Yesyears (1991)
Disc One
1. Something's Coming
2. Survival
3. Every Little Thing
4. Then
5. Everydays
6. Sweet Dreams
7. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
8. Time and a Word
9. Starship Trooper
10.Yours is No Disgrace
11.I've Seen All Good People
12.Long Distance Runaround
13.The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)
Disc Two
1. Roundabout
2. Heart of the Sunrise
3. Close to the Edge
4. America
5. Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)
6. Sound Chaser
Disc Three
1. Soon
2. Amazing Grace
3. Vevey, Part One
4. Wondrous Stories
5. Awaken
6. Montreux's Theme
7. Vevey, Part Two
8. Going for the One
9. Money
10.Abilene
11.Don't Kill the Whalte
12.On the Silent Wings of Freedom
13.Does it Really Happen?
14.Tempus Fugit
15.The Fox
16.I'm Down
Disc Four
1. Make it Easy
2. It Can Happen
3. Owner of a Lonely Heart
4. Hold On
5. Shoot High, Aim Low
6. Rhythm of Love
7. Love Will Find a Way
8. Changes (Live)
9. And You and I (Live)
10.Heart of the Sunrise (Live)
11.Love Conquers All
A very good box set when it came out. It has since been overshadowed by the groups second box set, 2002’s In a Word both in breadth of material and in overall quality.
There are a lot of rarities on this set that, at the time, had never been released to the public. Some are great, some are good, and some are…..well….not as memorable. This was a time, though, before the internet. So feverish fans fervently flocked to obtain such a collection.
Some of the selections are questionable, but when you’re a band that never had many hits, you tend to sound too much the complainer when you make such a statement. When one recalls that in the early seventies, Yes had a span of a few albums that averaged a total of three songs per album, it must have been a challenge to decide what to include and what not to include. I would argue that a masterpiece such as Close to the Edge should have the entire album represented here, yet it’s follow up Tales From Topographical Oceans probably shouldn’t be represented at all. So, of course, a compromise is reached in both instances. I could have also done without two versions of Heart of the Sunrise (one studio, one live) as I always thought that track was overrated.
Some of my faves from the unreleased vaults include a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s America and a Trevor Rabin “solo” piece Make it Easy. Most of the unreleased tracks, if not all, can be found on expanded versions of the band’s releases that came out during the latter years. This one is also out of print now. I think.
Go to the Next Review
Go back to the main page