Search - Yes :: Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969-1970

WARNING: Bad Sound Quality

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 08/15/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This set of BBC recordings from Yes has been floating around for years. It has been released a number of times, with different covers.



The sound quality is so bad on this CD set, that it is not a very pleasant experience. People who like this will put up with a lot just to hear these rare recordings. The sound quality is worse than many bootlegs and worse than old live blues recordings from the fifties. It you don't believe me, listen to the sound bites. Of course, you don't get the whole effect of how unpleasant the sound is unless you sit through a whole song.



The sound is very flat with absolutely no dynamic range. There is a bunch of hissing, static and other background noise. The mix is horrible and vocals are truly stange sounding. The only plus side is that there isn't much audience noise.



This is the original Yes, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Bill Buford, Tony Kaye and Peter Banks. This band put out 2 ablums ("Yes" and "Time and a Word"). The sound was interesting but different than the trademark "classic" sound that would start on with the third album "The Yes Album".



The band is more rock oriented. The band is starting to show a progressive rock trend, but there is none of the bombastic art rock type music that would come later. They remind me of some of the early progressive rock pioneers, like Deep Purple or Uriah Heep before they went hard.



On these live recordings, the group sounds a bit different than on the studio albums. It is really interesting how they play around and rearrange the music. They sound very much like Pink Floyd did during this time, driven by a heavy organ rhythm.



The packaging on the original release was very nice. I don't know if this version maintains the same packaging. Not what you would expect with such horrible sound. There are extensive liner notes from Peter Banks. Apparently, he really hates Steve Howe.



This would be a great CD to buy if the sound quality wasn't so poor. I think the bad sound eliminates any chance of being able to enjoy the music. Instead of this, I would suggest getting the Doors, Live In Detroit. Now there is an album from the same time period, but with very good sound quality. And talk about wonderful guitar and keyboard solos. Plus, the Doors go on to play another hour after the schedule closing time. I have always been miffed at Yes, since one time when I saw them, they didn't play Ritual because they ran up against Tucson's curfew. The curfew didn't bother the Allman Brothers. They played Mountain Jam with house lights on.



Banks and Kaye departed from Yes and formed Flash, which sounded just like early Yes. They had one good album and Kaye left. Both did some solo material. Kaye rejoined Yes for their most popular "Owner of a Lonely Heart" period.

"

Must Have For True Yes Heads

K. WEBER | Cincinnati, OH USA | 09/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a true Yes fan, you'll appreciate this collection which includes the "roots" originals and fantastic covers that this one-in-a-million band produced and performed live during their early years. Recording quality is what you might expect - not tremendous. However, the pure energy and genius that have marked Yes as an inspiration to millions of fans throughout the years shines through!"