WONDEROUS STORIES: THE BEST OF YES

"Wonderous Stories: The Best Of Yes" is a compilation album of Yes that was released in 2011. It has some of their best and most popular songs that were released by the band between 1970 and 1983. So, their eponymous debut studio album wasn't included on this compilation. On the other hand, from the ten studio albums released by the band between 1970 and 1983, only one wasn't chosen to be part of this compilation, the album released in 1978, "Tormato".

"Wonderous Stories: The Best Of Yes" has twenty tracks. The tracks are the following: "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" and "Everydays" are from "Time And A Word" of 1970. "Yours Is No Disgrace", "I've Seen All Good People" and "Starship Trooper" are from "The Yes Album" of 1971. "Mood For A Day", "Heart Of The Sunrise", "Roundabout" and "Long Distance Runaround" are from "Fragile" of 1971. "Siberian Khatru", "Close To The Edge" and "And You And I" are from "Close To The Edge" of 1972. "The Remembering - High The Memory" is from "Tales From Topographic Oceans" of 1973. "Soon" is the last part of their epic piece of music "Gates Of Delirium" from "Relayer" of 1974. "Wonderous Stories", "Going For The One" and "Parallels" are from "Going For The One" of 1977. "Tempus Fugit" is from "Drama" of 1980. "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" and "Leave It (A Cappella Mix)" are from "90125" of 1983.

"Siberian Khatru" has a strong guitar riff by Howe, a strong and dominant drumming by Bruford and a great bass work by Squire. Wakeman's keyboards are on the background. "Yours Is No Disgrace" is their first lengthy track. We can see the progressivity in their music, especially due to the guitar and keyboard workings. "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Required" is a cover of Ritchie Heavens. It's a good version, powerful, full of energy, with fast drumming and a great fast bass line. "Mood For A Day" is a classical piece, played on an acoustic guitar, and represents Howe's personal moment. "Everydays" is a Buffalo Springfield song of Stephen Stills. This is a good version. It's a kind of a ballad, but that soon becomes more aggressive and fast. "I've Seen All Good People" is a classic of Yes. It has two distinct parts, one calm and acoustic and another rock and aggressive. It shows a perfect balance between both parts. "Heart Of The Sunrise" is one of their best and most popular songs played live. It binds together the gentle and bombastic atmosphere and the fiery technicality of Yes. "Starship Trooper" is one of their greatest songs that became a classic. It's fantastic, with great performances by all band's members. "Close To The Edge" is a massive epic of great proportions. It starts quietly with nature, which carries into the bombastic, bringing in the end the nature heard at the beginning. "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" is a massive hit single that served to open up the music of Yes to a much larger audience. It's a good rock song that made new fans did start to explore Yes' back catalogue. "Wonderous Stories" is a nice ballad with great vocals and beautiful instrumental parts. It's quite fascinating that a band with such complexity can be able to introduce such complexity in a short song. "Roundabout" is one of their best known tracks and one of the most played live. It's the result of the collective and inventive sound of the group that shows the power of Yes. "And You and I" is a melodious track, relying less in virtuosity and more in atmosphere. "Long Distance Runaround" is a charming song, with Anderson's singing, while Howe's guitar and Wakeman's keyboards, noodle beautifully together in the mix. "Going For The One" shows a typical classic Yes' song with a great guitar and keyboard workings, supported by a dynamic bass and drumming works and the voice of Anderson. "Parallels" is a typical Yes' song. It has a powerful rhythm and great individual guitar and keyboard works, well supported by Anderson's voice. "Leave It (A Cappella Mix)" almost sounds like a novelty. It's made to show vocal talents. There's no virtuosity here, no big solos and no intricate arrangements. It's simply good music well performed. "The Remembering (High The Memory)" is a complex piece. It's one of Yes' most ambient pieces. It relies heavily textures and ambient atmospheres. The melody has some of their most powerful moments. "Tempus Fugit" is a heavy and aggressive song with a dynamic bass line from Squire, unmistakable and unique in the progressive rock. "Soon" is the last part of their epic "Gates Of Delirium". This is a great piece that decompresses the tension throughout that lengthy and great epic. This is the edited single version.

Conclusion: "Wonderous Stories: The Best Of Yes" is a very complete compilation of Yes at the time. It has tracks from almost their entire studio albums released in that period of time, with the only exception of their eponymous debut studio album "Yes". So, we really can say that we are in presence of a good and very representative compilation album of Yes between 1970 and 1983. By the other hand, many of their most classic, best and progressive tracks that belong to their best and progressive albums are represented here. I'm talking about tracks from "The Yes Album", "Fragile", "Close To The Edge", "Tales From Topographic Oceans", "Relayer", "Going For The One" and "Drama". The only exceptions are "Time And Word" and "Tormato". Both are two good albums but aren't properly two great prog works.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)