THE YES STORY

I picked this attractive jewellery box up at a good price in a bargain bin, the words Yes screamed out to me to buy it and so I did thinking I had a real treasure. Imagine my surprise when I got home and played this only to find it was actually a selection of solo performances by those involved in Yes, including their wives and siblings. Perhaps I should read back covers more thoroughly.

There are Yes songs but they can be counted on one hand; A 17 minute live version of 'Awaken' was a great way to kick things off. 'Open your eyes' was another version of the track from the same titled album that did not do too well when it was released. 'Yours is no disgrace', 'Roundabout' and 'I've Seen All Good People' are the other Yes tracks and they are satisfactory though I have heard them ad infinitum on other albums in different guises. These are all from "The House of Blues" which I never bothered with so it was the best thing about the compilation.

The rest of this collection is curiously low key and difficult to enjoy on repeated listens. This is really a 'Friends of Yes' compilation with solo stuff from various sources including the volume 2 of 'Friend of Yes' in particular.

The Rick Wakeman "Classic Tracks" album is represented by a poor man's version of his opus 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'; a 32 minute version no less and I thought the original was enough, who wants to hear another version? Wakeman also features with a different version of 'Merlin the magician'.

Jon Anderson has a solo stint with 'Owner of a Lonely Heart', a curio without the others, and he also sings 'Dancing fool'.

Squire has some solo material joined by Billy Sherwood on 'Violent Purple Rose' and 'Lonesome Trail'. His wife is here too in the band Esquire singing the poppy 'Tron Thomi'.

Steve Howe is a showcase member as usual and features on a very different version of 'To be over' and an intriguing version of Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands' where he is joined by Jon Anderson; bette than the original need I say. The best thing Howe does is 'It's All Over Now Baby Blue' with Annie Haslam. They sound terrific as a duet.

Other artists include a rare melancholy track from Jemma Wakeman. The booklet, by the way is abysmall, and might as well have not bee included as it offers nothing new inte wayu of pictures or information. Compare that with the stunning informative 98 page booklet with the 5 CD box set "In A Word: Yes"! Of course that collection is five times the price but its better to get that and not waste cash on these mediocre money grabbers. This is worse than "The Milenium Collection: Yes" and that's saying something.

So this is a case of false advertising. The title is 'The Story of Yes' when it really should have been 'The Solo Performances of Yes, family and Friends'. This is definitely for collectors only; none of these tracks measure up to the original tracks. So rather than play this, I settle with the original albums and this comp rarely troubles my CD player; some of these tracks I have played a grand total of one time. Newcomers to Yes need to look to the first 5 albums and steer well clear of this cash in.

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