Progeny - Highlights From Seventy Two

Yes didn't invent progressive rock, but they may very well have defined it. Once their classic lineup of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford locked into place for 1971's Fragile, the band crystallized all of the sonic and visual tropes that eventually became prog-rock clichés. Yes shifted between complicated time signatures, spliced pastoral folk and Baroque classical into their muscular rock & roll, structured their songs as mini-suites, and wrapped the entire package in fantastical artwork by Roger Dean. This incarnation of Yes didn't last long -- another prog innovation they pioneered was the ever-evolving lineup -- but it set the pace not only for the rest of the '70s, but for the prog-rock genre at large. Yes may have embodied prog but they didn't stay still. Once the band regrouped in the late '70s, they embraced the steely, shiny sounds of album-oriented rock and, later, new wave, enlisting Trevor Horn (best-known as the mastermind behind the Buggles) to produce their 1983 album 90125. Horn shaped the dazzling "Owner of a Lonely Heart," which gave Yes their first American number one hit single in 1984, turning the group into an MTV staple in the process. Yes didn't stay in MTV's good graces for long. By the end of the '80s, the band had fallen out of fashion and into a legal battle over the rights to group's name. These matters were settled in the early '90s, opening up decades where various past members would reunite for tours and records, maintaining a faithful fan base until well into the 21st century.

The members of Yes had deep roots in the British beat scene of the '60s. Jon Anderson played in the Warriors, who cut a 45 for Decca in 1964, before playing with Gun in 1967, and he had a pair of solo singles to his name on Parlophone. Anderson met bassist Chris Squire, formerly of the prog outfit Syn, and they hit it off, forming a band shortly afterward. The duo harbored an affection for pop harmony along with a predilection for progressive rock, and that was the operating principle behind the nascent Yes. In short order, Anderson and Squire recruited a roster of like-minded musicians: keyboardist Tony Kaye, drummer Bill Bruford, and Squire's Syn-mate, guitarist Peter Banks.

Yes landed their first gig in October of 1968, when they played London's Speakeasy Club. The next month, they scored the opening spot for Cream's farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall, a plum spot that led to a residency at the Marquee Club and an appearance on John Peel's Top Gear radio show. The band released their first single, "Sweetness," in 1969, followed by an eponymous full-length debut in November of that year. These early recordings found Yes operating in a psychedelic-tinged pop vein, but pop success wasn't forthcoming, at least at this stage.

During the recording of their second album, Banks left the group and was replaced by Steve Howe, formerly of Tomorrow, who recorded the quintessential British psych single "My White Bicycle." Howe may appear on the cover of 1970's Time and a Word, but the record featured Banks. Howe didn't make his recording debut with the band until The Yes Album, a 1971 LP that found the group hitting their stride. Expanding their horizons by playing with folk, space rock, and pop, Yes unveiled several of their signature anthems on The Yes Album, including "Starship Trooper," the album rock staple "All Good People," and "Your Move," which cracked the Billboard Top 40.

With The Yes Album performing well on both sides of the Atlantic, Yes toured heavily, and began work on a fourth album. Kaye quit the band in August 1971 to join Peter Banks in Flash, so Yes hired Rick Wakeman, a keyboardist who'd previously played with the Strawbs. Wakeman's majestic, nearly Baroque stylings -- created with a bank of nearly a dozen instruments -- combined with Howe's intricate guitar, the supple rhythm section of Squire and Bruford, and the keening vocals of Anderson gave Yes a unique sound, while album designer Roger Dean gave the band a distinctive, fantastical look. This combination was unveiled on Fragile, an album that featured showcases for each of the musicians along with two of their signatures: the epic "Long Distance Runaround" and "Roundabout," which went all the way to number 13 on Billboard. This same lineup quickly released a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "America" as a single -- it peaked at 46 -- but their primary interest was thematically linked albums, such as the 1972 record Close to the Edge, which contained two lengthy suites. The album was a smash in both the U.S. and the U.K., reaching number three and number four, respectively.

Bruford left Yes after Close to the Edge, replaced by Alan White, who'd previously drummed with John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band. White made his recording debut on 1973's Yessongs, a double-live album that also featured recordings with Bruford; it peaked at seven in the U.K. and 12 in the U.S. Shortly after Yessongs, Yes released their magnum opus, Tales from Topographic Oceans, in late 1973. A double-LP containing a mere four songs, Tales from Topographic Oceans sold well at the time but it proved divisive, often held up as the peak of prog-rock excesses. One of its detractors was Wakeman, who decided to leave the group after the album's supporting tour. The band's new keyboardist, Patrick Moraz, appeared on Relayer, which charted well upon its November 1974 release, but the band quickly took a break to pursue other projects.

