Yes- The Word Is Live

[GuitarGeek]

2011. It was a limited edition set with the Shoreline show on 2 CDs and a DVD, as well as the Pensacola and Denver shows on two more DVDs plus some extra audio tracks from other shows. I was stupid to pass on it at the time.

Ah, 2011. Two years into my unemployed era. No wonder I didn't know about it. Sounds like something I would have loved. I guess I'll have to settle for the Youtube videos.

[bondegezou]

I'm not sure why Yes hasn't "milked the cow" with complete live recordings, but I bet it has something to do management, record labels and copyright owners ...sigh.

I think management and label are keener on releasing this material than the band. Oddly, the band appear not to get that fans want this stuff.

Henry

[Cyberian Cat]

I thought that the Progeny box set was far more successful than expected? That should be a hint!

[bondegezou]

^ There are plans to release more archival material and I feel positive about that. When, how, what is less clear. But as fans, we want it all now!

Henry

[strawberrybrick]

I think management and label are keener on releasing this material than the band. Oddly, the band appear not to get that fans want this stuff.

Henry

Whoa... they haven't talked to me, have they!

[Scott Bails]

I think management and label are keener on releasing this material than the band. Oddly, the band appear not to get that fans want this stuff.

Henry

Similar to Genesis, though I never got the idea that their management or label understood that, either.

[Grimjack]

Similar to Genesis, though I never got the idea that their management or label understood that, either.

Without having ANY insight into what specific conversations are/aren’t happening amongst Yes, their management or label...
Sometimes it comes down to the almighty dollar. If an archival release is perceived to cause X number of fans to choose between buying Merch/tickets (which is the primary driver of revenue for current band members and management) and buying an archival release (largely label revenue) there’s going to be pushback against the archival release. It gets further complicated from a rights perspective (who has sign-off authority?) especially when you’ve got friction between band members, and even FURTHER complicated once you have band members no longer living who are represented by an estate. If there need to be a lot of lawyers involved, it drives up the costs. Then there are costs associated with archival releases that sometimes make the project financially challenging...union/origination fees, or source material that requires a lot of reworking for instance.
Progeny was good news for Yes fans in that it did rather well and laid the groundwork for more to be considered. And luckily, there’s enough Yes love from a couple of folks on the Rhino staff who were able to convince the powers-that-be that even with the audio issues around those tapes, there was enough of an audience to make the P&L around the project financially doable. In terms of the future, a question is what’s available in terms of source material...I’m a few years out of the loop since Progeny so it’s possible that additional tapes have been discovered, or that the band members themselves have things that Warner Music wasn’t previously aware of but at last glance there were only a handful of professionally recorded live things that hadn’t yet seen the light of day. Others may have more insight. I’d be rather happy to hear that something else has been unearthed! But for those hoping for the Yessongs/Bruford shows, those weren’t found in their entirety (portions of reels were returned to the band from the roadcases as highlighted in NFTE back in the day but those tapes never made their way back to the Warner Music archives, or at least hadn’t when Progeny was released), and as previously mentioned the Yesshows source tapes (as far as I know) are still MIA. The band member with the largest private stash of tapes (to the best of my knowledge) is Mr. Howe but I don’t believe any of those are multitrack sourced. The live version of ‘Ritual’ from the Wilson Tales BluRay likely came from Howe’s tape.
The other issue is the ongoing shrinking of the physical marketplace and outlets willing to carry CDs which again plays into the P&L question. But here’s hoping! One never knows...I suspect as the 50th Anniversary year rolls on we’ll hear about more release plans.
Finally, the other consideration is copyright extension release strategies which may start forcing the hands of the reluctant to consider releasing material that had been previously deemed unsuitable, if for no other reason than to prevent grey market labels in Europe from releasing it (legally!) without ANYONE’S permission and then NOBODY gets paid. So for those hoping for things like an official, band sanctioned release of New Haven 1971, that’s your best shot.

[ssully]

I know, another Yes thread but I did search and don't think this set has ever had a thread before and seems to slip under the radar, so here goes...

The first disc adds a lot to the legacy in that it contains Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford, a period not well represented elsewhere. It also has the cover 'It's Love' which I don't think is on anything else. Not sure about the inclusion of the already-available BBC tracks though.

FWIW: Back in the day, what ended up as Fragile was originally intended to be a two-disc, half studio half live affair like Pink Floyd's Ummagumma. The live disc was to contain 'It's Love' and "America" (and possibly others?) . I presume those are the two performances that ended up on The Word Is Live.... but do not know for sure.