YES: Bootleg/CDR section

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I separated all my Yes bootlegs onto this page in preparation for a trader who promised me EVERY live show (or at least all the ones I wanted, courtesy of a friend of his) in exchange for copies of a couple rare Elf CDs. As it turned out, though, his "friend" was a phantom, and his real plan was to try and acquire some bootlegs from other Yes traders. HA!! What a fool, didn't he know that I've already TRIED that?? Oh well, it just gives me incentive to fill up this page someday.

"The Goddess of Mercy"

A bunch of songs performed by members of Yes before they joined Yes, which sounds exciting but this 2CD bootleg fails to deliver. The overwhelming majority of tunes feature Alan White, who was quite the studio session whore and therefore sounds NOTHING like Yes -- lots of soul and 70's style pop, blecch. Sound quality is fairly decent, being dubbed from scratchy old 45 RPM singles and the like. Oh, and Rick Wakeman does NOT appear on the Alice Cooper tracks, that part is a lie. (Silly bootleggers...)

"Sons of Olias"

The Syn (feat. Chris Squire & Peter Banks):
1. "Flowerman" (2:34)
2. "14 Hour Technicolor Dream" (2:52)
3. "Created by Clive" (2:27)
4. "Grounded" (2:20)
   Mabel Greer's Toy Shop, BBC 1968:
5. "Beyond & Before" (3:51)
6. "Images of You & Me" (3:58)
7. "Jeanetta" (3:07)
   Bodast (feat. Steve Howe):
8. "Do You Remember?" (3:34)
9. "I Want You" (3:17)
10. "Mr. Jones" (3:03)
11. "1,000 Years" (2:32)
    Tomorrow (feat. Steve Howe)
12. "Blow Up" (1:52)
13. "Strawberry Fields" (4:00)
14. "Now Your Time Has Come" (3:48)
15. "Journey of Timothy Chase" (3:16)
16. "Shy Boy" (2:18)
17. "My White Bicycle" (3:04)
18. "Real Life Permanent Dream" (1:24)
19. "Colonel Brown" (2:23)
    Near Change (feat. Peter Banks):
20. "I Lied to Auntie May" (2:13)
    The In Crowd (feat. Steve Howe):
21. "Things She Says" (1:44)
22. "Stop Wait a Minute" (2:06)
23. "You're On Your Own" (2:17)
24. "Why Must They Criticize?" (2:27)
    Yes, live in Sheffield UK, 12/21/1969:
25. "Eleanor Rigby" (3:25)
26. "I See You" (4:10)

A much, much more intriguing slice of pre-Yes material, in particular for the tracks by The Syn and Mabel Greer's Toy Shop (which, BTW, was the band's original name) as well as the BBC live tracks at the end. Sound quality ranges from decent to HORRIBLE -- some of the Tomorrow and In Crowd songs are so scratchy and distorted, they're unlistenable! Still, I'd pick this boot over Goddess of Mercy any day, as a much more authentic representation of the bands that led to the formation of England's most pre-eminent progressive rock band.

"Alternate Yessongs" (11/11/72; Duke University, Durham NC)

Kind of a pointless bootleg, as it contains the exact same songs as Yessongs, but with much lower quality. Granted, it's pretty good sound quality for an audience bootleg...but why bother?? There's also a number of dropouts and other artifacts, including one HUGE cut in the middle of "And You And I", and some clueless audience members talking over the intro to "Close to the Edge". About the only reason I can see owning this one is for the solos by Steve & Rick, which are much longer (and dare I say better!) than the Yessongs versions. So I'll be nice, and give it an A-...but really, your time can be spend better listening to bootlegs from other tours.