The mid-'70s were awash with Yes product. In addition to solo albums from Squire, Howe, White, Anderson, and Moraz, Atlantic released a compilation called Yesterdays in March 1975, and the concert film of Yessongs had a theatrical release. Yes regrouped at the end of 1976, swapping out Moraz for a returning Wakeman. This revived lineup released Going for the One, a sleek and succinct album, in August 1977; the album featured the hit singles "Wonderous Stories" and "Going for the One." A year later, the group released Tormato -- it reached the Top Ten in both the U.K. and the U.S. -- then went into hiatus as the individual members pursued solo projects. Of these, Jon Anderson's pairing with keyboardist Vangelis was the most successful, resulting in the British Top Ten single "I Hear You."

Yes attempted to start a new album in March 1980, but Wakeman and Anderson quickly left the sessions. As their replacements, Howe, Squire, and White hired Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes -- the heart of the new wave group the Buggles, whose "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the first video played on MTV. The resulting Drama performed respectably, reaching number two in the U.K. and 18 in the U.S. Atlantic rushed out Yesshows, a double-live album culled from recordings from the mid-'70s, in January 1981, but a few months later Yes announced their breakup. Howe and Downes formed Asia with John Wetton and Carl Palmer, scoring a major hit in 1982 with their eponymous debut.

Squire and White formed a new band called Cinema in 1982, inviting original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye and guitarist Trevor Rabin to join. Cinema didn't get off the ground until Squire asked Anderson to join, but once the vocalist was in place, the band became Yes. Horn rejoined to produce this new version of Yes, which wound up with the biggest hit the group ever had with the brash, modernist "Owner of a Lonely Heart." A hit on pop radio and MTV, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" topped the Billboard charts, and its accompanying album, 90125, had two other big mainstream rock hits in "Leave It" and "It Can Happen."

Despite the massive success of 90125, Yes had difficulty delivering a sequel in a timely fashion. Big Generator contained production by Horn, but he left during the sessions. The album performed respectably, reaching 15 in the U.S. and 17 in the U.K., but it generated no hit singles. Around the release of Big Generator, the Yes camp became embroiled in legal battles over the group's name. During this time, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe reunited, releasing an album under this name in 1989. The quartet continued to tour with "An Evening of Yes Music" through 1990, and not long afterward, the lawsuit was settled in their favor, paving the way for a monumental Yes reunion in 1991. Comprising Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe, Squire, Kaye, White, and Rabin, this new version of Yes released a new album, Union, and the retrospective box set Yesyears in 1991, accompanied by a supporting tour.

Through the '90s and 2000s, the Yes lineup was fluid, with members playing in different contexts either on their own or under the group umbrella. The 1994 album Talk featured Anderson, White, Kaye, Squire, and Trevor Rabin. A year later, Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, and White -- the lineup that constituted Yes in the mid-'70s -- reunited for a tour, which resulted in a pair of new albums called Keys to Ascension, which augmented live material with studio recordings. Wakeman left during the recording of new material, leaving Billy Sherwood -- a guitarist who joined the band early in the '90s -- as the keyboardist. Sherwood was featured heavily on 1997's Open Your Eyes, an album which originally began life under the Conspiracy moniker, his band featuring Squire. Keyboardist Igor Khoroshev joined for 1999's The Ladder.

Sherwood left in 2000, followed by Khoroshev, by which time Howe was touring regularly with Yes. Magnification, a 2001 album, found the group recording with an orchestra. Wakeman came back aboard in 2002 for a tour and stayed through their 35th anniversary tour in the mid-2000s. A second box set, In a Word, arrived in 2002, with the live box The Word Is Live arriving in 2005.

Howe, Squire, Downes, and White recorded the Trevor Horn-produced Fly from Here, which appeared in 2011; it featured Benoit David, a singer who came to prominence in a Yes tribute band, as lead vocalist. David was quickly replaced by Jon Davison, who stayed with the band through the mid-2010s, appearing on 2014's Heaven & Earth, which was produced by Roy Thomas Baker.

