Quite how four-fifths of the classic Yes line-up landed up in conflict with their bass player who had the rights to the band name is just another chapter in one of rock’s greatest soap operas. Suffice to say this is a live album from the 1989 ABWH tour featuring a pile of Yes glories from their 70s heyday along with some songs from their then-recent self-titled album.
The show was quite the spectacle. After a mood-setting introduction of Benjamin Britten’s grandiose theme (actually by Henry Purcell) from The Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra, Anderson drifts in with Time And A Word, accompanied by acoustic guitar, into which he weaves Owner Of A Lonely Heart which had revived Yes’s fortunes a couple of years earlier.
After Steve Howe’s Clap the show moves forward majestically, with new songs like Birthright slotting seamlessly between Long Distance Runaround and And You And I.
As a two-CD/DVD package, however, there are problems. Recorded for a TV pay-per-view, the sound does not do the band justice. Plus bassist Jeff Berlin is ridiculously low in the mix. Listeners will also have to accept Bruford’s electronic drum kit and Wakeman’s synthesiser obsession which give it a dated 80s feel.
