CLASSIC YES

I have mixed feelings about this album.Given that the intention presumably was to lure the casual fan, not including the studio version of Roundabout seems to me a huge mistake given that that track is arguably their defining moment. To me it is like leaving off "Stairway To Heaven" off a Led Zeppelin best-of.With a bit of tweaking, "Classic Yes" could have been a definitive compilation. Replace the inferior live versions of "Roundabout" and "Seen all Good People" and replace "Long Distance Roundabout/Fish" with "Going For The One" and I think this would have made this a 5 star album. As it is, "Classic Yes" is still an excellent overview of the band's unique brand of Progressive Rock and unlike later compilations, does not try to cover too much ground. Of course the album is worth owning for wonderful cover art by Roger Dean alone.