Great show, men! ( And a special surprise cameo by you know who! 😉 ) This was surprisingly easy for me. I have to go with my heart 💜 and pick the CLASSIC triple live LP set of Yessongs! That was definitely one of my first Yes purchases in the late 1970s and it truly blew my puny mind, man!! 🤯 So many classic tunes - and solos - from that Howe/Wakeman era make it tough to beat, bro! 😎 Yesshows is groovilicious, nutritious and delicious 🤤 too, but… I’m not a huge TFTO album fan - “Ritual,” guy?! - and “Parallels” is my least favourite song 🎧 from GFTO. So, with those two minor quibbles - The Trouble with Quibbles 😉 - Yessongs is my winner! 🏆 Keep it up, lads! Your Marzipan Man Pal o’ Mine, ~ Davey “Le Studio” Cretin, from the CRETIN CLASSICS channel of chumps n’ champions!
DAVEY! Yes, I understand, these are the tough decisions we need to make on these battles!! Ha I also went with Yessongs just due to the relentless track listing of classics!! But Yesshows is also essential for any fan.
Great show, guys. Love these album battles, so keep 'em coming. As for this battle, I'd have gone with "Yesshows", but as they say, in subjective things like music, no wrong answers. To me, my personal enjoyment of "Yessongs" will always be a bit marred by the poor sound quality. And I'll respectfully disagree with Cody that only parts of the album have poor sound quality and the rest does not. While the fact that it was cobbled together from different nights and different venues would no doubt explain some minor sonic differences, to me, even in the best sounding moments, "Yessongs" has a somewhat bootleggish sound to it. It all sounds a bit distant, like there was not proper placement of the recording mics or something. A couple of live prog albums that were released the same year, "Genesis Live" and Tony Kaye's "One Live Badger" both sound fuller and clearer, not leaving me with that feeling that I was listening to a bootleg. I have no nitpicks at all with the sound of "Yesshows". It sounds more clear and upfront, where you can hear even minor little nuances. Being a lover of "GFTO", "Relayer", "TFTO" and even the much-maligned "Tormato", I also find the tracklist to be an excellent document of that time.
Hey visualize!! I am so glad to hear you are enjoying the battles. That has always been the major dig on Yessongs is the sound quality, which is odd as Eddie Offord was involved, but maybe he didn't have much experience in recording live shows? If you listen to the Progeny highlights, it's pretty amazing how much these shows got "cleaned up" and they sound better to my ears. I had read that Chris Squire took the reins and mixed the live stuff for Yesshows in 1980, he did a very good job. It really just depends on what eras you like the most, I really enjoy the GFTO songs on Yesshows, and of course Gates of Delirium.
Excellent points made! From what I remember reading years ago...the reason for the wonky sound on Yessongs on the Alan White cuts is from the recording head being misaligned. Brian Kehew corrected the issue in 2014 with the Progeny project, which is why Wakeman and Howe sound far more clear and evened out. Edit: A true remix of Yessongs isn't possible without the use of godd**n AI. The mulitracks for the Rainbow UK (CTTE, ST) and NYC Academy (Bruford) shows are lost.
Great comment Michael! Yes, I listened to Progeny and to my ears it sounded WAY better, I could hear Wakeman so much clearer! The highlights from Progeny is excellent!
@curlessmania4708 Same. Eventually went back to the Yessongs "fat boy" CD and a FLAC rip of the 1977 Piros pressing, got both on my phone for work and travel. It's a longtime favorite. Like Yesshows also, but it sounds way too mid, like it was made to sound like an 80s FM broadcast. The '94 Gastwirt remaster didn't do s*** to help it, unfortunately.
I first discovered YES through their album “Yessongs” back in 1974 when I was 15 years old. At the time, I already had some exposure to progressive rock (though it wasn’t called that yet) and was familiar with songs by ELP and Genesis. One day, my brother came home from a friend’s place with his tape recorder and said, “You’ve got to hear this.” He had recorded Yessongs. The music resonated deeply with me, and I thought, “My God, these guys must be wizards. How can anyone play music like this live?” That’s probably why I have a soft spot for this album. When I later listened to the studio versions of the same songs, I found that, despite the improved sound quality, something was missing. It wasn’t just the raw energy and dynamics of the live performances-the live versions felt more “compositionally” advanced. Take “Close to the Edge” as an example. The studio version is widely praised, but I always tell people: listen to the Yessongs rendition. It’s on a completely different level, especially the final segment after the “celestial sounds.” Conversely, I found the album “Yesshows” a bit underwhelming. I can’t pinpoint exactly why-the sound quality is excellent-but while Yessongs gives the impression that YES elevated their material to new heights, Yesshows feels more like an attempt to simply replicate the quality of the studio versions.
A prog filled Christmas! Nice Tom and Cody! Have to go with Yessongs for me on this one. Everything about it makes it one of the best live progressive rock albums ever! And how about that Roger Dean art as always brilliant!
