Progeny: Highlights From Seventy-Two

Yes

Atlantic, 2015

http://www.yesworld.com

REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/13/2016

Trepidation: that’s the word for what I felt when approaching this album.

Requests for a review of Progeny—the 14-disc Yes set containing recordings of seven full shows from the famous 1972 Close To The Edge tour that produced the triple-LP/double-CD live extravaganza Yessongs—arrived as soon as the boxed set was announced. (It’s true, I do have a reputation to uphold…)

Here’s the thing. Yessongs was my point of entry for one of my favorite bands. Whatever its flaws—mainly, a frustratingly muddy mix and a significant amount of after-the-fact studio fiddling—it’s where my Yes journey began, and the hills and valleys and lakes and streams of that album are as familiar to me as my own back yard. I didn’t particularly want to hear an alternate version of an experience I’ve cherished for 40-plus years; even moreso when we’re talking about seven shows with identical setlists.

Ah, but then Atlantic, clever buggers that they are, decided months after the initial release of Progeny to issue a two-disc compilation of the best from the seven shows represented on the original boxed set. Not a hundred-dollar, 14-disc set repeating the same tracks over and over, but a twenty-dollar, two-disc set featuring only the best version of each track, a virtual parallel-universe twin to Yessongs, without either the studio trickery or the muddy mix.

Fair enough, I know when I’m beaten.

Progeny: Highlights presents most of the Yessongs setlist—“Perpetual  Change,” “Long Distance Runaround/The Fish,” and “Starship Trooper” are missing—culled from long-lost reel-to-reel recordings of a series of November 1972 shows in cities like Durham, North Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Uniondale, New York. The band is heard in the lineup that featured on the entire my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Close To The Edge tour, and many more afterwards: Jon Anderson (lead vocals), Chris Squire (bass/harmony vocals), Steve Howe (guitar), Rick Wakeman (keyboards) and Alan White (drums).

The results are undeniably intriguing. The first thing you quickly realize is that there was more than a little studio “fixing” applied to the Yessongs tracks, as a variety of minor flubs crop up in even this “highlights” collection. Howe and Wakeman’s performances in particular feel more immediate and human, with different entry points for solos and occasional missed notes or tempo mishaps. Squire’s harmony vocals are also less prominent and not as consistently pitched as on the Yessongs recordings.

What it might lack in smoothness of the performances captured, though, Highlights more than makes up for in sound quality. The sound here is significantly clearer than on Yessongs, with more definition, dimension, and impact across the board, and new subtleties evident in the much sharper and cleaner mix. Wakeman in particular is heard clearly in parts of songs like “Siberian Khatru” and “I’ve Seen All Good People” where he’s barely audible on Yessongs, and little bits of Anderson harmonizing from quieter sections of “Close To The Edge” have been restored.

Howe’s playing in general feels more aggressive and less fluid than on the performances we’re familiar with, notably on his big solo on “Yours Is No Disgrace,” which varies significantly from the Yessongs version. On the bass front, I’ve read a few reviews on Amazon where people claim Squire isn’t loud enough in the mix, but I honestly don’t know what they’re talking about, unless maybe they’re comparing this to Yesshows, the Squire-mixed 1980 live album that presents the bass as the lead instrument and leaves everyone else in the background.

As often told in Yes legend, Alan White was recruited to replace Bill Bruford behind the drum kit in the final week before the Edge tour began and had literally three days to learn the group’s setlist. You’d never know by listening to these recordings (or those on Yessongs). While he has more of a straight-ahead rock drive in most cases than the more jazz-inflected Bruford, he attacks these songs with confidence and flair, propelling the entire band along with him.

Realistically, Yessongs will always feel like the definitive document of Yes’s 1972 tour, studio tweaks and all—there’s just no erasing 40 years of listening to, and virtually memorizing, those performances. What Progeny offers is a choice for serious Yes fans between a muddy mix with near-perfect performances, or a sharp, clear mix with flawed performances. Each has obvious pros and cons. I expect that Yessongs will always be considered the definitive live presentation of this tour, but Progeny offers both a fascinating historical document and all the evidence a fan could ever ask for of the audacity, virtuosity, and sheer power this band was capable of delivering from the concert stage in its prime.

Rating: A-

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 2016 Jason Warburg and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Atlantic, and is used for informational purposes only.