Yes - Yessongs (1973)
Oh boy. How could an album like this not reach classic status among the Yes faithful? Spanning an unheard-of-at-the-time three LPs, Yessongs culls together every song played on the Fragile and Close to the Edge tours, most of which mop the floor with their studio counterparts in terms of sheer energy. The record also features several extended or alternate arrangements of well-known favorites and supremely entertaining solo spots from Howe, Squire and Wakeman.
So why have I never felt the same special connection with Yessongs as I do the other Yes records of the era? Well, the production. It is truly atrocious. The material from the CttE tour in particular sounds distorted, muddy and over-reverbed. It would almost be tolerable if it weren't for the mix -- whisper quiet bass, screamingly loud guitar, almost inaudible keyboards that lurch forward for certain sections ... and that's just the first song.
Anyway, a little historical context: After the release of Close to the Edge, Bill Bruford shocked everyone by leaving the now very successful Yes for the decidedly un-commercial King Crimson. It proved to be the right move, allowing the band to bring in a drummer who was perhaps more in line with the music that was to come. In-demand London session player Alan White, whose references included names such as John Lennon, George Harrison and Ginger Baker, had three days to learn the group's epic setlist before the start of the tour promoting Close to the Edge.
The bulk of the recordings on this album come from this time, and it is impressive how quickly White adapted to the band's notoriously tricky arrangements. Being a more straight-ahead rock drummer, he tended to "slug it out" where Bruford would dexterously dance around the beat. While some aspects of this can be irritating -- particularly White's tendency to constantly bang on a ride cymbal or open hi-hat -- there's no denying he pushed the group to be more aggressive and "ballsier" than ever, with Steve Howe in particular cranking the distortion on his guitar even higher than before.
The three tracks from the Fragile tour, with Bruford on drums, boast some of the interesting deviations from the studio versions found on the record. While the double-riff section of "Perpetual Change" is executed more or less as on the LP, the band unexpectedly follows it with a guitar-led jam section and drum solo. "Long Distance Runaround" proceeds as on the album before launching into an epic, multipart version of "The Fish" that more than triples the length of the LP version -- it could be the most musically fascinating section of Yessongs.
That's not to say the band doesn't stretch out on the White recordings. Yours Is No Disgrace is a true extravaganza: Just where Howe's mid-song fuzz solo is supposed to end, the guitarist lets forth nearly two minutes of almost unaccompanied, fleet-fingered guitar leads. The band then launches into a massive, heretofore unheard ensemble riff that carries Howe all the way back to Anderson's plaintive vocal. Hot damn. The group would use this arrangement on stage for another 40 years.
As you can probably tell by my above review, my feelings regarding the album have warmed considerably over the years. Yes, the recording quality is abysmal. Yes, the group wouldn't reach its full live potential (in my opinion) until the Relayer era. But this is the sound of a band in the midst of its most fertile and creative period, performing its best-loved work while it was still relatively fresh. There will probably never be anything like Yessongs again, and to this day there's nothing quite like sitting down with the original triple-LP set for two full hours of mind-blowing musicianship and epic songcraft.
Stick around, Yessongs, warts and all.
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