SOMETHING'S COMING - THE BBC RECORDINGS 1969-1970

Thus comes a very odd choice to make on the star rating system. Certainly not a four or a five star, this is good but non-essential . However most fans have the original studio album of these tracks but they are different ( I personally love BBC Sesions because of the sheer quality of live recordings) so they are only to please confirmed fans of Yes , but since they are somewhat the same , this is really redundant to own this one if you have the other version of this . Therefore one might only acquire this if he is a completionist only. ! , 2 or three stars for this one ? Well my answer , you saw at the start of this review. And i was just toying around with the wording of the rating system. none can be perfect and i wish most people would use the top rating (5) less than 5% of the time because only less than 5 percent of prog albums ( this goes for every music style ever recorded ) should be masterpieces (for some prog bands with extended catalogues this mght go up to 15 percent.

This album shows Yes in their early period, before and after recording their first 2 albums. The recordings are not very good, and it seems that all are mono recordings. But this is of historic interest, at least for me. There are songs with mistakes, but it doesn`t matter. Some show Yes`skill for improvisation ("Every Little Thing"). Bill Bruford was a very good drummer since the beginning of his career. Sometimes is very impressive to hear him and his technique ("No opportunity necessary, no experience needed"). Chris Squire plays his Rickenbacker bass as always: powerful, "melodic". Jon Anderson still today has the same good voice. The sometimes underrated Tony Kaye and Peter Banks show good things each one in their own instruments. The almost "new" song (or at least not released before in a "legal" album) is "For Everyone", which has a part which later became "Disillusion" in "Starship Trooper". There are some songs with the voice of the Radio announcer. The best songs in this album, which were played before an audience, are songs 1 to 5 in Disc Two. The other songs were recorded without the feedback of an audience,and were recorded very quickly, as Peter Banks said in the notes in the booklet of this album, without having enough time to re-record some songs which had mistakes.This album was compiled by Peter Banks, and in the booklet notes he shows the contrast about enjoying being a Yes member and later being fired without explanation (with Yes`then manager) in 1970. This album is maybe only for fans interested in the early period of Yes

Unlike most Yes fans, I'm fond of the first two album simply because they sound SO different then what comes after. What thrilled me about these live recordings from their first two years is the energy and rockiness they project. Sure, the sound is terrible in spots, but at times Jon is singing his heart out, Bruford shows how masterful he is, Squire is thrashing his bass and Banks is up front, wailing his guitar. It seems that only Kaye's keyboards suffer the most sound-wise. Although songs are duplicated on both discs, the one that are tend to be my personal favorites, (Then, Sweet Dreams, Everydays). Now, what to rate this one? For fans of Yes, it's a definate 3 star album. For newbies, 2 stars. So, rounded off 2.5 stars.

From time to time, there are some jewels coming out of the boxes of the BBC. Have a listen to the double Purple "Live In Concert" (one CD for the In Rock" era and one from "Machine Head"). Have another for Genesis' one (but I guess it is still considered as a bootleg) : moments of five concerts they played at the Beeb (from February '70 to September '72). As last example, the best known is the Led Zep double CD. Three great moments of this wonderful programme. Unfortunately with this YesWork, we are far from these masterpieces. What we have here are "studio" live tracks from their first two albums and some unreleased cover version for "Something's Coming" (at least in an album). This cover is a very good by the way (like almost all their covers though) and the highlight here. Four songs from "Yes" (of which the cover "Every Little Thing") and six from "Time And A Word" (of which two covers). I consider this album as relatively weak so I can hardly be exicted with this work (the versions here are also not very deviant from the original ones). There are also six duplicate tracks which makes this album for completionists only. Two stars.

Decent rarity item for fans of the first two albums.

Early Yes live on the BBC, this is a neat little historical gem. It's true that the material from Yes' first two albums is a far cry from what they would accomplish later but this is still good and interesting. The playing is dynamic and energetic, there is nothing like experiencing the exuberance of youth whether we're talking Yes, Zeppelin, The Who, or anyone else. Hearing music from people before they were millionaires you might say.

Banks' guitar is ferocious in places and Bruford attacks his drums like a madman. You also get the rare opportunity to hear the song "For Everyone" which is sort of an early version of Starship Trooper. It's a fascinating treat to hear a Yes classic like that in an early developmental stage.

The sound quality can be a bit rough in places but isn't too bad. 2.5 stars here because this is both "for fans only" and also "good."

And now for some loud music by a new pop combo, listeners of a nervous disposition should retune now

During their early, formative years, Yes paid several visits to the BBC to record material for radio programmes. The BBC's enthusiasm for bands to re-record tracks for broadcast, rather than simply playing album tracks by them, was not as enlightened as it may at first seem. At the time, the Musician's Union was far more powerful than it is now. Radio stations were only permitted to play so many hours of records each day, the balance having to be made up by live performances. This meant many bands, including prog combos, visiting the BBC to record sessions. In many cases, these recordings were virtually the same as the original recordings, to the extent that it could be difficult to tell whether or not you were listening to the original recording. One of the main clues as to the origins of these performances is that they are largely recorded in mono, radio not being widely available in stereo until a few years later.

