Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy Two

Production

Yes completed their Close to the Edge tour from July 1972 to April 1973 to support their fifth studio album, Close to the Edge (1972). The tour visited North America three times, the UK twice, and Japan and Australia for the first time. A selection of shows from 1972 from the Close to the Edge and the previous Fragile tours were recorded which formed much of the material on their first live album, Yessongs (1973).

Work on Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two began following the discovery of several multi-track reel-to-reel audio tapes containing seven full shows from the Close to the Edge tour, some being the source recordings of parts of Yessongs. They were found during the search for bonus material to include on the remastered reissues of the band's back catalogue. The original recordings were flawed in parts due to various recording mishaps, but were remixed using modern technology to attempt to compensate, particularly for the lack of bass guitar. The mastering engineers also took care to avoid the loudness war practices common to modern recordings. A lengthy essay detailing the remixing practices used during the preparation of the set is included in the packaging, and while the audio quality has received praise from some, others note the low level of Chris Squire's bass guitar, despite the attempts to boost it.

The seven shows were recorded during the second North American leg of the Close to the Edge tour. They are:

Sleeve design

The album features new art work designed and illustrated by Roger Dean.

Critical reception

In a positive review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek rated Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two four-and-a-half stars out of five.

Track listing

Note that four discs are inaccurately labelled:

Replacements are available from Rhino Records.

Personnel