Yessongs
By Yes
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Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 Opening (Excerpt From "Firebird Suite")
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drums
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composer
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- A2 Siberian Khatru
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songwriter
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drums
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- A3 Heart of the Sunrise
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songwriter
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songwriter
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drums
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songwriter
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- B1 Perpetual Change
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songwriter
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songwriter
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drums
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- B2 And You and I
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songwriter
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songwriter
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songwriter
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drums
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songwriter
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- a. Cord of Life
- b. Eclipse
- c. The Preacher the Teacher
- d. The Apocalypse
- C1 Mood for a Day
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songwriter
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- C2 Excerpts From "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"
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songwriter
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- C3 Roundabout
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songwriter
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songwriter
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drums
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- D1 Your Move
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songwriter
-
drums
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- D2 All Good People
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songwriter
-
drums
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- D3 Long Distance Runaround
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songwriter
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drums
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- D4 The Fish (Schindleria praimaturus)
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songwriter
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drums
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- E Close to the Edge
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songwriter
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songwriter
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drums
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- a. A Solid Time of Change
- b. Total Mass Retain
- c. I Get Up I Get Down
- d. Seasons of Man
- F1 Yours Is No Disgrace
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songwriter
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drums
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songwriter
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- F2 Starship Trooper
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songwriter
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songwriter
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drums
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- a. Life Seeker
- b. Disillusion
- c. Wurm
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
To rate, slide your finger across the stars from left to right.
29 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Yessongs [p] 33 rpm, Gatefold, Live
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Yessongs 33 rpm, Gatefold, Live
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Yessongs 33 rpm, Gatefold, Live
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Yessongs Gatefold, Live
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Yessongs 33 rpm
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Yessongs 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Yessongs 33 rpm, Gatefold, Mono, Promo
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Yessongs 33 rpm, Gatefold, Live
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Yessongs 33 rpm, Gatefold, Live
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Yessongs Gatefold, Live
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Yessongs Live
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Yessongs Live
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Yessongs Live
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Yessongs Live
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Yessongs Live, Remastered
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Yessongs Live, Remastered
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Yessongs Bonus Tracks, Live
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Yessongs Bonus Tracks
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Yessongs CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Limited Edition, Live, Remastered
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Yessongs CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Limited Edition, Live, SHM
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Yessongs [7-inch-sized cardboard sleeve] CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Limited Edition, Remastered
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Yessongs 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Yessongs 33 rpm
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Yessongs Digital file, Streaming
94 Reviews
great playing, crap sound quality
Published
A triple album! The gatefold cover is an amazing piece of work from Roger Dean and lots of fun to fold and unfold. YES were never a band to exercise restraint and brilliant live versions of material from 3 studio albums (The Yes Album, Fragile & Close to the Edge) shows what a force they were. Bill Bruford features on 'Perpetual Change' and the segment where two different themes interweave is absolutely stunning.
An amazing album. 5 stars!
An amazing album. 5 stars!
Published
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Perfect live album, despite the just correct sound quality (this is not Earthbound or Genesis Live, it's a better sound quality though). A triple-disc album. Very long, but oh so wonderful. And the entirety of the "Close to the edge" album is here !
Published
It doesn’t do a whole lot different than the studio versions of most songs but it’s a fun listen. The sound quality is kind of bad in some parts it sounds like, when you’re standing toe to toe with other amazing live albums you gotta clean the sound up a little.
Published
For reasons that I am still not entirely sure of myself, down the years I have given Yes more opportunities to impress me than I have most acts. My recent reconnection with progressive rock has led to me being on something of a Yes buying spree recently, which given I am yet to hear an album by them that I actually feel any sort of connection with is a bit odd. I suppose one of the reasons I have a bit of a block when it comes to the band is that one of the biggest Yes fans I’ve ever met once spent an entire evening at a party trying to engage me in alpha-male chest-beating bullshit, but on the other hand, perhaps the reason I keep checking out more albums by them is that one of the other biggest fans of the band I’ve met was an autistic guy that I encountered by chance on a train, who spent the 45 minutes we were travelling together enthusing about my headphones, spending time with his dad and his favourite bands, chief among them, Yes.