What sucks is that Yesshows is more of a live compilation for 2 line ups and is missing one of the best live Yes ideas of all time: The Medley. I think that would have made this album so much better and very competitive to Yessongs (on a friendly level). Of course, another triple album was probably not in the budget nor was the public in the same state of vinyl and music listening they were once in when Yessongs came out in 1973 (although Squire had the guts to put side long versions of Gates and Ritual on it (technically Ritual is longer than one side since it takes up almost 2 sides). A 3-sided Yesshows with the medley and maybe something else from Tormato would have been splendid! I pick Yessongs because it’s less of a lie than Yesshows (Yessongs has 2 Bruford performances, including a drum solo, which the album is credited to Alan White on drums, which misleads the listener unless you read the fine print), while more than half of Yesshows has Moraz on keys but has photos of Wakeman in the round. Hmmm. Gotta love Yes!
For me it is an easy decision, and that goes to 'Yessongs.' For me they are coming off their 3 best albums (Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge) which is featured on this album. Cheers!
It’s a difficult toss up because by the release of Yesshows the musicianship had just skyrocketed in the same hand Yessongs has pretty much fragile & close to the edge in their entirety. Difficult this one
Great show. Not really what was being discussed, though mentioned briefly, but I wish the band had split Keys to Ascension into an album with just the studio tracks and one with the live songs.
@curlessmania4708 Yeara ago I bought the Keystudio album that compiled just the studio tracks. However, the "artwork" left a lot to be desired, just an orange background. Would be nice to have the studio release with a proper cover.
Both really good albums but i prefer yesssongs probably cause i listen to it more than yesshows and i always go back to it and early 70 yes has always been my favorite
Although overall I'm more team YesSongs and I prefer soundboard bootlegs and radio broadcasts for later 70's live Yes I really appreciate having three out of five Going for the One tracks on YesShows because sadly there's no really good soundboard bootlegs from the Going for the One tour.
If Bruford were on all of Yessongs it might be better than Yesshows, but every track on Yesshows sounds better than it's album counterpart (except maybe Time and a Word), which cannot be said for Yessongs.
Great show, men! ( And a special surprise cameo by you know who! 😉 ) This was surprisingly easy for me. I have to go with my heart 💜 and pick the CLASSIC triple live LP set of Yessongs! That was definitely one of my first Yes purchases in the late 1970s and it truly blew my puny mind, man!! 🤯 So many classic tunes - and solos - from that Howe/Wakeman era make it tough to beat, bro! 😎
Yesshows is groovilicious, nutritious and delicious 🤤 too, but… I’m not a huge TFTO album fan - “Ritual,” guy?! - and “Parallels” is my least favourite song 🎧 from GFTO. So, with those two minor quibbles - The Trouble with Quibbles 😉 - Yessongs is my winner! 🏆
Keep it up, lads!
Your Marzipan Man Pal o’ Mine,
~ Davey “Le Studio” Cretin, from the CRETIN CLASSICS channel of chumps n’ champions!
DAVEY! Yes, I understand, these are the tough decisions we need to make on these battles!! Ha I also went with Yessongs just due to the relentless track listing of classics!! But Yesshows is also essential for any fan.
Great show, guys. Love these album battles, so keep 'em coming. As for this battle, I'd have gone with "Yesshows", but as they say, in subjective things like music, no wrong answers. To me, my personal enjoyment of "Yessongs" will always be a bit marred by the poor sound quality. And I'll respectfully disagree with Cody that only parts of the album have poor sound quality and the rest does not. While the fact that it was cobbled together from different nights and different venues would no doubt explain some minor sonic differences, to me, even in the best sounding moments, "Yessongs" has a somewhat bootleggish sound to it. It all sounds a bit distant, like there was not proper placement of the recording mics or something. A couple of live prog albums that were released the same year, "Genesis Live" and Tony Kaye's "One Live Badger" both sound fuller and clearer, not leaving me with that feeling that I was listening to a bootleg. I have no nitpicks at all with the sound of "Yesshows". It sounds more clear and upfront, where you can hear even minor little nuances. Being a lover of "GFTO", "Relayer", "TFTO" and even the much-maligned "Tormato", I also find the tracklist to be an excellent document of that time.
Hey visualize!! I am so glad to hear you are enjoying the battles. That has always been the major dig on Yessongs is the sound quality, which is odd as Eddie Offord was involved, but maybe he didn't have much experience in recording live shows? If you listen to the Progeny highlights, it's pretty amazing how much these shows got "cleaned up" and they sound better to my ears. I had read that Chris Squire took the reins and mixed the live stuff for Yesshows in 1980, he did a very good job. It really just depends on what eras you like the most, I really enjoy the GFTO songs on Yesshows, and of course Gates of Delirium.
Well done, the two of you. It was great to see Cody on. My favourite is Yesshows because of one track, The Gates Of Delirium.
Hey CTTE!! Yes, the version of Gates of Delirium on Yesshows is VERY GOOD!! Makes it an essential live record for Yes fans. Thanks for watching!!
Excellent points made!
