Yes: Beyond And Before: The BBC Recordings 1969 - 1970 auf 2 CDs

Line Up: Yes: Jon Anderson (vocals); Peter Banks (guitar); Tony Kaye (organ); Chris Squire (bass); Bill Bruford (drums). Recorded live at the BBC, England in 1969 & 1970.

YES were actually formed in 1968 by the two original members Jon Anderson (Vocals) and Chris Squire (Bass). They met in Soho, London and soon realised that they had a unique vocal harmony that has always remained as a prominent feature of the group. They recruited Bill Bruford on drums and and were eventually joined by Peter Banks on guitar and Tony Kaye on keyboards.

This two-disc set consists of BBC sessions from 1969 and 1970, when Yes was still in its creative infancy. That's not to say the band's sound was undeveloped or unfocused, just that they had yet to metamorphose into the prog giants they were destined to be. With original guitarist Peter Banks plying a somewhat more traditional rock sound, and keyboardist Tony Kaye eschewing the carnival-like flights of his successors, the original Yes was a much more grounded band. Their covers of songs by Richie Havens and Buffalo Springfield emphasize the folk-rock element that played a part in their early sound. Most of the tunes on BEYOND AND BEFORE appeared on the first two Yes albums, but these live-in-the-studio versions have more rawness, with Banks, Kaye, and bassist Chris Squire frequently kicking the group dynamic into overdrive. Of special interest to hardcore Yes fans are the previously unrecorded cuts, include a version of the showtune "Something's Coming" and an original song, "For Everyone." BEYOND AND BEFORE presents a band that's embryonic but hardly unsophisticated. (thestoreformusic. com)