YESSHOWS

When I saw the tracklist of this album, I was quite surprised. So many numbers belonging to such different period of their career : "Time & A Word" (1970) and "Wonderous Stories" (1977) for instance. But you understand why when you read the CD booklet information (I have the CD version). It was recorded from different concerts, with different line-ups. The two epics "The Gates of Delirium" and "Ritual" were recorded in Detroit (17th August 76) with Moraz on the keys. "Parallels" & "Wonderous Stories" come from Rotterdam (24th November 77). Another two from the Empire Pool at Wembley (different dates : 27th & 28th October 78); and finally "Going for the One" from Frankfurt (18th November 78).

This combination might be a bizzarre choice and I would probably prefer each period to fill out one CD on a remastered issue (which could have been expanded like Yes did for almost each of their earlier releases). The double CD version being just a copy of the original double album. It is a pity because during this tour, "CTTE" was in the tracklist and would have been a marvelous bonus track. There is also little information on the Cd booklet (they consist mostly of the lyrics). The only track totally out of time being ... "Time & A Word".

It is indeed a very short double CD : seventy five minutes !. There is almost no interaction with the audience which is a pain. Some tracks are cut abruptly after their rendition (almost no aplause) as if we were short of space ! The "Going For The One" tour is well represented here (three tracks - but I miss "Awaken" of course - out of seven in this live album). I saw this tour actually in Antwerp on Saturday, November 26 1977 and I can tell you that it was a good one).

The opening "Firebird" turns beautifully into the rythmy "Parallels" after 1'28". The comparison with "Firebird" and "Siberian" in YesSongs is amazing. This version of "Parallels" is at times accelerated quite a bit (too much IMO). I like an awful lot this live version of "Time & A Word" : Jon really puts again a HUGE lot of emotion in here; a great, great moment. The intro words (one of the very few ones on this live album) for the ecological "Don't Kill the Whale" is hardly audible ("This is a song about the factory ship industry that seem to get rid of too many whales" ... says Jon). At the end of the song there is a little jam session during which Jon thanks the crew. It is one of the (too) few moments during which you can actually notice that this is a live album. "Gates of Delirium" sounds more rocky / heavy than the studio version. The rythmics are GORGEOUS : Alan and Chris being really great. At times as well, I have the same feeling as in "Parallels" : too fast (again : are we running short of space) ? The "Soon" moment being as always very, very emotional. The audience seems to appreciate a lot.

Moraz's interpretation of "Ritual" is good but I really don't like the lenghtly percussion section. It lasted for 2'45" on the studio version and here it is extended to five boring really noisy and pointless minutes : I mention this already in my review for TFTO. My comparison was that this section is quite similar to "The Waiting Room" from "The Lamb". The difference in the live performances is that in "The Lamb" live (I was attending this show in Brussels, 1975) Genesis raised the (poor) level of this song to an acceptable one. Here we have the reverse : from a poor studio section, we get an even poorer live rendition. Really, it is the (only) bad part of this live album. But don't get me wrong : Alan is absolutely brilliant on the other parts of the song, hitting his drum kit like if his life was depending on his play. The last track "Wonderous Stories" is just as wonderful as the studio version. The sound quality, although not perfect, is waaaaaaaaaay ahead the "YesSongs" one. Four stars for this YesLive.