Squire died of leukemia in June of 2015, but the band carried on, as per his request. They toured in 2016, playing half of Tales from Topographic Oceans and all of Drama; the accompanying 2017 live album was appropriately called Topographic Drama: Live Across America. A 50th anniversary tour was undertaken in 2018 and was commemorated with the 2019 release 50 Live.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

We all know the classic Yes live album Yessongs inside out, and have been listening to it and loving it for nearly 40 years. Documenting the bands 1972 tour of Close to the Edge, it's a landmark live album and considered one of the best ever in the genre of progressive rock. Problem is, Yessongs always had somewhat of a muddy sound, a problem even the remastered edition didn't really rectify, but considering the time and conditions it was recorded under, there's not been a lot that can be done to clean it up. Fast forward now many years, and a box of reel-to-reel tapes have been found of 7 shows from the same tour, all recorded at concerts in North America virtually a few days apart in 1972, each with very strong audio quality made even better by using modern day 'clean up' and restoration techniques. There is a 14CD box set that includes all 7 full shows available for completists to have to hear every available concert, but this particular 2 disc version contains the best performances from those shows. The sound quality is amazing, crystal clear so you can hear every little nuance being played by Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, and Alan White, which is not something you could always say about Yessongs. In many ways, Progeny can now almost be looked at as the ultimate live Yes album from that era, except, and of course there's always an 'except', that a few tunes from Yessongs, namely "Starship Trooper", "Long Distance Runaround", and "Perpetual Change" are nowhere to be found here, nor on the larger box sets, so either they didn't play them on the US part of the tour or the decision was made to leave them off these collections.

That aside, what is on display here is magical, vintage Yes at the height of their powers. I won't go into the virtues of classic songs like "And You and I", "Heart of the Sunrise", "Roundabout", "I've Seen All Good People", "Yours Is No Disgrace", "Close to the Edge", and my personal favorite "Siberian Khatru", as we are all aware of just how great these tunes are, but the clarity of these recordings and the powerful performances are what makes them exceptional. The late Chris Squire looms tall with his thudding, muscular, and quite elastic Rickenbacker bass, as Howe's virtuoso guitar lines and Wakeman's majestic keyboards dazzle and dart around each other, but the real surprise here is just how clear & powerful White's drums sound. Remember, he was the brand new guy for this tour, and literally had to learn the entire set list in a matter of days, so his outstanding performances on these recordings is astounding. And, what more can you say about Howe & Wakeman, who get their little moments to shine solo on "Clap/Mood For a Day" and "Excerpts From 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII"...these guys are just masters of their craft. The always solid Anderson just floats over the top of all these grandiose sounds, but he's especially wondrous on the always engaging "And You and I" and an aggressive take on "Yours Is No Disgrace".

Of course, a brand new, stunning Roger Dean work of art adorns the lovely digipack, and a booklet filled with information on these recordings and their history slots in nicely inside. Like I mentioned earlier, if you have to have the complete concerts (which would really give you something that rivals and even surpasses Yessongs) then go for the full-blown 14 disc box set. Many will probably be happy enough with this 'highlights' set, but I'll leave that up to you to decide.

—Pete Pardo

Cognoscenti may or may not agree this material constitutes Yes' holy grail as the group became ever-so-slightly more structured with the departure of original drummer Bill Bruford (to join King Crimson)and the subsequent enlistment of Alan White to fulfill that role. But the somewhat rigidified presentations of these shows belies how the vocal and instrumental expertise is catalyzed by the extraordinary self-discipline evident on "I've Seen All Good People."

There's no denying the enthralling and uplifting sensation of the latter and that force is even greater later in the show during the greater complexity of "Roundabout;" the intricacy of Steve Howe's electric guitar as it interweaves with Rick Wakeman's keyboards and Chris Squire's bass mirror the shifting textures even more graphically, all the while maintaining, and even elevating the visceral impact of the musicianship. White's comparatively simpler approach to his kit actually keeps Yes from sound too busy for the own good. In contrast, while some of the lyrics of "Siberian Khatru, " for instance, sound esoteric to a fault, the pastoral images can lend to the rapture Yes aims to create.

Still, workouts like "Heart of the Sunrise" (and even more Howe's solo "Clap"/Mood for a Day" and Wakeman's spotlight "Excerpts from The Six Wives of Henry VIII") lend themselves to the criticism of technical braggadocio, unless they're taken as pure sonic expression, but the latter the acoustic-based number adds markedly to the dynamic flow of the concert , particularly as it sets up "And You and I" where the deceptively frail sound of Jon Anderson's voice comes to the for as a major asset of the Yes sound even more so as part of the billowing group harmonies when Howe and Squire join in.

