Big Towne, 2061
	Produced and Arranged by Yes (track 5 by Tony Wilson)
	Released on November 24, 1980
	UK CHART POSITION #22 . . . US CHART POSITION #43
	Find it at GEMM
SD 2-510 cover [high resolution photo]

T he other white meet. In lieu of the later live works, Yesshows looks pretty good, but at the time it was an also-ran, slipped into the market shortly after Drama in order to cash in on whatever cachet remained. The shows themselves actually date from 1976 through 1978, which means you’ll find names like Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz playing on these tracks (remember them?). As for the performances, they’re a little noisy, but I don’t envy them having to perform “The Gates of Delirium” and “Ritual - Nous Sommes du Soleil” live. (Actually, I’ve heard them do a better version of “Ritual,” so I know it’s possible.) And while “Gates” is cacophonous sometimes, the closing “Soon” provides Yesshows’ Bic lighter moment, so all is atoned for. The three tracks from Going for the One are great, especially the opening “Parallels.” As for the one (thank you God only) song from Tormato, Chris Squire and Steve Howe work hard to make “Don’t Kill the Whale” sound like a legitimate rock song. Bet they did a great job of “Release, Release” during the 1978 tour too. I wouldn’t tell you to buy this before Yessongs, but it’s a nice companion piece if you want to catch up on the later, classic years. The two releases (all five albums’ worth!) don’t duplicate any songs, though Yesshows does reach back to “Time and a Word” for some reason. As for the performances, Squire and Howe are great, White is good (better on the possessed if strange drum solo during the second half of “Ritual”), Wakeman and Moraz kind of noisy (blame the state of late ‘70s keyboards if you must) and Anderson on key most of the time. Yessongs transcended the live medium, Yesshows doesn’t, but it’s still a better listen than Tormato or Drama. Better the Yes you know, I say.

SD 2-510 inner gatefold	SD 2-510 back cover

TRACK LISTING

record one

1. PARALLELS    (Chris Squire)    6:57
2. TIME AND A WORD    (Jon Anderson/David Foster)    4:05
3. GOING FOR THE ONE    (Jon Anderson)    5:13
4. THE GATES OF DELIRIUM    (Steve Howe/Alan White/Chris Squire/Patrick Moraz/Jon Anderson)    22:58
   
   record two
   
1. DON'T KILL THE WHALE    (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire)    4:12
2. RITUAL (PART 1)    (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman/Alan White)    12:13
3. RITUAL (PART 2)    (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman/Alan White)    16:09
4. WONDEROUS STORIES    (Jon Anderson)    3:55

CREDITS

JON ANDERSON -- vocals
STEVE HOWE -- guitar
CHRIS SQUIRE -- bass, mixing
RICK WAKEMAN -- keyboards
ALAN WHITE -- drums
Patrick Moraz -- keyboards
Geoff Young -- engineer
Nigel Luby -- engineer, live recording
Mike Dunne -- live recording
Bill Aitken and Neil Burn -- engineers (5)
Magnetic Storm Ltd. -- cover design
Lisa Tanner -- photography
Roger Dean -- cover painting

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