"Live Vol. 1 - Unauthorised" (silver CD; 6/17/76, Roosevelt Stadium, NJ)

1. "Siberian Khatru" (10:26)
2. "Sound Chaser" (10:39)
3. "I've Seen All Good People" (7:01)
4. "Gates of Delirium" (21:18)
5. "Long Distance Runaround" (5:47)
6. "The Clap"--instrumental (3:45)
7. "Sunhillow"--instrumental (3:46)
8. "Heart of the Sunrise" (10:33)

I found this original silver disc for $4.99 at Second Spin, of all places...guess they didn't realize it's a bootleg? It's only got "UNAUTHORIZED" in BIG RED LETTERS stamped all over it!!! The source is taken from FM radio, so the sound is quite tinny and trebly, with occasional bursts of static and the odd D.J. comment here and there, and two BIG gaps in "Siberian Khatru" and "Gates of Delirium" (the second one sounds deliberate, I guess to cut down on the running length.) It's main draw is for the unreleased track "Sunhillow", and a super-rare recording of "Sound Chaser" (and in case you were wondering if Steve Howe could accurately reproduce those wicked chops in a live setting...yes, he can!) Once again, the bootleggers prove their cluelessness by placing a picture of A.B.W.H. on the cover, and the show's date is incorrectly listed as 6/6/76. But whaddaya want for five bucks? :)

"Live at Wembley Arena London, Oct. 28, 1978"

Considering its vintage, the sound on this bootleg is awesome. Let's put it this way; I have a well-used tape recording of the original, un-remastered crappy vinyl version of Yessongs and Yesshows. This sounds better. There's a few brief channel dropouts in "Siberian Khatru", and the telltale crappy vinyl pop here & there (grrr), but other than that, this recording would easily rate as A+ soundboard.

Obviously, the main attraction here is the two rare Tormato tracks, "Circus of Heaven" and "On the Silent Wings of Freedom"; but we also get an AWESOME medley (which *does* include "Survival", I've read that many versions of this show cut that part out), and a bunch of other tracks that are comparable to the officially released live versions. Whoever did the liner notes could have used a proofreader, though..."Whale" and "Clap" are listed on disc 2, and tracks 2 & 3 on the second disc are only listed as "Bass Solo". "Roundabout" and "ISAGP" are also marked as being recorded in London 1975, but that's WRONG, because Jon clearly introduces Rick Wakeman, who wasn't in the band then (and come to think, I don't think Yes toured at all in '75!) So they must be encores for this same show.

"Digital Reels & Master Reels" (mp3 source)

1. "Picasso #1" (0:37)
2. "Picasso #2" (3:13)
3. "Amazing Grace #1 & #2"--instrumental (4:36)
4. "Money #5" (3:20)
5. "Money #6" (3:16)
6. "Celestial Seasons (On the Silent Wings of Freedom)" (7:44)
7. "Richard #1" (4:12)
8. "Richard #2" (2:26)
9. "Days #1" (1:07)
10. "Days #2" (1:14)
11. "Some Are Born" (5:26)
12. "Rail Fourteen (incl. 'Arriving UFO')"--instrumental (7:41)
13. "Dance Through the Light" (3:20)
14. "The Golden Age" (5:58)
15. "In the Tower" (7:07)
16. "Friend of a Friend" (2:51)
17. "To Let You Know" (3:38)
18. "Everybody Loves You" (4:06)
19. "Flower Girl" (3:31)

Can't figure out where they came up with the word "Digital" in the title, since digital recording technology didn't EXIST until the early 80's...and even if I'm wrong about that, these tracks certainly do not apply!! In any case -- tracks 1-12 are outtakes & demos from the Tormato sessions, highlighted by embryonic versions of "Arriving UFO" and "On the Silent Wings of Freedom". Tracks 13-19, however, are where the REAL meat is. These demo songs are the legendary "Lost Paris Sessions", which were supposed to be the follow-up album to Tormato that was abandoned and left unfinished. And it's pretty clear why, since they had NO workable ideas at that point. ("Dance Through the Light", for instance, is one dull repeating synth riff with the lyrics "Dance through the light, dance through the light" repeated over and over and over!!!) It's interesting, though, how the sound they were working towards (more like fumbling around in the dark for) was no longer "classic" progressive, but more like proto-new wave, similar to the sound discovered by UK and The Eurythmics. The overall recording quality is crap (moreso on the Paris sessions than the Tormato tapes) and some of the song titles are uncertain, since an alternate bootleg lists "In the Tower" as "Tango" and swaps a couple other titles as well. The songs "Richard", "Amazing Grace", "In the Tower" (as "Tango"), and "Flower Girl" (as "Never Done Before") would all eventually appear on future box sets.

