Yessongs

Composition

The album opens with the final section from Igor Stravinsky's orchestral work The Firebird, which has been a standard opening for the majority of Yes concerts since 1971. The two tracks from the Fragile tour — "Perpetual Change" and "Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" — feature Bill Bruford on drums. The remaining tracks have his successor, Alan White. Bruford performs a drum solo on "Perpetual Change", which is preceded by an extended guitar performance by Howe accompanied by Bruford and Squire. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" is considerably longer than the studio version with bassist Chris Squire playing an extended solo. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman performs a medley of excerpts from his solo album The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Singer Jon Anderson sings a passage from Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring before the medley. "Mood for a Day" is an unaccompanied guitar performance by Steve Howe, who also takes extended solos during "Yours Is No Disgrace" and at the end of "Starship Trooper".

Sleeve design

The album was initially released on three discs in a fold-out package featuring artwork by Roger Dean. Inside are four individual panels by Dean which continue a theme that began with Fragile in 1971. On the back cover of Fragile is an image of a small planet breaking apart into several large pieces with a giant sailing spacecraft nearby. The first panel in Yessongs, titled "Escape", shows the craft apparently leading the planetary fragment through space. The second panel ("Arrival") depicts these fragments landing in the waters of a new world. In the third image ("Awakening") this new landscape becomes the habitat for various plant and animal species. The final image ("Pathways") depicts the emergence of civilisation (Dean's cat walked across this piece whilst still wet and its paw prints can be clearly seen). This theme is also the basis of the film Floating Islands. The sailing craft was used as a small logo on many of the band's subsequent albums, and the image sequence inspired Yes vocalist Jon Anderson's first solo album Olias of Sunhillow in 1976, although Roger Dean was not involved with that album's artwork.

The original Bob White plot for the RPG Ultima IX: Ascension compared the original ending of the game to Dean's artwork on Yessongs.

Release

Yessongs was released on 18 May 1973. Its was originally set for release in February 1973 prior to the band's 1973 North American tour, but delays in printing its cover led to its release pushed back. It peaked at number 7 in the UK and number 12 in the US. The album was certified gold in 1973 and platinum in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was also certified Gold in Canada and in Germany.

Reissues

18 February 1987 – Original CD Issue – Atlantic Records (CD)
27 September 1994 – 2-CD Remaster – Atlantic Records (CD)
25 July 2001 – 3-CD HDCD Remaster by Isao Kikuchi – US "accordion" style cover – Warner Japan AMCY-6293 (CD)
22 July 2009 – 2-CD SHM-CD Remaster by Isao Kikuchi – original UK booklet style cover – Warner Music Japan WPCR-13517/8 (CD)
18 September 2013 - 2-SACD Release as part of the High Vibration box set.

Missing from the Yes "expanded and remastered" 2003/2004 series by Rhino/Warner (like Yesshows, 9012Live and Big Generator), Yessongs was most recently remastered in 2009 by Isao Kikuchi. The album was published by Warner Music Japan as part of their "Yes SHM-CD Papersleeve" series. Yessongs is the sole album from this series not to have bonus tracks.

Concert film

The show on 15 December 1972 at the Rainbow Theatre on London, UK was filmed and released in 1975 as the concert film Yessongs.

Recording dates and locations

The original album sleeve did not include any details on the source of the album's recordings.

By audio comparison, "Close to the Edge" and "Starship Trooper" were recorded at the Rainbow Theatre on 15 or 16 December 1972 as they were included in the Yessongs film.

It is assumed that "Perpetual Change" and "Long Distance Runaround"/"The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" come from shows at the Academy of Music from 19 and 23 February.

The release of Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two reveals further audio similarities:

(The first half of "I've Seen All Good People" does not match any specific performances on the Progeny set or in the Yessongs film; it may be culled from the performances at the Rainbow which were not used in the film, or may be from a performance which was later overdubbed. There are also possible overdub fixes to vocals and other parts in "Heart of the Sunrise" and "Roundabout.")

Personnel