YESSHOWS

Between the releases of their live albums Yessongs in 1973 and Yesshows on November 27, 1980, Yes had released the compilation Yesterdays and five studio albums: Tales from Topographic Oceans Relayer, Going for the One, Tormato, and Drama. Since the Drama tour was ongoing at the time - - it would end about three weeks later - - I suppose it's understandable that nothing was included from that album, although the group's September 6 show at Madison Square Garden was the subject of an FM simulcast, and tracks from said show eventually appeared on an official release.

Going for the One is represented by three songs, which account for one of the LP's four sides. Relayer is also given a side for a 22-minute rendition of "Gates of Delirium." Yesterdays and Tormato are each represented by one song, and from Tales from Topographic Oceans we have the 29-minute "Ritual," split into two parts, one on side three and one on side four - - a bit of a strange arrangement for anyone using a record changer, I would think. My first copy was a cassette, and although "Ritual" could have been included uninterrupted, I never really gave it much thought; after all, at least on the cassette, parts 1 and 2 were on the same side. However, my first copy of the CD, a nicely-packaged Japanese import, maintained the split! This struck me as unnecessary, to say the least. More recent versions, including the one I'm reviewing (the 1994 Joe Gastwirt remaster, Atlantic 82686- 2) rectify the problem, and the latest re-releases include two recordings originally included with Classic Yes: "Roundabout" and "Your Move/All Good People."

I guess the reason that I don't listen to this one as often as Yessongs is mostly due to song selection. I've never been a fan of "Time and a Word" (the song, that is), "Ritual," or "Wonderous Stories." While these are just three random songs from three different albums, they account for half of Yesshows. "Parallels," "Going for the One," and "Don't Kill the Whale" are fine, but don't add much to the originals. "Gates of Delirium" is the standout track here, and it makes me wish they'd have included the entirety of Relayer (as they had Close to the Edge on Yessongs), along with a version of "Sweet Dreams," "Close to the Edge," or some other performance with Patrick Moraz in which there'd been some variation from the album version.

Having said that, I hasten to add that the renditions of "Ritual" and "Time and a Word" on Yesshows do, in fact, vary quite a bit from their respective originals and are in fact the definitive versions. "Ritual" benefits from live performance, and here we have an extended percussion-based jam to boot. "Time and a Word" is substantially different from the version that appeared on Time and a Word. To begin with, the original featured Tony Kaye, Peter Banks, Bill Bruford, and an orchestra; on Yesshows the late- 1970s Yes puts their own spin on it.

Much of Yesshows is good performances of average songs. It pales in comparison to Yessongs, but is still one of their better live albums, and is up there with BBC Sessions 1969-1970 / Something's Coming, Union Live, and The Word is Live.