"Endless Dream" (6/19/94, Canandaigua, New York)

A bootleg from the Talk tour, which is only worthwhile if you really enjoyed that album (and despite my glowing review above, it really hasn't grown on me yet.) Very good soundboard quality, but it's taped from radio, and the ever-present static has a tendency to overwhelm the music at times (especially during "Roundabout" and "City of Love".) Also, the actual setlist is mixed up a bit, with one song (the opening "Perpetual Change") cut competely, presumably due to space constraints. The transfers between tracks also sound a little glitchy, especially following "Rhythm of Love", which chops off the last couple of notes -- not sure if it's just my copy, or if all copies sound like this. In any case, it's worth having if you're short on "YesWest" bootlegs and just NEED high-quality live versions of "Hearts", "Endless Dream", and so on.

"Masterworks 2000" (7/17/00, PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ; mp3 src)

disc one:
1. "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra"--instrumental (2:32)
2. "Close to the Edge" (20:56)
3. "Starship Trooper" (12:46)
4. "The Gates of Delirium" (24:18)
5. "Leaves of Green" (5:07)

disc two:
1. "Heart of the Sunrise" (12:26)
2. "Ritual" (29:15)
3. "I've Seen All Good People" (8:44)
4. "Roundabout" (10:15)

This concert bootleg comes from the 7/17/00 Masterworks performance in Holmdel, NJ, which was simulcast over the Internet at SFX LiveOnline. I tore my hair out trying to figure out how to merely DOWNLOAD the archived show, but couldn't figure it out to save my life...does ANYONE know how it's done??? Well, somebody figured it out, as this set of mp3s come straight from that concert (albeit with some minor RealAudio distortion, which is really only a problem in the quieter sections.) This is, without a doubt, the greatest concert I've attended in my life, EVER, so getting a boot copy was a requirement (although I *am* hoping they'll release it officially someday!!) I even send $10 for an audience tape of the L.A. show, from the guy whose review follows my review at YesNet -- not bad, but this one is a little better (you can find both shows on Napster, or whatever's taken its place these days...)

For this monumental tour, the band surveyed fans for what songs they most wanted to hear them perform, and "Gates of Delirium" was #1 with a bullet. Also in the top five was "Ritual", which is where Jon, Chris, Alan & Igor bash away on a jaw-dropping, four-man drum/percussion quartet (why no Steve, though? I guess he was backstage getting an I.V. or something -- I swear, that man looks sooo fucking old, he resembles Mr. Burns of the Simpsons now...) "Close to the Edge", "Starship Trooper", and the obligatory "All Good People"/"Roundabout" encore are also brilliant performances, although I wish they'd replaced "Heart of the Sunrise" with something a little more rare. "Leaves of Green" is the acoustic ending section of "The Ancient" from Tales from Topographic Oceans", by the way (which the guy next to me at the concert said was called "Evergreen", thus leading to that egrerious typo on my YesNet review...ack I wish I could edit it...) Anyway, note to Jon, Steve & company...how bought releasing your old concerts currently only available on bootleg?? There's certainly a market for it, fucking Pearl Jam proved it!!!!!!!!

"Yesboots" (2CD-ROM; mp3 160k/s)

These five bootlegs were reviewed at John McFerrin's Rock and Prog Reviews page, and after much begging and pleading, John finally agreed to send me a couple discs filled with mp3s (which was the only format he had, but hey, good enough for me!!) Originally I planned to burn my own CDR copies, but for a variety of reasons, that became unfeasable, so instead I'll just review them all right here:

TOUR OF THE OCEANS (audience, B-):
This was the most disappointing of the bunch -- very hissy and distorted, and sounds like it was recorded in a tin can. Unfortunately, that's as good as you're gonna get for the TFTO tour, as no soundboard recording exists. "The Remembering" was even dropped later in the tour -- I guess even Yes found it too annoying to have to play all of Close to the Edge AND Tales from Topographic Oceans every night!!!