The tracks here are taken from the period before the band made their ground-breaking "The Yes album", and are thus pre Howe and Wakeman. This however gives us another opportunity to evaluate the work of early band members Tony Kaye (keyboards), and Peter Banks (guitar). Most of these tracks appeared in their original form on either "Yes" or "Time and a word". Those that did not have either been included in compilations, such as "Yesterdays" and the "Yesyears" box set, or have become bonus tracks on recent re-releases of the first two albums.

In all, we have about half of each of the first two albums. Some tracks, such as "Then", "Every little thing" "Everydays" and "Sweetness" appear twice in different form (the "Millenium Collection" release calls these reprises or bonus tracks.

The opening "Something's coming" is an interpretation of a Sondheim/Bernstein number from "West side story", the Yes treatment making it barely recognisable as such. The track includes a brief run through "Troika" from Sergei Prokofiev's "Lieutenant Kije Suite", better known perhaps as the instrumental theme in Greg Lake's "I believe in Father Christmas". Classical themes pop up elsewhere from time to time, "Everydays" for example including a burst of Holst. "For everyone" is in some ways the most interesting track, as part of it later mutated into part of "Starship trooper" on "The Yes album". It is also the rarest track on offer here.

The tracks on the first disc are all live in the studio performances, while some of those on the second are performed in front of an audience. There is overall, a raw excitement to the tracks which more than compensates for the dubious quality of the recordings. When compared to the more refined sound which first appeared on "The Yes album", and was rapidly developed through "Fragile", "Close to the edge", etc., things sound more than a little rough and ready here. Anderson's vocals are off key and often hard to listen to, giving little indication of the sophistication which would soon evolve on tracks such as "Yours is no disgrace" and "Starship Trooper". While I would hesitate to recommend this compilation to anyone other than Yes fans, it is nevertheless a worthwhile addition to a prog collection.

These sessions have been repackaged and re-released on several occasions. "The Millennium collection" by Yes, one of a series of releases by various bands under the same name, is identical to this release and sells for a very low price. The discs run to a little over 40 minutes each, so with a little pruning of the duplicated tracks, this could easily have been a single disc package.

My review here refers to the Millenium Collection single CD, not the 2 CD BBC sessions.

A collection of Yes 2 first albums? Again? Even if now I know those songs came from BBC Sessions, the quality has not improved. In fact, they are quite poor. If I wanted a selection of early tunes I´d pick up Yesterdays. At least Yesterdays had a non LP track to boost it at the time (their version of Paul Simon´s America, available only as a single or on a compilation of Atlantic´s roosters then) plus a b side, Dear Father. This one does not have a single unissued tune to make it at least a bit interesting. Besides, they could have at least included much more material (where are the fine songs The Prophet and Harold Land?). I can understand Yesterdays having some time limitations since it was originally released in vinyl, but what´s the excuse for this one? I think that Yes first two albums are worth having as a whole, even if they are far from perfect. But if you want a compilation of those, Yesterdays is still your best choice. Millennium Collection is just a greedy attempt to cash in, giving it with a misleading title. Don´t be fooled by it. This one is to be avoid at all costs. Zero stars.

P.S I recently heard the complete BBC Sessions 1969-1970. While far from perfect (the sound quality is of an old bootleg quality), it has some historical interest and it may be worth for the Yes hardcore fans or completionists. But only for them.

This album is clearly only for Yes collectors. With only songs from their first two albums, which on there own don't have a wide prog appeal, and lower recording quality with several doubles (Something's Coming, Everydays, Sweetness, Every Little Thing, Sweet Dreams, Then), only Yes fans will likely enjoy this.

Luckily, I am a Yes fan, and for Yes fans who enjoyed their early two discs (the "Peter Banks" era), there is much here to enjoy. The versions of Astral Traveller and Every Little Thing are particularly good. It also contains Something's Coming and Dear Father, which, if you didn't have the Rhino Remasters of Yes and Time and a Word, could even count as "new" tracks. At the time of its release, "For Everyone" (which would eventually evolve into part of Starship Trooper) was also only available on this collection, although it has since been made available on "The Word Is Live".

While I rate this as 2 stars, it is not for all Yes fans. It is for Yes fans that appreciate the first two Yes discs enough to want two more discs of the same material in lower quality recordings. I'd give it a 3/5 star rating for Yes fans.

This review refers to "The Millenium Collection" packaging.

...my ears twinged as tin foil music with treble turned up to high pitch and cardboard guitars blinged out of the speakers.

Let me tell you a story. OK, so I was wandering around aimlessly in the second hand market and nothing remotely prog could be found anywhere. The vinyl albums were both types of music, country AND western, the CDs were your basic top 40 radio rubbish, so I was about to walk out disappointed when I walked past a stall with one CD on it. The words Yes gleamed out and hit my eyeballs. My hand reached out like an instinctive reaction and greedily grabbed the gold cover. The gold leaf cover was one I had never seen and I had everything that was Yes, but I didn't have this. On the back cover I noted that these were very old live performances; 2 CDs worth of them! "How much" I managed to stammer, the disinterested vendor mumbles, "Ah.. a dollar will do for t hat". I was more than stunned. You could have peeled me off the ceiling. "OK I will take it". I mean, who wouldn't?

