An Evening of Yes Music Plus Reviews
Jul 30, 2010 Music Plus
An Evening of Yes Music Plus
It was 1989 when former Yes-men Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman, and Steve Howe, longing to rekindle the magic that defined Yes in the 70’s, joined forces to record and release a new album to critical acclaim, as fans around the globe watched in
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(out of 5 reviews)
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July 30th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Review by Bjorn Clasen for An Evening of Yes Music Plus
Rating:
Live albums have to be something special. They have to be different than studio albums. The listener has to be able to HEAR it’s a LIVE album. Yes always succeeded very well in this. And this is no exception. “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” is a successful piece of work, rather than a work of art. The band has put together some medleys, and this is a unique opportunity for any music fan to experience the universe of the best of Yes. In this context, “Yes” means the music of Yes, of ABWH, as well as solo projects. Experiencing “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” is like listening to the solos of the album “Fragile”, the melodic compositions of the album “Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe”, and Yes’ greatest in general, all in one wonderfully 2 hour long journey to the soul of what it is basically all details ABWH have added to some of the songs. These tiny experiments, adding a new sound here, another tune there, are pretty unusual for the Yes music and therefore add some spice to this live experience. This double CD is obligatory for any Yes fan – but it is also a good opportunity to re-realize how brilliant the short ABWH period actually was.
July 30th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Review by Prog Nerd for An Evening of Yes Music Plus
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I always loved this live album by Yes-in-all-but-name. The clarity of instruments is wonderful, the crowd is clearly heard and enthusiastic, the sound is raw and live (no overdubs I’m aware of), and the setlist is expertly chosen and played well.
It seems strange to open a show with acoustic solo medleys, but that’s exactly what they do here. Jon Anderson throws casual 90125 fans a bone by including “Owner of a Lonely Heart” in between “Time And A Word” and a short excerpt of “Teakbois”, before Steve Howe comes in with “Clap/Mood For A Day”. After a gorgeous Rick Wakeman medley (notice his use of piano and keyboard textures and how good they sound here, as opposed to later in the 90’s) which features “Madrigal” (from Tormato; and not “Gone But Not Forgotten” as the tracklisting says) as well as some stuff from Six Wives/King Arthur, before Bruford joins them onstage and launches into an odd version of “Long Distance Runaround”, which segues into excerpts of “Heart of the Sunrise” as well as a percussion solo (utilizing his cheesy electronic Simmons drum pads.)
The ABWH songs from their one album all sound wonderful live (in most cases even better — such as “Brother of Mine” and “Order of the Universe”), and although the classic Yes material is good, it is sorely missing Chris Squire’s chunky bass presence. (Tony Levin played bass on the ABWH album and tour, but was sick for the recording of this show — filled in by Bruford’s fellow jazz-fusion compatriate Jeff Berlin, who does an adequate job.) “Close To The Edge” has an extended organ solo, and you can practically smell the excitement as the audience goes bonkers. “And You And I” is done well enough, but I prefer YesWest’s overtly dramatic rendition of it over the more subtle one here. However, this concert contains the *definitive* “Starship Trooper”, with crystal-clear vocals, wonderful harmonies, and the best “Wurm” outro ever, especially the first minute or so as Wakeman teases the 3-note motif with gorgeous deep keyboards.
Different versions of An Evening of Yes Music Plus (gosh, what a dumb title) exist, some containing “Starship Trooper”, while more recent ones include “I’ve Seen all Good People”. Roger Dean again provides the artwork, which is quite nice.
Recommended for seasoned Yes fans. Others should start with their greatest hits or familiarize themselves with the classics 70’s material first (as well as 1989’s ABWH) before picking this up.
July 30th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Review by John Sposato for An Evening of Yes Music Plus
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Longtime Yes fans know about the civil war that erupted between the two factions of Yes in the late ’80s-1990. The “West” lineup owned the name, so the “East” lot had to use a lawyer’s office byline. It was still Yes as far as fans were concerned, given the endless turnover throughout the years. (Let’s just call a spade a shovel!)
This concert was recorded and filmed on 9 September 1989 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountainview, CA (outside San José, as Jon Anderson mentioned, around where he lives now). Session players filled out the rest of the band (Stick-master Tony Levin was on sick leave).
Tracks from the sole studio album and old Yes chestnuts are featured. I have the original EU indie release from 1993, and “Starship Trooper” is omitted. It was on the 1994 US edition on Herald/Caroline I used to have (real fans would buy some imports).
There are some typos. The biggest is “Gone But Not Forgotten”, a poignant Rick Wakeman instrumental from 1983, which isn’t here, but “Madrigal” from 1978’s “Tormato”, is instead used in his solo medley. “Owner of a Lonely Heart” is performed acoustically in Anderson’s solo allotment, as the others may not have wanted to touch that one (they would on the “Union” and other later tours, however).
Not wanting to leave out Bill Bruford, his drumming is stronger than before, where he had a more of a jazz fusion approach, which he still uses, I suppose.
This was recently reissued by leading UK independent Voiceprint, who have a number of solo and side releases in the Yes and Asia family.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Review by Jim Z for An Evening of Yes Music Plus
Rating:
Is it Yes ? No. Is it Yes’ music ? Yes. Does it matter ? NO. This is a fine live recording of Yes music , by 4 key members of Yes. It isn’t called Yes , because Yes bassist Chris Squire owns the rights to the name , and he isn’t here. But Jon Anderson , Bill Bruford , Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe are. Fine live re-workings of classic material by any line-up. Buy It ? YES !
July 30th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Review by for An Evening of Yes Music Plus
Rating:
Live albums have to be something special. They have to be different than studio albums. The listener has to be able to HEAR it’s a LIVE album. Yes always succeeded very well in this.And this is no exception. “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” is a successful piece of work, rather than a work of art.The band has put together some medleys, and this is a unique opportunity for any music fan to experience the universe of the best of Yes. In this context, “Yes” means the music of Yes, of ABWH, as well as solo projects.Experiencing “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” is like listening to the solos of the album “Fragile”, the melodic compositions of the album “Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe”, and Yes’ greatest in general, all in one wonderfully 2 hour long journey to the soul of what it is basically all details ABWH have added to some of the songs.These tiny experiments, adding a new sound here, another tune there, are pretty unusual for the Yes music and therefore add some spice to this live experience. This double CD is obligatory for any Yes fan – but it is also a good opportunity to re-realize how brilliant the short ABWH period actually was.