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Yes - Something's Coming - The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 CD (album) cover

SOMETHING'S COMING - THE BBC RECORDINGS 1969-1970

Yes

 

Symphonic Prog

2.64 | 171 ratings

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patrickq
Prog Reviewer
3 stars 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.

patrickq | 3/5 |

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