Yes – The Yes Album (Super Deluxe Edition) (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Yes – The Yes Album (Super Deluxe Edition) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 04:18:49 minutes | 4,97 GB | Genre: Progressive Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino

Rhino is planning to release a new Super Deluxe Edition box set of Yes‘ third studio album, “The Yes Album”.

It contains a vinyl LP, four CDs and a Blu-ray audio and features a new Dolby Atmos mix of the 1971 album by Steven Wilson. His previous 5.1 mix and a Hi-Res stereo Mix are also included on the Blu-ray (but not the original mix of the album).

In addition, the CDs include two previously unreleased concerts, the instrumental tracks and a new stereo mix (from 2014), 20 rare tracks and the original mix of the album (which is also included on the vinyl in this set).

Wilson shares his insights on the new mixes in the set’s accompanying notes: “I used my 5.1 mix as a starting point for the Atmos Mix, but found myself taking a rather different approach to some parts of the music, partly due to the additional speakers to place the sounds, but also because I have learned a lot in the almost ten years since I first remixed the album… I hope you enjoy ‘The Yes Album‘ in its new, completely spatial form. To me, it still sounds as fresh as the day it was recorded.”

Steven is referring to his mixes from 2014, which were released back then as a CD+Blu-ray set with a lot of great content. This is still available in the SDE shop, but obviously does not include the new Atmos Mix.

The circumstances surrounding the creation of The Yes Album were far from auspicious. Original Yes member Peter Banks had left, the group’s manager quit (and took a substantial chunk of their money with him), and, the day before the scheduled photo shoot for the album cover, the entire band was in a head-on car crash while returning from a concert. On top of all of that, the sessions were colored by the omnipresent pressure of their record company, which had made it clear that, after the dismal sales of their first two albums, Yes’s third release needed to make a substantial commercial impact or the band would likely be released from their contract. Incredibly, all of these factors wound up making a positive impact on The Yes Album, which not only broke big enough to save their bacon with their label, but also set them up for a one-two punch with the quick follow-up of Fragile. The addition of guitarist Steve Howe as Banks’ replacement vastly expanded the range of textural and compositional possibilities for the group, and the undeniable esprit de corps in the band’s approach to the material was undoubtedly heightened by their collective bitterness against their former manager; even the cover art got an unplanned extra bit of weirdness, thanks to keyboardist Tony Kaye’s leg being in a cast due to the auto accident. (Ironically, this was Kaye’s last album for Yes; he would be replaced by Rick Wakeman later in 1971 for the making of Fragile.) The music of The Yes Album is unique in the band’s catalog, as it sits precisely at a fulcrum between the arty pop/rock of their first two albums and the denser fantasias of their post-Fragile output. While Fragile was a much bigger hit (thanks to “Long Distance Runaround” and “Roundabout”), The Yes Album was still a substantial breakthrough, and is more daringly structured, balancing more complex numbers like “Perpetual Change” and “Starship Trooper” with direct, melody-driven tunes like “I’ve Seen All Good People” and the jazzy “A Venture.” And then, there’s “Yours Is No Disgrace,” a 10-minute album opener that somehow manages to be both a devastatingly catchy earworm and an ostentatious, multi-part suite, which makes it a perfect introduction to an album which is also exactly those two things. This excellent expanded edition includes a raft of incredible bonus material, including the de rigueur Steven Wilson remixes of some album tracks, but also instrumental versions as well. Mono mixes, alternate takes, and a handful of bonkers live cuts round out the set. – Jason Ferguson

Tracklist:
1-1. Yes – Yours Is No Disgrace (2023 Remaster) (09:41)
1-2. Yes – Clap (2023 Remaster) (03:16)
1-3. Yes – Starship Trooper: Life Seeker / Disillusion / Würm (2023 Remaster) (09:33)
1-4. Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move / All Good People (2023 Remaster) (06:56)
1-5. Yes – A Venture (2023 Remaster) (03:17)
1-6. Yes – Perpetual Change (2023 Remaster) (08:56)
2-1. Yes – Yours Is No Disgrace (Steven Wilson Remix) (09:44)
2-2. Yes – Starship Trooper: Life Seeker / Disillusion / Würm (Steven Wilson Remix) (09:33)
2-3. Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move / All Good People (Steven Wilson Remix) (07:00)
2-4. Yes – A Venture (Steven Wilson Remix) (03:33)
2-5. Yes – Perpetual Change (Steven Wilson Remix) (08:53)
2-6. Yes – Yours Is No Disgrace (Steven Wilson Remix) [Instrumental] (09:44)
2-7. Yes – Starship Trooper (Steven Wilson Remix) [Instrumental] (09:33)
2-8. Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People (Steven Wilson Remix) [Instrumental] (07:00)
2-9. Yes – A Venture (Steven Wilson Remix) [Instrumental] (03:33)
2-10. Yes – Perpetual Change (Steven Wilson Remix) [Instrumental] (08:53)
3-1. Yes – Your Move (Single Version) (2023 Remaster) (02:57)
3-2. Yes – Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Single Version) (2023 Remaster) (03:26)
3-3. Yes – Clap (Studio Version) (2023 Remaster) (04:37)
3-4. Yes – A Venture (Extended Mix) (2023 Remaster) (04:44)
3-5. Yes – Yours Is No Disgrace (Mono Mix) (2023 Remaster) (09:37)
3-6. Yes – Clap (Mono Mix) (2023 Remaster) (03:13)
3-7. Yes – Starship Trooper: Life Seeker / Disillusion / Würm (Mono Mix) (2023 Remaster) (09:27)
3-8. Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People (Mono Mix) (2023 Remaster) (06:53)
3-9. Yes – A Venture (Mono Mix) (2023 Remaster) (03:19)
3-10. Yes – Perpetual Change (Mono Mix) (2023 Remaster) (08:51)
3-11. Yes – Starship Trooper (Alternate Take) (2023 Remaster) (03:23)
3-12. Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move / All Good People (Early Take) (2023 Remaster) (03:51)
3-13. Yes – Yours Is No Disgrace (Alternate Mix) (10:09)
4-1. Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People (Live at Konserthuset, Gothenburg, Sweden, 1/21/1971) (07:23)
4-2. Yes – Astral Traveller (Live at Konserthuset, Gothenburg, Sweden, 1/21/1971) (07:25)
4-3. Yes – Everydays (Live at Konserthuset, Gothenburg, Sweden, 1/21/1971) (11:08)
4-4. Yes – Yours Is No Disgrace (Live at The Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT, 7/24/1971) [2023 Remaster] (10:55)
4-5. Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move / All Good People (Live at The Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT, 7/24/1971) (08:10)
4-6. Yes – Clap/Classical Gas (Live at The Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT, 7/24/1971) (04:33)
4-7. Yes – Perpetual Change (Live at The Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT, 7/24/1971) (15:43)

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