not well balanced -- like, really, it's ridiculous to confine Wakeman to just the right channel (esp during a solo spot like Six Wives), and blast Howe over-loudly out of the left (as on the Durham 'Close to the Edge') so as to create a rigid 'stereo' stage imagery that likely would not have been heard in the audience. And despite apparently heroic work to save it, Squire's Rick sounds MIA (it's supposed to have some treble to it). Yessongs may have its sonic faults -- too *much* top to Squire's bass, on that one -- but it's *exciting*, it sounds *live*; Eddy Offord knew how to make a Yes mix hang together. Yes sounds disjointed and somewhat dryly under a microscope on Progeny, by comparison (though of course they're playing their asses off). Three years on, Progeny is, to me, rather a lost opportunity. I'm glad the multis are safely digitized though, so there could be another crack at them, some day....
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
FWIW I'm in ssully's camp on this one. Nice, but unessential for me. Not enough variety from show to show, and the cleaner sound isn't as engaging to my ears. The other 70's archival material (KC, Pink Floyd, even the extras on the Genesis boxes) are generally more rewarding listens.
Purely my personal opinion though. I can absolutely respect why others love the hell out of this
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
The Highlights two CD version is enough, methinks....
Well, you're talking to the wrong guy on this front, given I own hundreds of (commercially available) live shows from the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers!
Me, I think the whole box is well worth it. No, you don't listen to a bunch of shows back to back, as I did when I was preparing to review it. But each show has its own charms, its own distinctive performances (this was a group that was really going for it at the time!)...and, truthfully, its own flaws, all of which make them distinct from one another. And, yes, the setlists are almost entirely the same...but with everyone taking the kinds of risks they sadly no longer do (though recent live shows I've heard have been much better so they seem to be coming out of that slump), if you're a guy who loves process as I do, you'll want the entire box. If not, then the cherry picked 2CD set would, I am sure, suffice.
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
IMO, that would not give you the experience of this box. The pudding is in the listening to one straight show all the way through, then going to the next night and hearing the changes, or hearing a technical problem, or an added jam at the encore. It was like following them on tour as you listened to each night in succession. I absolutely love it.
Certainly was enough for me. I barely have the stamina to listen to these songs anymore, heard them so many times, let alone have seven shows of the same material to go through. Yeah, I get that it's cool to have the full shows, and I'm happy there are those who are into that. But I was perfectly satisfied with the 2CD version.
It is a bummer about Squire's bass sound, but what are you gonna do? It is what it is at this point.
Bill
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