YESSONGS

One of the best live-albums ever made from a band that was so pivotal and included only masters of their instruments. I prefer to listen to live-albums because in general the sound is more powerful and they deliver often a lot of instrumental extra's. Well, this originally triple LP set is almost the ultimate live album: great renditions of 'classic tracks' like "And You And I" (beautiful vocals and pedal-steel guitar), "Roundabout" (excellent guitar and Hammond organ), the epic "Close To The Edge" (splendid build-up and bombastic climax featuring a majestic church organ sound and fat Minimoog runs) and "Starship Trooper" (captivating duel between Howe's guitar and Wakeman's Minimoog). The extended soli are a perfect example of the typical progrock self-indulgence in those days, especially Rick Wakeman ('the caped crusader') with his wide range of keyboards (MELLOTRON!) among mirrors and explosions in "Excerpts From The Six Wives Of Henry VIII" and Chris Squire on his Rickenbacker bass in "The Fish". Steve Howe (using a kind of guitar-museum on tour) creates a warm and pleasant atmosphere with his Spanish guitar in the piece "Mood For A Day". If I want to let myself carry away with superb 24-carat symphonic rock, this is one of my favorite albums.