Customer Reviews

Beyond & Before: BBC Recordings 1969-70

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was surprised to see no reviews yet of this CD, so I guess I'll be the first. This is really strong stuff, the band sounds really tight. The sound quality is variable, but their are some hidden gems here that you've never heard before. Remember that the YES of their first two albums was very different than the mid-70's classic stuff--more "pop" or even "folk" at times. "Something's Happening" (from West Side Story) is an example--and it's great. If you like very early YES, if you have the YesYears box set and liked disc one, by all means you should buy this!

This is a darned interesting record, not just for fans of traditional YES wanting to hear the band's sonic roots, but for folks like me who come at this set as a fan of the Beatles and the Nice etc. On these BBC recordings, YES is energetic and propulsive in their performances; several songs, especially "Beyond and Before," give me the feeling of being yanked about on a short hang-glider ride--later YES is less likely to be as concise, fast, and skittish. The longest song here is
about seven minutes. It is exceptionally neat to hear YES take an early Buffalo Springfield song ("Everyday"), put a rocket under it, and take it through smart, well-defined breaks (including some killer unison accent bits) all in less than five minutes, ending in a ferocious Squire/Bruford "buh-blam"! That track is what this record is about: YES reworking 60's pop-psychedelia and figuring out what they can do with it. Elsewhere on the web someone says of these YES BBC performances, "they play their asses off"--I agree. The rhythm section, especially Bruford at the drums, is superb. The vocals are rough on a few tracks, but fine on others. This band features Tony Kaye on a Hammond organ and the band's original guitarist, Peter Banks. No, he's not Steve Howe, but he's quite fine being who he is. His style is often angular and aggressive; he's not as interested in sounding lyrical or pretty as Howe is, but Banks also does some neat volume pedal work and some lacy effects influenced by jazz guitarists. But the bottom line: Banks is a fine, loud rock'n'roll guitar player, and he's key in giving the early version of YES a raunchier sound than fans of AOR radio might associate with this group. The playing on this record is frankly more in a 60's idiom than the 70's idiom the later band helped define. And that may actually appeal to people who are more fans of sixties' pop and psychedelia (YES work out on a 1965 Beatle song here) than of the seventies' 17-minute arty excursions the band is famous (or infamous) for.

This two disc set gives us a great snapshot of the early FM radio era of Yes. The audio quality is not so great at times, but it sounds authentic. Did someone say this sounds like early Pink Floyd? What are you smoking? This is great early prog rock. Gotta love it. I would only recommend this to the hardcore Yes fan - like myself.

Thank Goodness (or Thank "Sweetness") there are two CDs. The first one has some good songs but for me, it seemed lacking. Yeah "Every Little Thing" is interesting and "Looking Around," "Sweetness," etc. are good songs. Still, there seemed to be something missing. On CD2, I knew why I felt unsatisfied!

The version of "Everydays" on CD2 is longer and more of a rocking tune. Speaking of better versions, the version of "Sweetness" is far superior to the previous version discussed. Listen to the different ending on this one! If there was any doubt over which CD is the better, listen to "Beyond & Before"- that is one of the group's best tunes! Wonderful!
(*note -I rated this 4 Stars instead of 5 because about half of the songs throughout are listenable but not very exciting, compared to the better moments that are primarily on CD2)

wow, you can hear them play live here, and they played the songs perfectly. different atmosphere compared to studio recording, so this album is really a must. it's like we listen to Zeppelin and buy Zeppelin BBC session. Different way in playing and singing!
buy this now!!

This is a really cool double disc, although it probably should have been pared down to one, with the best versions of the respective tracks on one disc, instead of alternate takes. There is no question after listening to this CD that Steve Howe was and is the virtuoso as between the two guitarists. It's also clear that Steve got quite a bit of his raw material from Banks, especially the prominent use of the volume pedal/control to produce the signature Yes violin-like guitar sound.

What makes this especially interesting is that the tunes are often loose, rambling and improvised, a quality that Yes lost in its lineup after Banks. It's a pleasure to hear, even in this "primitive" incarnation(which was head and shoulders above the rest in terms of complexity at the time), the beautiful counterpoint harmonies of Anderson and Squire melding together the often noisy background. Bruford, as always, is right on the money, in his typical polyrhythmic way. Another joy is Tony Kaye, who weaves more traditional rock organ and keys into the mix.

