yes - roundabout (live at montreux 2003) ... aka old white dudes kicking some rock and roll ass ...

[mr_lebowski]

I'm so glad there's a great video/recording of this whole show ... seriously.

Aside from Bruford (and White is no slouch, though he's also no Bruford), we get the ultimate Yes lineup ... all the way out in 2003, when recording tech was thankfully 1,000 times better than the early 70's ... Jon still had a semblance of his old voice, Chris was still alive ... I could go on and on with nerdy Yes shit, but ... yeah ...

So, hope you enjoy ... this is pretty much 'end of an era', IMHO ... but there's lots of other great versions of great songs from this show if you hit up the YT ... 'And You And I' in particular is also killer, among others ...

[dweller]

1. sAw them in 75

in Johnson city Tenn ... best laser show ever
they wer at a peak

✌🏼️

[Adsos Letter]

2. Their Fragile album is in the top 5 of my favorite Rock & Roll albums of all time.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. One Nit To Pick

The ultimate Yes line up was with White. While i agree with you on Bruford, their greatest success came with Alan on drums.

BTW: I did see King Crimson on the "Beat" tour when they rolled through Chicago. Bruford, Copeland and Peart are my favorite drummers, and i believe for good reason.

[mr_lebowski]

4. I cannot stipulate to that ;)

Yes Album/Fragile/Close to the Edge were their greatest successes and unless my memory fails me, all have Bruford on Drums ...

Besides I get to pick MY ultimate yes lineup, but everyone else is free to pick their's. Pretty sure mine is what at least 90% of serious Yes fans would pick though

[ProfessorGAC]

5. My Error

Because i saw them on the Close to the Edge tour and Alan was the drummer, i forgot that he came in for the tour because Bruford left right after the album was released.

We do disagree a little on Bruford vs. White. I think Bill's better and more adventerous, but Alan is awfully good too. Not like there is a Grand Canyon of difference between the two. Just subtle differences that make Bill better.

Having said that, seeing both the Fragile and Close tours, i think Alan made the live show more powerful.

That's probably why my favorite album in those days was Yessongs. There was power in those versions that was lacking in the studio versions. Some of the mechanical nature of things like Siberian Khatru became much more powerful live with Alan on drums.

Just a preference.

[mr_lebowski]

6. I'd agree White definitely has a more muscular style, and like I said he's no slouch ...

Other than on Reunion tour, he's the only one I've seen them with (90125 x 2, Big Generator, Reunion were the Tours I saw 'em), and Reunion had both, though IIRC Bruford was more a percussionist on that tour while White handled the main duties but I may mis-remember.

Not like I go 'awww...man ... I gotta see 'em with Alan ... womp womp' ... not like I would with, say, Trevor Rabin taking Howe's place ... lol ...

LIVE, I'm pretty neutral, but on RECORDS, I prefer Bruford's, for sure. Though Alan kicks some serious ass on The Gates of Delirium, among others of course.

So arguably ... THE ultimate LIVE Yes lineup in this vid. And you can find the whole show on YT and DVD, it's pretty damn great.

Yessongs IS amazing (Yours is No Disgrace is a particular fave, love the intro) but I swear it frustrates me because it's a very subpar recording job, even for 1973 and being a live album. Listen to that and No Quarter on The Song Remains the Same back to back and it's real glaring ... and TSRTS isn't even the highest caliber of live recording available circa 1973.

I wish SO MUCH they could clean Yessongs up and make it sound great somehow (Yesshows sounds 100x better, granted its like 1980) cause the performances are STELLAR but the freaking recording sounds like it's made through a cardboard tube ... still I played the hell out of it back in High School

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Saw Them 3 Times

I forget which tour it was but it was after the Close tour. (3 years, maybe?)

That was when they did the "in the round" format with the revolving stage. That was a really good show too, except Jon's voice was a little ragged. When he just spoke, it sounded like he had a cold.

I've always been partial to live albums because i always wanted to know "Can those guys really do that with no extra takes and no punch ins?"

Being a musician myself, and having done a limited amount of studio work, i think it's always been easy to be better on record than when having to go out and reproduce it live.

Perhaps if i had hits or something it would be different, but i don't know i could have played a keyboard or guitar solo the same way every time, even if it was my solo in the first place!