Co-producers Steve Woolard and Brian Kehew create a seamless progression of performances here from performances straddling North America including North Carolina, Nassau Long Island and Toronto Canada. In doing so the detailed clarity of the audio quality reveals " Opening" (Excerpt from "Firebird Suite") less pretension that pragmatism given the tuning enacted in the background.

Further such nuance below the surface of the most prominent components of the arrangements is worthy of selective scrutiny here, all the more remarkable given the age of the recordings (notwithstanding Yes long-standing devotion to audio quality). The unadorned mix reveals the exertion expended by the group as they play, the antithesis of antiseptic, especially played at high-volume (headphone listening doesn't offer the same insight). "Close to the Edge, " for instance, moves at a breathless pace.

A highly-distinctive 'greatest hits' set for the novice, Highlights From Seventy-Two is also available for nostalgists in the form of a of a three-LP set of vinyl, while for the completists, there's a fourteen-disc box titled Seven Shows From Seventy- Two comprising the fruits of this archiving project in their entirety. All these various configurations are but a further reflection of the multi-colored density of this music.

Track Listing: CD 1: Opening (Excerpt From “Firebird Suite”); Siberian Khatru. I've Seen All Good People. a. “Your Move b. “All Good People. Heart Of The Sunrise; Clap/Mood For A Day; And You And I: a. Cord Of Life b. Eclipse. c. The Preacher The Teacher. d. Apocalypse. CD 2: Close To The Edge: a. The Solid Time Of Change. b. Total Mass Retain. c. I Get Up I Get Down. d. Seasons Of Man; Excerpts From “The Six Wives Of Henry VIII; Roundabout; Yours Is No Disgrace.

Personnel: Jon Anderson: vocals, percussion; Steve Howe: guitar, vocals ; Chris Squire: bass, vocals; Rick Wakeman: keyboards; Alan White: drums

—Doug Collette

If ever there were too much of a good thing, Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two by Yes is likely it. These seven complete shows on as many double-disc sets were recorded in Canada and the U.S. between October 31 and November 20 during the Close to the Edge tour. They are the "source code" tapes from which much of Yessongs was assembled. That said, these complete gigs are remixed and remastered from two-inch, 16-track recordings previously thought to be lost. (Yessongs was created from two-track mixdown masters -- each subsequent remaster has come from those tapes.) Drummer Alan White had been with the band just three months after taking over from Bill Bruford. Musically, however, he's claimed the chair by this point; his uncanny playing relationship with bassist Chris Squire is cemented. The sonic quality of these concerts and the considerable variation in improvisational and instrumental moments, banter, and sheer dynamic force from night to night -- remember, this set is for the hardest of the hardcore only; civilians and casual fans won't get it -- are well worth it.

Producer Brian Kehew's technical notes detail the painstaking process of getting the best sound possible and recapturing the dynamic range that Yessongs lacked. Some of the tricks included re-recording Squire's bass through a '70s-era bass amp and layering it atop the original thin one to get the fat, nasty, proper balance that is a Yes trademark. They also (re)calibrated the Dolby level of each guitar, individual drum, vocal, keyboard, etc. track setting by ear because they had been set incorrectly in the first place. That doesn't mean that the sound is perfect. Occasionally one can hear bits of ambient buzzing, a little too much crowd noise in a few places, moments of brightness -- as in the Duke University performance of Steve Howe's solo guitar break that makes a medley of "Mood for a Day" with "Clap." But these are quibbles. For fans, this box is about representing the performance magic of Yes at an early peak. Jon Anderson is at full, soaring, angelic strength. Rick Wakeman's B-3 and synth playing are on point, his synths soaring and free of bloated excess. Howe, Squire, and White surprise audiences and one another nightly with their interplay and solos. Each of these shows does exactly that. Whether it's in the extended jams like "Yours Is No Disgrace" or the "Close to the Edge" and "And You and I" suites, or awe-inspiring renderings of "Heart of the Sunrise" and the driving hard rock prog of "Roundabout," Yes were firing on all cylinders. Progeny is what rabid fans want; it captures not only the band at its early, inspired best but prog rock too. The new sleeve art by Roger Dean (each set has a different illustration) helps make this deluxe set a necessity for the obsessed.

—Thom Jurek