THE WORD IS LIVE

A peculiar mixture of mostly previously unreleased tracks, some very good, some so-so and some strictly "for collectors only". The highlights; early Yes with Kaye and in places Pete Banks; "Drama" material with Horn and Downes spolit by the poor sound quality; and the best, Soundchaser, with Moraz and White playing a blinder, Moraz showing his electric jazz style with his solo at the conclusion. For me, it was also great to hear the medley from the Tormato tour which brought back memories of seeing them back then, but if I was being objective, their playing wasn't as sharp as on the GFTO tour or even on the 2004 tour. Neither "Roundabout" nor "Awaken" from 1979 show them at their best, the "classic" 5 peice about to break up. There's some rabin-era material which proves to be a crowd pleaser, though to me shows some of the limits of the style of music they were doing back then. The packaging is excellent, with some nice fanzine type articles and photos in the form a small hardback booklet, encasing the 3 CD's. This is the first album where price has had a real impact on my buying decision - I hesitated to buy this album at the full asking price - around £40 in the UK - but didn't have to wait long before the price tumbled to under £15. At that price, its something of a must have if you're a Yes fan, anything much more and think carefully - you're in collectors only territory.