During my exploration of the output of early 70s Yes, there have been revelations; such as the fact that musically, the band could really play, and that much of my problem with Yes stems from Jon Anderson’s voice and lyrics, frustrations; in that, for all their virtuosity, the band generally shied away from material with even a slight accessible pop edge (really, how many side long epics do you need?), and the fact that, Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford aside, the band seemingly took themselves far far too seriously. I have explored their most critically adored albums, their best sellers, a double album, and the album recorded following the departure of their most charismatic member. Hell, I even tried a compilation at one point. Thing is, while I can hear why people like Yes, precious little of their music actually connected with me outside of the odd riff, keyboard feature, snatch of melody or musical flourish. Maybe I just have to live with the fact that my favourite thing about Yes is their album artwork.
Then recently, while exploring my favourite music shop post the sort of eye test that leaves your pupils dilated, your eyes hugely sensitive to light and primary colours super-saturated, I found a second hand copy of Yessongs, the band’s 1973 triple live album. I must admit, I had reservations. After all, if Yes’s extended song structures could leave me bored at the best of times, would a bunch of live performances of those same songs really change my opinion of them? Would Anderson’s warbling be preferable in a live setting? And really, how many drum solos are we talking about here? Can I stomach a live album by a band I can be pretty indifferent about that is effectively 50% longer than the classic double live format? Mind you, that artwork is pretty nice, and it would fill that gap in my early 70s Yes collection, and sometimes a band just makes more musical sense when performing live than in the studio.
It doesn’t start promisingly. I mean I can appreciate orchestral music, but a band walking out to “The Firebird Suite” just makes them come across as ridiculously pompous (what am I talking about? This is Yes, of course they’re ridiculously pompous!). Then the actual band start playing and something odd happens. I start smiling, This sounds good. Okay, then Anderson starts singing and it sounds less good, but Yessongs presents Yes the live band that could not only play their ridiculously overwrought epics, but play them live in such a way that they rock. Hard. While I have always given Steve Howe props for being a technical virtuoso when it came to playing the guitar, it was only on Yessongs that I realised that when he wants to, he can be a bloody good hard rock guitar player, especially when Chris Squire and Alan White are feeling similarly dynamic. It took me until hearing Yessongs for it to occur to me, but so much of Yes’s studio material sounds tame and contained, and on this live recording they sound less constrained because there was a bit more room to rock out, and more room for human error. Indeed, the odd fluffed note, audible splicing of recordings and general roughness of this live album actually humanises Yes a lot for me, and that’s something I suppose has prevented me from appreciating the band up to now.
The fact that Yessongs is primarily a bunch of prog rock epics with extended instrumental sections doesn’t hurt either, partly because of the heavier rock dynamics of the live performance, but also, because Anderson isn’t singing his godawful lyrics. Bruford, Howe, Squire, Wakeman and White play an absolute blinder throughout, and sure while I wouldn’t have minded the songs being a bit shorter and the album being a double rather than a rather bloated triple, given the circumstances, I think this is probably the best live Yes album that could have been offered at the time.
So yeah, after a number of false starts, I’ve finally found my favourite Yes album. Sure, it’s one I have to listen to in two sittings, and there’s a lot of silly soloing and general mucking about rather than getting on with playing the actual song, but ultimately it’s that sort of thing that you listen to Yes for. I’m now settled with the fact that I’ll never warm to Jon Anderson’s voice, but Yessongs has impressed me enough for me to realise that yeah, I’m a Yes fan now. Oh, and that I really must check out Drama, as I need to hear some prime-period Anderson-free Yes.
During my exploration of the output of early 70s Yes, there have been revelations; such as the fact that musically, the band could really play, and that much of my problem with Yes stems from Jon Anderson’s voice and lyrics, frustrations; in that, for all their virtuosity, the band generally shied away from material with even a slight accessible pop edge (really, how many side long epics do you need?), and the fact that, Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford aside, the band seemingly took themselves far far too seriously. I have explored their most critically adored albums, their best sellers, a double album, and the album recorded following the departure of their most charismatic member. Hell, I even tried a compilation at one point. Thing is, while I can hear why people like Yes, precious little of their music actually connected with me outside of the odd riff, keyboard feature, snatch of melody or musical flourish. Maybe I just have to live with the fact that my favourite thing about Yes is their album artwork.
