HOUSE OF YES: LIVE FROM HOUSE OF BLUES

Yes fans cannot complain about a lack of live albums from the band. Virtually every tour, certainly in recent years, has been captured either on CD or DVD (or both!). While this will generate additional income for the band, and perhaps keep the bootleggers at bay, it's doubtful whether all of this live output constitutes "essential" purchases.

For me, the main attraction of live Yes albums is to savour the renewed interpretations they come up with of their older material. "Yessongs" had the extended "Yours is no disgrace", "Yesshows" had a mammoth "Ritual" and so on. "Live from the house of blues" does not really have much to offer in this respect. "Yours is no disgrace" is certainly once again elongated, and some of the other tracks are slightly modified, but while the music is of course outstanding, there's little to point to as making this album unique.

With "The ladder" being the current album at the time, a number of tracks from that album are included. "The ladder" was a credible album but I suspect none of the tracks will ever become live "classics" by the band. This will therefore probably be the only opportunity to hear them as they were performed live. That in itself is hardly enough to set this album apart.

It is good to see tracks such as "Perpetual change" getting a dusting down, and Igor Khoroshev's keyboard work on this track is particularly notable. I don't believe Igor, who was one of those rare "fans who got to play with the band", ever actually joined Yes as a full member. He is however a highly competent keyboard player, who appears to have adopted Rick Wakeman's style of playing, and thus fits in perfectly.

Don't get me wrong, if you enjoy hearing the music of Yes performed live, this is a highly enjoyable album. The quality of the performance and the music is as would be expected of Yes, and the recording is powerful and clear. Just don't expect to hear anything you haven't heard already.

Having had the privilege of seeing the band play this set live during the European leg of this tour, "Live from the House of Blues" does serve as a good reminder of that performance. A DVD of the same title is also available, and I would recommend that as a better alternative, providing as it does the complete experience.

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