{"id":28588,"date":"2024-12-22T05:30:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T10:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28588"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:24:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:24:59","slug":"boxed-set-review-yes-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/22\/boxed-set-review-yes-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxed Set Review: Yes \u2013 Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in August, I reviewed a CD reissue of Yes\u2019 Talk<\/i>, the band\u2019s 14th<\/sup> studio album, released in 1994. Since that time, I have received another configuration of that reissue, one that merits another look and listen. Spirit of Unicorn Music \u2013 an imprint of UK-based Cherry Red Records \u2013 has released a boxed set of the album; this 4CD set includes the original release plus discs filled with alternate versions of the studio tracks and a complete concert recording from the tour in support of the record.<\/p>\n

Setting aside for the moment whether one of Yes\u2019 (arguably) weakest studio entries deserves the kind of lavish treatment afforded by a box, let\u2019s dig into the set and see what\u2019s worthwhile.<\/p>\n

For my review of the album itself \u2013 in other words, Disc One of this set \u2013 I invite you to go here<\/a><\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Subtitled Talk Versions<\/i>, Disc Two includes no less than three alternate versions of \u201cThe Calling,\u201d Talk<\/em>\u2019s opening track and single. The first cut is noted as a \u201cspecial version,\u201d and it\u2019s my understanding that this recording running just over eight minutes is what guests at the album\u2019s premiere\/listening party would have heard. It features a quiet interlude mid-song. A single edit is just what\u2019s described on the tin (as they say): the same song with some two minutes trimmed. A third version (radio edit) splits the difference, trimming only one minute from the album version. True, \u201cThe Calling\u201d was in fact a high-charting hit single (Billboard<\/i> Rock #3) but I have no recollection of hearing it on the radio \u2013 nor anywhere else \u2013 in 1994. In any event, experiencing 19-plus minutes of \u201cThe Calling\u201d might be a lot for most listeners.<\/p>\n

An untitled Trevor Rabin instrumental (inventively titled \u201cUntitled\u201d) is clattering, unfocused and very much of-its-time. Rabin\u2019s undoubted skill and artistry are on vivid display, but the song itself borders on the unlistenable. (Come to think of it it, \u201cUnlistenable\u201d might have been a more apt title.) At nine-minutes plus, a demo of \u201cEndless Dream\u201d is interesting, but the brittle, programmed drums and thin audio quality make it a tough listen as well. Even with that long run time allowing all manner of opportunities to develop a memorable melody, it\u2019s almost wholly lacking in that regard. Moreover, Jon Anderson\u2019s vocal on the track is simply dire.<\/p>\n

An instrumental mix of the Rabin\/Anderson composition \u201cWhere Will You Be\u201d is nice enough, but neither does it linger in the mind once it\u2019s through. An no-vocals edit of \u201cWalls,\u201d however, rocks with commitment and intensity. An exemplar of the Rabin-era Yes sound, it\u2019s easily the best moment on this second disc. The standard mix of \u201cWalls\u201d was actually released as a (promo) single, charting at #24.<\/p>\n

Talk Versions<\/i> concludes with a two-minute instrumental edit of \u201cEndless Dream.\u201d The edit brings together the most lively part of the track; some (oh, but not me!) might suggest that it\u2019s superior to the nearly eight-times-longer album version.<\/p>\n

The entirety of a Canandaigua, New York concert (June 19, 1994) is featured on the third and fourth discs of the boxed set. I\u2019ve read some reports calling into question the sonic quality of the live recording, but I find it quite listenable. As a reminder for long-suffering Yes fans, the band at this point featured Anderson on vocals, Rabin on guitar, bassist Chris Squire, keyboardist Tony Kaye and Alan White on drums.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re in fine form here, though the decision to front-load the set list with new tunes is a bit perplexing. The first six songs \u2013 nearly all of the first of those two concert discs \u2013 are all drawn from Rabin-era releases like Big Generator<\/i> and (of course) Talk<\/i>. The massed vocal harmonies toward the end of \u201cI Am Waiting\u201d are impressive, though, and when Squire\u2019s throaty bass finally cuts into the mix, it\u2019s a quite welcome \u2013 and sorely needed \u2013 burst of energy.<\/p>\n

A reading of the complex and compelling \u201cChanges\u201d is a highlight of the set. Muscular, knotty and thrilling, it\u2019s a tour de force, and may well justify the entire box. And Yes keeps things going from there with solid takes on classics \u201cHeart of the Sunrise\u201d and \u201cRoundabout.\u201d Trevor Rabin\u2019s style is quite different from that of Steve Howe, but he does what he can to deliver the songs in a manner that\u2019s equal parts true-to-history and a showcase for his own gifts.<\/p>\n

The fourth disc (and second half of the concert) features some relative rarities: the instrumental \u201cCinema\u201d \u2013 originally from 90125<\/em> \u2013 and the little-heard \u201cMake it Easy\u201d are both heard in appealing versions. In between is \u201cCity of Love,\u201d a reading of the 90125<\/i>\u00a0album cut that\u2019s filled here with dated sonic flourishes: orchestra hits, pig-squeal arena-rock guitar licks, brittle drum triggers, too-earnest-by-half lead vocals. To call it gruesome is to bestow kindness it barely deserves; stick with the studio version if you must hear it at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cOwner of a Lonely Heart\u201d doesn\u2019t fare much better. The reading is fairly faithful to the original, but it feels forced and stiff. A minute and a half piano solo (from Rabin, not Kaye!) leads into a nice-enough take on \u201cAnd You and I,\u201d but Yes purists aren\u2019t likely to count this arrangement among their favorite of the countless released versions of the classic epic tune.<\/p>\n

The arrangement of \u201cI\u2019ve Seen All Good People\u201d is also significantly changed from the studio recording on The Yes Album<\/i>. In contrast to the 1994 arrangements of other Yes classics, it\u2019s effective and enjoyable. Unsurprisingly, \u201cWalls\u201d comes off well live here. The set ends not with a Yes catalog chestnut but with eighteen minutes of \u201cEndless Dream.\u201d For Yes adherents who somehow didn\u2019t find Tales of Topographic Oceans<\/i> dull and ponderous, it may hold interest. Others may glance repeatedly at their wristwatch.<\/p>\n

In summary, the boxed set reissue of Talk<\/i> has scattered gems, and is recommended primarily to Yes completists. Most listeners will be better served by the single-disc, or (dare I say) by most any other release in the Yes catalog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in August, I reviewed a CD reissue of Yes\u2019 Talk, the band\u2019s 14th studio album, released in 1994. Since that time, I have received another configuration of that reissue, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,56,64,65],"tags":[2413],"class_list":["post-28588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-prog","category-reissue","category-review","tag-yes","cat-19-id","cat-56-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28588"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31058,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28588\/revisions\/31058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}