Released: 1981
Tracks: Heart of the Sunrise; Wonderous Stories; Yours Is No Disgrace; Starship Trooper; Long Distance Runaround; The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus); And You And I; Roundabout (live); I’ve Seen All Good People (live)
Best track: Starship Trooper
Track to skip: The Fish is REALLY repetitive, but it’s tolerable for all the cool bass stuff in it
Gee, it’s amazing what active listening can do. It’s probably listening using headphones and hearing all the ‘small’ stuff that the band put in there. Well, I’m convinced, Chris Squire is a mother of a bassist. And Steve Howe is a phenomenal guitarist as well. Actually, they’re all very good musicians. I’ve had this for quite a few years, but this is the first time that I’ve REALLY enjoyed this whole thing. Usually, I’ll skip around and hear different tracks, but sitting here and actually concentrating on the music (imagine that!) is a great experience.
I think the thing that has always put me off about Yes (and a lot of prog rock in general) is the vocals and keyboards. Of course both Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman are talented, but they really grate on me. If it weren’t for those two parts of the music I’d probably be a huge Yes fan. And yet, I can listen to Rush all day long and not get the least bit annoyed with Geddy Lee. I guess it’s what you grew up with or something.
This album is an excellent overview of Yes’ ‘classic’ period material (the ‘70’s) and it’s usually found pretty cheap. If I had of done some more searching I probably would’ve picked up the Very Best Of Yes, which has all these plus about 30 minutes more material. Eh, oh well. If you’re kinda curious about Yes, then I’d suggest getting the Very Best Of, but you really can’t go wrong with this either. At least with this you don’t have to sit through Yes’ 80’s material.
Rating: 87
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