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SDBRD 9.4 /Audience 8.1/Audience 8.8/Audience 8.3 - A comprehensive collection but not everything is represented here, but I would say the more complete recordings are…and so, well, what you get is a pretty mixed bag. The good stuff is very good, and the not so good stuff is…not so good. What does it mean? Should I get this 4 disc set? Yes you should if you care anything at all about this seminal band. There just isn’t a whole lot of live “bootleg” recordings because they predate the era of the taper – not to say there aren’t tapes from 1967-1968 because there are, but not nearly as plentiful or as good as tapes that were made subsequently. That being said, I still found myself listening to everything in this set because you can’t argue the fact that hearing Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page before they were rock gods is immensely interesting. The Yardbirds "The Anthology 66-68" Disc 1 Stockholm, Sweden (Featuring Jimmy Page) April 1967 01 -Shapes Of Things 02 -Heart Full Of Soul 03 -Mr. You're A Better Man Than I 04 -You Go Your Way 05 -Over Under Sideways Down 06 -Little Games 07 -My Baby 08 -I'm A Man Unknown Location 1966 (Featuring Jeff Beck) 09 -Shapes Of Things 10 -For Your Love 11 -Hang On Sloopy Disc 2 Civic Center Santa Monica, CA July 22, 1967 01 -Train Kept A Rollin' 02 -You're A Better Man Than I 03 -Heartful of Soul 04 -I Wish You Would - Hey Gyp 05 -My Baby 06 -Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine 07 -Smile On Me 08 -I'm A Man 09 -Over Under Sideways Down Allen Theatre, Cleveland, OH April 25, 1968 10 -Train Kept A Rollin' 11 -You're A Better Man Than I 12 -Heartful of Soul 13 -Dazed & Confused 14 -White Summer 15 -I'm A Man Disc 3 The Fillmore Auditorium San Francisco, CA, USA July 25 or 26, 1967 First Set 1. -Intro 2. -Train Kept A-Rollin' 3. -You're A Better Man Than I 4. -Heart Full Of Soul 5. -I Wish You Would - Hey Gyp 6. -My Baby 3:08 7. -Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I‘ll Go Mine) 8. -Shapes Of Thing Second Set 9. -Smokestack Lightning 10. -Bye Bye Bird 11. -Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 12. -Smile On Me 13. -Glimpses 14. -I Ain‘t Done Wrong 15. -Over Under Sideways Down Disc 4 Shrine Exposition Hall Los Angeles, CA May 31, 1968 00 -Intro 01 -Train Kept A Rollin' 02 -You're A Better Man Than I 03 -Heartful of Soul 04 -Dazed & Confused 05 -Shapes of Things 06 -I'm A Man 07 -White Summer 08 -Smokestack Lightning 09 -I'm Waiting For The Man 10 -Bye Bye Bird 11 -Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 12 -Drinking Muddy Water 13 -New York City Blues 14 -I Wish You Would 15 -Hey Gyp -
Pro TV Studio 8.7 - A good live recording with atmosphere, it sounds slightly dated but has the ability to transport you to the time and place…I think that when a recording can do that, it overcomes some of the limitations that may be present. This recording does lack a little bit of middle band clarity. Yes Amsterdam Concert Hall Netherlands 1972 (Last track - Hollywood Bowl 1975) 1. I've Seen All Good People 2. Heart Of The Sunrise 3. Rick Wakeman Solo 4. Long Distance Runaround 5. Yours Is No Disgrace 6. The Gates Of Delirium -
Audience 9.2 - A big and warm sound here, with excellent clarity and dynamics. The music at full blast gets just a bit of overload (not distortion, but just a sense of the wall of sound thing) all in all it is safe to say this one is highly recommended. Yes December 01, 1974 Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana Disc 1: 1.01 Firebird Suite (2.47) 1.02 Sound Chaser (9.45) 1.03 Close To The Edge (20.20) 1.04 To Be Over (9.39) 1.05 The Gates Of Delirium (22.17) 1.06 And You And I (9.20) Disc 2: 2.01 Ritual (24.54) 2.02 Roundabout (9.02) -
Audience 8.7 - Good and clear! -
CD 1 - Audience 8.7 - Good and clear! - (also listed by itself) CD 2 - Also contains other materials from 1971 -
Audience 9.4 - Lively, crisp, detailed sound make this a MUST have for this tour. -
Audience 8.4 - A really good capture all things considered. At moments it gets very immersive. -
Audience 8.3 - Not too bad, with some telltale big hall boom (not that much) and maybe recorded from somewhere in the middle of the hall. It’s a welcome tape though, not that many decent 76 shows to choose from. -
Audience 9.2 - Sweet “in the pocket” sound makes this a great listen! -
Audience 8.8 - Very nice and clear, with a great low end presence and warm atmosphere. Absolutely lovely to listen to and besides that it’s from a relatively poorly documented tour. Very worthwhile! -
Audience 7.7 - Somewhat compressed sound translating into a murky type mix, but sonically it is not offensive just not very detailed. There’s also some tape noise present. The selling point of course is that this is a very adventurous, musically speaking, set. Long long tracks with much bravado and brilliance. Worth it for that alone! -
Soundboard 9.2 -
Radio Broadcast 8.8 - Well, this is one unique sounding recording for a radio broadcast. When I first began to listen I thought this was an open mic style thing but when the guitar kicked in I knew it was probably a live mixed open mic/close mic job. The engineer battles to get a decent mix but it doesn’t reach the levels of what you’d expect of a professional broadcast recording. Does that mean it is bad? No, it’s decent sounding for all intents and purposes…but it certainly could have been a lot better. That said, it’s a great performance by the band. I was introduced to the music of Yes not by the ubiquitous Close To The Edge but from the album Tormato, which they are touring here, and in particular by the song “Don’t Kill The Whale” which I love to this day and which is performed here. Yes International Amphitheatre Chicago, Illinois, USA 24 September 1978 Disc 1 1.01 -WKQX Intro (0:06) 1.02 -Young Person's Guide - Close Encounters Intro (4:07) 1.03 -Siberian Khatru (10:13) 1.04 -Heart Of The Sunrise (11:09) 1.05 -Future Times - Rejoice (7:04) 1.06 -Circus Of Heaven (5:12) 1.07 -Time And A Word - Long Distance Runaround- The Fish - Perpetual Change - Soon (25:42) Disc 2 2.01 -Don't Kill The Whale (4:32) 2.02 -Madrigal (0:51) 2.03 -The Clap (4:47) 2.04 -Starship Trooper (10:15) 2.05 -On The Silent Wings Of Freedom (7:57) 2.06 -Madrigal (1:13) 2.07 -Rick Wakeman Solo (5:31) 2.08 -Awaken (16:11) 2.09 -I've Seen All Good People (8:13) 2.10 -Roundabout (8:51) 2.11 -WKQX outro (1:02) Jon Anderson - vocals, guitar, harp Steve Howe - guitars Chris Squire - bass quitars Rick Wakeman - keyboards Alan White - drums -
Soundboard 9.5 - Fantastic, sparkling, brilliance! Right up there with the Cleveland show from 1978. -
Soundboard 9.8 - Exceptional sound and performance make this not only a must have, but a desert island disc! -
Audience 8.6 - Steve Howe guitar is prominent in the mix, which I am fine with.