COMPLETE DRAMATIZED TOUR (audience, A-):
Hey, what's a Buggles show doing on here?? Oh, I see, they decided to become a Yes cover band. Gotcha. And despite what has been said & written about Trevor Horne's voice, I must admit, he doesn't do to badly here...in fact, he manages to pull off a fairly good Jon Anderson impersonation, for the most part. (Of course, this show was recorded early in the tour -- later on, in the UK, he would get booed off the stage every night. I heard that he was so traumatized by this tour, that he quit singing for good!!) He certainly can't be faulted for the train wreck of "Parallels", which is abysmal -- and the extended, reworked "Man in a White Car Suite" is merely Geoff Downes reworking "Video Killed the Radio Star" to death; his virtuoisty on keys is nonexistent, I'm sorry to admit. On the other hand, Yes/Buggles completists will covet this recording for the two totally unreleased tracks, "We Can Fly from here" and "Go Through This".

MILLERSVILLE '84 (audience, B+):
While the sound quality is merely passable, this super-rare recording is still quite interesting, as it comes from the VERY FIRST SHOW of the 90125 tour, and definitely has that anything-can-happen vibe about it. For example, they actually attempt to SING the multi-part harmonies of "Leave It", which result in a predictable train wreck...for later shows (including the 9012Live video), they would use backing tapes. Also, this show features *every* song from 90125, including "Our Song", which was dropped very early in the tour; and "Perpetual Change" was *only* played on this night of the tour! I'm sure there are better-sounding 90125-era bootlegs out there, but for what this one offers, it's pretty good.

CLOSE TO VIII PROGRESSORS (soundboard, A):
Yay, a Union show!!! Say what you want about about that sucky album, the subsequent tour will ALL EIGHT Yes-men was a resounding success!! Hard to believe that they found room for all of their egos on that tiny stage, but Rabin was wise enough to step back from the spotlight and give Howe the room he wanted, and Rick & Tony's keys complement each other quite well, and Bruford seems content to just provide background percussion. "Yours Is No Disgrace" features the wildest middle jam ever, which almost certainly will never be duplicated again, and of all the individual solos, only Trevor's ("Solly's Beard") tends to drag. This set of mp3s was taken from two different sources -- most of them sound perfect, but a few ("Lift Me Up", "Shock to the System", and a couple others) come from a different source, and sound pretty bad both quality- and compression-wise. Also, this bootleg came with a third disc of crappy soundcheck takes, which are not included here.

YESSYMPHONIC 2001 (audience, A-):
I was a bit perturbed that John's review made it seem like this show came from the professional soundboard tapes used for the Amsterdam DVD (they wound up using the second night), when in fact this one's just a regular audience bootleg. Granted, it's got excellent sound for an audience tape, about as good as you can possibly get...except, the guy taping has a tendency to scream, clap, and fiddle with the microphone in all the most inappropriate places!! (They really should teach a course on "Bootlegs 101" or something.) Also, due to a glitch of some kind, they wind up skipping "Owner of a Lonely Heart", which the other guys finally convinced Steve Howe to play by the end of the tour. And finally, I was a bit disappointed with "Close to the Edge", because I was wondering what kind of orchestration they would use for they keyboard solo, and when I got to that point, it was played by...a keyboardist!! What a gyp!!!! Still, the orchestration sounds terrific overall, almost always in sync, and they were smart enough to use the orchestra only when they really needed it (unlike that every-instrument-playing-full-bore-at-once style done by Metallica and the Scorpions!) "Ritual", in particular, is massively transcendent, surpassing even the "Masterworks" version!

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