Then recently, while exploring my favourite music shop post the sort of eye test that leaves your pupils dilated, your eyes hugely sensitive to light and primary colours super-saturated, I found a second hand copy of Yessongs, the band’s 1973 triple live album. I must admit, I had reservations. After all, if Yes’s extended song structures could leave me bored at the best of times, would a bunch of live performances of those same songs really change my opinion of them? Would Anderson’s warbling be preferable in a live setting? And really, how many drum solos are we talking about here? Can I stomach a live album by a band I can be pretty indifferent about that is effectively 50% longer than the classic double live format? Mind you, that artwork is pretty nice, and it would fill that gap in my early 70s Yes collection, and sometimes a band just makes more musical sense when performing live than in the studio.
It doesn’t start promisingly. I mean I can appreciate orchestral music, but a band walking out to “The Firebird Suite” just makes them come across as ridiculously pompous (what am I talking about? This is Yes, of course they’re ridiculously pompous!). Then the actual band start playing and something odd happens. I start smiling, This sounds good. Okay, then Anderson starts singing and it sounds less good, but Yessongs presents Yes the live band that could not only play their ridiculously overwrought epics, but play them live in such a way that they rock. Hard. While I have always given Steve Howe props for being a technical virtuoso when it came to playing the guitar, it was only on Yessongs that I realised that when he wants to, he can be a bloody good hard rock guitar player, especially when Chris Squire and Alan White are feeling similarly dynamic. It took me until hearing Yessongs for it to occur to me, but so much of Yes’s studio material sounds tame and contained, and on this live recording they sound less constrained because there was a bit more room to rock out, and more room for human error. Indeed, the odd fluffed note, audible splicing of recordings and general roughness of this live album actually humanises Yes a lot for me, and that’s something I suppose has prevented me from appreciating the band up to now.
The fact that Yessongs is primarily a bunch of prog rock epics with extended instrumental sections doesn’t hurt either, partly because of the heavier rock dynamics of the live performance, but also, because Anderson isn’t singing his godawful lyrics. Bruford, Howe, Squire, Wakeman and White play an absolute blinder throughout, and sure while I wouldn’t have minded the songs being a bit shorter and the album being a double rather than a rather bloated triple, given the circumstances, I think this is probably the best live Yes album that could have been offered at the time.
So yeah, after a number of false starts, I’ve finally found my favourite Yes album. Sure, it’s one I have to listen to in two sittings, and there’s a lot of silly soloing and general mucking about rather than getting on with playing the actual song, but ultimately it’s that sort of thing that you listen to Yes for. I’m now settled with the fact that I’ll never warm to Jon Anderson’s voice, but Yessongs has impressed me enough for me to realise that yeah, I’m a Yes fan now. Oh, and that I really must check out Drama, as I need to hear some prime-period Anderson-free Yes.
Published
7567-82682-2 CD (1994)
ADVERTISEMENT
In 1989 I bought my first CD player, and this was one of the first CDs I purchased. I had all of the other Yes albums on cassette (except, maybe, for Yesshows), and had avoided Yessongs because I thought it was a greatest-hits album; I figured I already had all of the songs.
Overall, taking recording fidelity, performance, and song selection into account, Yessongs is the best live album, by any band in any genre, that I own.
Most of The Yes Album and Fragile are here, as is all of Close to the Edge. And with the exception of keyboardist Rick Wakeman’s “Excerpts from The Six Wives of Henry VIII”, that’s it. So in terms of song selection, that’s three of the band’s best albums. The playing is great; new drummer Alan White fits right in (Bill Bruford appears on two tracks). The singing is also strong throughout. Lead vocalist Jon Anderson is in great form, and while the backing vocals (by bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Steve Howe) sound weaker than they do on the studio versions of these songs, they don’t detract from the proceedings.
Wakeman is on fire, so to speak, across all four sides (the songs were actually recorded at about six different concerts throughout 1972). He’s especially effective when he’s playing a lead or “solo.” Most notably, his solo on the “Würm” section of “Starship Trooper” is one of his best ever. He’s also incredible on “Close to the Edge” and “Siberian Khatru.”
The studio version of “Perpetual Change” is one of my least favorite songs from this era of Yes, but the Yessongs version is very well done, and one of the few cases where I prefer a live version of a Yes song to the original studio recording. The Yessongs renditions of “Siberian,” “The Fish,” and “Starship Trooper” also rival their respective originals—but really, in terms of performance, the whole album is great.
But how about in terms of sound quality? It wasn’t until the internet that I discovered that Yessongs was widely considered to be a relatively low-quality recording. Frankly, I’d never noticed. Given that this is a compilation of concert recordings from 1972, I thought the sound was acceptable on the original CD (Atlantic, 1987), and even better on the 1994 Gastwirt remaster, which sounds fine to me. There have been additional reissues since then which I haven’t heard, including at least one Japanese remaster.