So I raced home and eagerly put the first CD on. 'Something's Coming' began to play. It sounded as if it had been recorded inside a shoe box. It was yes but it sounded mono and no bass and horrible production like a flipping bootleg. I skipped to the next track ,and it was the same, awful mono quality, a tiny sound like AM radio at its worst. Perhaps there is something wrong with the speakers. I checked them by putting on "Fragile"; 'Roundabout' boomed out of the speakers. No, nothing wrong with the CD player.

I put the "Millenium Collection" CD on again and my ears twinged as tin foil music with treble turned up to high pitch and cardboard guitars blinged out of the speakers. What is this? I read the liner notes; "This album features both studio recordings produced by Peter Banks and examples of radio and TV performances from the early days of the band." Ok. Enough said. That is what it is. These early performances are actually taken directly from the BBC radio or videos so as a record of early live Yes, it is... interesting is the operative word. It is not entertaining. The versions here are a pale comparison to the original studio version. The quality is so naff it is cringe worthy. The tracks are the worst the band has to offer apart from 'Astral Traveller', 'Sweet Dreams' and 'Something's Coming'. It cost me a dollar, 50 cents per CD so that's not to be complained about, because that is precisely what it is worth! This is definitely only for collectors so 2 cringeworthy stars. Everyone else steer well clear of this nasty little curio.

Here is a two-disc set of Yes in their fledgling years. According to the man at the flea market who sold me this for $12, he saw Yes in Denmark when they were practically unknown. He says they showed up in Volkswagen bus and played for the same pay as the local bands because they wanted to get their name out their and make it big. He said the next time he saw them they were using an 18-wheeler to haul their equipment. It must have been something, catching a piece of progressive rock history in the flesh like that. Born almost fifteen years after these performances, this is all I have. And while I'm grateful to hear it, I am disheartened with the presentation itself. No question- the sound quality is paper thin and terrible. The guitar is tinny and painful. While the bass and drums come through pretty okay, the rest of the music is downright muddy, and at times distressing. The immaturity of Jon Anderson's vocals are clear enough, however. Yet it is the raw enthusiasm and their clear thirst to push the boundaries of music that makes this item worth having in one's collection. The performances are no doubt lively, and while not quite as good as the studio versions, inject a degree of energy into the performance that is just amazing. "Dear Father," not a proper studio album track, is especially good. "Sweet Dreams" on the first disc inextricably fades out, while "Then" truncates the introduction. "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Required" is the sloppiest performance of the first disc, played way too fast and just sounding careless all around, even with terribly out-of-tune vocals. One enormous con with respect to this two-disc album is that the second disc is almost pointless, even when the bonus tracks are considered. The second disc offers "Astral Traveler," a better version of "Then," and "Beyond and Before." One other thing it has is a little ditty called "For Everyone," which is an early version of "Starship Trooper." The rest of the disc are different performances of some of the same songs on the first disc. I would have preferred to see some of the overlooked early masterpieces like "Survival" or "The Prophet" instead of redundant presentations. One pro however is hearing the young drumming of a certain Bill Bruford, whom I think steals the show, especially on the very first song. The commentary in the booklet from a clearly resentful Peter Banks is almost as entertaining as the music itself.

While this is a very good album that I find quite enjoyable, I rate it 3 stars, per the guidelines: good, but non-essential. Note that the edition I'm reviewing is Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (New Millennium Communications PILOT 25), which may differ slightly from the Purple Pyramid (US) release.

These recordings floated around as bootlegs for years before a couple appeared on Yesyears in 1991. Here they sound pretty good. Despite the title, the ninth (and final) track on each disc is not a BBC recording, but a non-UK radio broadcast from the collection of guitarist Peter Banks. These are of lower quality than the BBC tracks, but BBC versions of these songs ("Beyond and Before" and "No Opportunity Necessary," a Richie Havens cover) apparently weren't recorded, or at any rate weren't available for this CD.

For the most part, I prefer the studio versions of these songs, but here, in a live setting, we can appreciate not only the individual instrumental talents of Banks, drummer Bill Bruford, organist Tony Kaye, and bassist Chris Squire, but the great harmony vocals of Banks, Squire, and lead singer Jon Anderson. Furthermore, the live arrangements of those songs from Time and a Word which were originally performed with an orchestra are impressive when played live by a "combo."

Some fans might be less interested in this CD set because neither Steve Howe nor Rick Wakeman is present. In my opinion, neither is missed here. Banks is on fire on most tracks, and his unadulterated live harmony vocals are superior to Howe's. For most of these songs, Kaye's keyboards play a supporting role to the guitar, and Banks's filigrees make up for the synthesizer pyrotechnics of which Wakeman is a master. The arrangements play to Kaye's strengths.

In all, this is no substitute for the first two Yes albums. But I do believe the PA rating of 2.63 (as of June 2020) is low compared to other live releases from the band.