PROGENY - SEVEN SHOWS FROM SEVENTY-TWO

The question looming over everyone's heads when this box set was released was no doubt: Does anyone really need seven additional versions of these ten songs? The answer turns out to be an unequivocal yes. Despite the recent departure of Bill Bruford, Yes were unquestionably on a musical peak when these shows were recorded, with many of the songs exceeding the quality of the studio versions in every version here ("Yours Is No Disgrace" stands out), and the performances actually vary significantly from night to night, and in some cases, radically; for example, Howe's solo set sometimes bookends "Mood for a Day" with excerpts of "Clap", and sometimes plays one before the other. The band also delves into improvisation at times, with "Yours Is No Disgrace" almost doubling in length in the Nassau performance. Rhino also has to be commended for doing a superb job with the packaging; there are liberal doses of Roger Dean artwork and extensive essays from Syd Schwarz and Brian Kehew on the background of the recordings and the technical process behind the remastering of the material, respectively. It should finally be mentioned that the sound quality is superb. There have never been better- sounding live recordings of this material, and Rhino's engineers wisely avoided subjecting the material to any "loudness war" shenanigans. This music sounds as clear as if you were in the audience. This set is strongly recommended, and will undoubtedly be a future classic of prog music.