There are a number of edits and splices on Yessongs, although none gets in the way of my enjoyment. Other than the angelic three-part harmonies in “Starship Trooper,” there don’t seem to be egregious studio overdubs.
Five stars is really the only rating I can fairly give Yessongs. A masterpiece, essential, et cetera.
Overall, taking recording fidelity, performance, and song selection into account, Yessongs is the best live album, by any band in any genre, that I own.
Most of The Yes Album and Fragile are here, as is all of Close to the Edge. And with the exception of keyboardist Rick Wakeman’s “Excerpts from The Six Wives of Henry VIII”, that’s it. So in terms of song selection, that’s three of the band’s best albums. The playing is great; new drummer Alan White fits right in (Bill Bruford appears on two tracks). The singing is also strong throughout. Lead vocalist Jon Anderson is in great form, and while the backing vocals (by bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Steve Howe) sound weaker than they do on the studio versions of these songs, they don’t detract from the proceedings.
Wakeman is on fire, so to speak, across all four sides (the songs were actually recorded at about six different concerts throughout 1972). He’s especially effective when he’s playing a lead or “solo.” Most notably, his solo on the “Würm” section of “Starship Trooper” is one of his best ever. He’s also incredible on “Close to the Edge” and “Siberian Khatru.”
The studio version of “Perpetual Change” is one of my least favorite songs from this era of Yes, but the Yessongs version is very well done, and one of the few cases where I prefer a live version of a Yes song to the original studio recording. The Yessongs renditions of “Siberian,” “The Fish,” and “Starship Trooper” also rival their respective originals—but really, in terms of performance, the whole album is great.
But how about in terms of sound quality? It wasn’t until the internet that I discovered that Yessongs was widely considered to be a relatively low-quality recording. Frankly, I’d never noticed. Given that this is a compilation of concert recordings from 1972, I thought the sound was acceptable on the original CD (Atlantic, 1987), and even better on the 1994 Gastwirt remaster, which sounds fine to me. There have been additional reissues since then which I haven’t heard, including at least one Japanese remaster.
There are a number of edits and splices on Yessongs, although none gets in the way of my enjoyment. Other than the angelic three-part harmonies in “Starship Trooper,” there don’t seem to be egregious studio overdubs.
Five stars is really the only rating I can fairly give Yessongs. A masterpiece, essential, et cetera.
Published
I dig how this was recorded. It's not necessarily the best quality but it makes each instrument stand out. I really enjoy listening to the ways that the musicians vary their playing from the studio recordings of these great tracks too.
Published
Fantastic song selection from their three albums that matter. I wouldn't listen to it in one sitting, though. Plus the vinyl record version I have sounds like trash-- apparently they've all been pressed like that :/
PERFECT FOR: getting the best of Yes live in one package
PERFECT FOR: getting the best of Yes live in one package
Published
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Catalog
1 May 2024
1 May 2024
29 Apr 2024
26 Apr 2024
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A1
Opening (Excerpt From "Firebird Suite")
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A2
Siberian Khatru
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A3
Heart of the Sunrise
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B1
Perpetual Change
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B2
And You and I
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C1
Mood for a Day
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C2
Excerpts From "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"
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C3
Roundabout
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D1
Your Move
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D2
All Good People
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D3
Long Distance Runaround
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D4
The Fish (Schindleria praimaturus)
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E
Close to the Edge
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F1
Yours Is No Disgrace
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F2
Starship Trooper
26 Apr 2024
26 Apr 2024
25 Apr 2024
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A1
Opening (Excerpt From "Firebird Suite")
-
A2
Siberian Khatru
-
A3
Heart of the Sunrise
-
B1
Perpetual Change
-
B2
And You and I
-
C1
Mood for a Day
-
C2
Excerpts From "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"
-
C3
Roundabout
-
D1
Your Move
-
D2
All Good People
-
D3
Long Distance Runaround
-
D4
The Fish (Schindleria praimaturus)
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E
Close to the Edge
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F1
Yours Is No Disgrace
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F2
Starship Trooper
22 Apr 2024
21 Apr 2024
18 Apr 2024
17 Apr 2024
14 Apr 2024
13 Apr 2024
13 Apr 2024
5 Apr 2024
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