From what I remember reading years ago...the reason for the wonky sound on Yessongs on the Alan White cuts is from the recording head being misaligned. Brian Kehew corrected the issue in 2014 with the Progeny project, which is why Wakeman and Howe sound far more clear and evened out.
Edit: A true remix of Yessongs isn't possible without the use of godd**n AI. The mulitracks for the Rainbow UK (CTTE, ST) and NYC Academy (Bruford) shows are lost.
Great comment Michael! Yes, I listened to Progeny and to my ears it sounded WAY better, I could hear Wakeman so much clearer! The highlights from Progeny is excellent!
@curlessmania4708 Same. Eventually went back to the Yessongs "fat boy" CD and a FLAC rip of the 1977 Piros pressing, got both on my phone for work and travel. It's a longtime favorite.
Like Yesshows also, but it sounds way too mid, like it was made to sound like an 80s FM broadcast. The '94 Gastwirt remaster didn't do s*** to help it, unfortunately.
I first discovered YES through their album “Yessongs” back in 1974 when I was 15 years old. At the time, I already had some exposure to progressive rock (though it wasn’t called that yet) and was familiar with songs by ELP and Genesis. One day, my brother came home from a friend’s place with his tape recorder and said, “You’ve got to hear this.” He had recorded Yessongs. The music resonated deeply with me, and I thought, “My God, these guys must be wizards. How can anyone play music like this live?”
That’s probably why I have a soft spot for this album. When I later listened to the studio versions of the same songs, I found that, despite the improved sound quality, something was missing. It wasn’t just the raw energy and dynamics of the live performances-the live versions felt more “compositionally” advanced. Take “Close to the Edge” as an example. The studio version is widely praised, but I always tell people: listen to the Yessongs rendition. It’s on a completely different level, especially the final segment after the “celestial sounds.”
Conversely, I found the album “Yesshows” a bit underwhelming. I can’t pinpoint exactly why-the sound quality is excellent-but while Yessongs gives the impression that YES elevated their material to new heights, Yesshows feels more like an attempt to simply replicate the quality of the studio versions.
A prog filled Christmas! Nice Tom and Cody! Have to go with Yessongs for me on this one. Everything about it makes it one of the best live progressive rock albums ever! And how about that Roger Dean art as always brilliant!
Logan-San, you da man!! Prog On!
I am with you Logan! The track list is relentless on Yessongs
Yesshows
What sucks is that Yesshows is more of a live compilation for 2 line ups and is missing one of the best live Yes ideas of all time: The Medley. I think that would have made this album so much better and very competitive to Yessongs (on a friendly level). Of course, another triple album was probably not in the budget nor was the public in the same state of vinyl and music listening they were once in when Yessongs came out in 1973 (although Squire had the guts to put side long versions of Gates and Ritual on it (technically Ritual is longer than one side since it takes up almost 2 sides). A 3-sided Yesshows with the medley and maybe something else from Tormato would have been splendid! I pick Yessongs because it’s less of a lie than Yesshows (Yessongs has 2 Bruford performances, including a drum solo, which the album is credited to Alan White on drums, which misleads the listener unless you read the fine print), while more than half of Yesshows has Moraz on keys but has photos of Wakeman in the round. Hmmm. Gotta love Yes!
For me it is an easy decision, and that goes to 'Yessongs.' For me they are coming off their 3 best albums (Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge) which is featured on this album. Cheers!
That is what drove my decision as well!! Thanks for watching!!
It’s a difficult toss up because by the release of Yesshows the musicianship had just skyrocketed in the same hand Yessongs has pretty much fragile & close to the edge in their entirety. Difficult this one
Brandon!! You friggin’ RULE, bro!
Hey Brandon!! Yes, this one ended up being much harder than I originally thought!! That happens a lot with these. Thanks for watching!!
Great show. Not really what was being discussed, though mentioned briefly, but I wish the band had split Keys to Ascension into an album with just the studio tracks and one with the live songs.
Surprised they have not done a re-issue with them just split. Maybe in the future? Thanks for watching!
@curlessmania4708 Yeara ago I bought the Keystudio album that compiled just the studio tracks. However, the "artwork" left a lot to be desired, just an orange background. Would be nice to have the studio release with a proper cover.
Great episode with Cody, I love Yes and I would have to go with Yesshows
Hey Andy!! Yes, Cody is always a great guest and I love his amazing Yes collection. Thanks for watching! Another vote for Yesshows
Both really good albums but i prefer yesssongs probably cause i listen to it more than yesshows and i always go back to it and early 70 yes has always been my favorite
The mix & sound quality of Yesshows is way superior to Yessongs in my opinion...
I credit Chris Squire, who mixed it...
Although overall I'm more team YesSongs and I prefer soundboard bootlegs and radio broadcasts for later 70's live Yes I really appreciate having three out of five Going for the One tracks on YesShows because sadly there's no really good soundboard bootlegs from the Going for the One tour.
If Bruford were on all of Yessongs it might be better than Yesshows, but every track on Yesshows sounds better than it's album counterpart (except maybe Time and a Word), which cannot be said for Yessongs.