Yeah, the sound isnt terriffic, but it isnt bad either. I'm on my second listen, all the way through, and the sound quality hasnt sent me running for the hills.

I have to admit a perverse fascination for Peter Banks' bitter liner notes (he wouldn't shake Steve Howe's hand, yadda yadda). This alone was worth the price of admission. Peter, Yes evolved into something different that you weren't a part of, get over it. This period of Yes music was good, but Yes, like other bands, change with the times. Nobody would doubt that the King Crimson of old is drastically different than the King Crimson of new, and both have their merits. Similarly, this CD is a beatiful time capsule, which should be treasured and appreciated, along with the other Yes incarnations. Love it! Now where did I put Relayer?

This is pure pre-nostalgy. This is how it all started.

The genuine, raw and crispy sound of the very early Yes. Very jazz-inspired and probably quite unique for the time.

Before some of the songs, you even hear the original presentations from radio reporters.

So if you're a Yes fan, or even a fan of jazz: get this! It is uniquely nostalgically interesting music!

Okay, if you're a fan of the 90210 (or whatever it was called) period of Yes, you can just click on to another page. The Backstreet Boys are probably going to be more to your liking than this incredible set of music. For those of us who like their prog with a huge dose of noise, this fits the bill nicely. You can certainly see the influence of The Nice on Yes. As great as Close To The Edge and Fragile were, this is the Yes album I grab to listen to these days. The performances on this CD are so dynamic and energetic, that they serve to point out what a bloated mess Yessongs was. This is in-your-face Yes, not the more friendly band that came later.

YES SOUNDS LIKE EARLY PINK FLOYD

This is a 2 CD set consisting of Yes appearances on BBC shows in 1969 and 1970. There are 4 different shows represented. The total time is 95 minutes.

The sound quality is so bad on this CD set, that it is not a very pleasant experience. People who like this will put up with a lot just to hear these rare recordings. The sound quality is worse than many bootlegs and worse than old live blues recordings from the fifties.

The sound is very flat with absolutely no dynamic range. There is a bunch of hissing, static and other background noise. The mix is horrible and vocals are truly stange sounding. The only plus side is that there isn't much audience noise.

This is the original Yes, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Bill Buford, Tony Kaye and Peter Banks. This band put out 2 ablums ("Yes" and "Time and a Word"). The sound was interesting but different than the trademark "classic" sound that would start on with the third album "The Yes Album".

The band is more rock oriented. The band is starting to show a progressive rock trend, but there is none of the bombastic art rock type music that would come later. They remind me of some of the early progressive rock pioneers, like Deep Purple or Uriah Heep before they went hard.

On these live recordings, the group sounds a bit different than on the studio albums. It is really interesting how they play around and rearrange the music. They sound very much like Pink Floyd did during this time, driven by a heavy organ rhythm.

The packaging is very nice. Not what you would expect with such horrible sound. There are extensive liner notes from Peter Banks. Apparently, he really hates Steve Howe.

This would be a great CD to buy if the sound quality wasn't so poor. I think the bad sound eliminates any chance of being able to enjoy the music. Instead of this, I would suggest getting the Doors, Live In Detroit. Now there is an album from the same time period, but with very good sound quality. And talk about wonderful guitar and keyboard solos. Plus, the Doors go on to play another hour after the schedule closing time. I have always been miffed at Yes, since one time when I saw them, they didn't play Ritual because they ran up against Tucson's curfew. The curfew didn't bother the Allman Brothers. They played Mountain Jam with house lights on.

Banks and Kaye departed from Yes and formed Flash, which sounded just like early Yes. They had one good album and Kaye left. Both did some solo material. Kaye rejoined Yes for their most popular "Owner of a Lonely Heart" period.

"a must have for every jazz fan"? I don't know what this guy thinks jazz is, but it sure is'nt on this cd. I am a huge Yes fan but this cd is not one of there better ones, in fact it's there absolute worst. Better of buying the origanal albums YES and TIME AND A WORD.