In a Word (2002)
Disc One
1. Every Little Thing
2. Sweetness
3. Survival
4. Then
5. Sweet Dreams
6. Astral Traveler
7. Time and a Word
8. Dear Father
9. Yours is No Disgrace
10.Clap
11.Perpetual Change
12.Starship Trooper
13.I've Seen All Good People
Disc Two
1. Roundabout
2. South Side of the Sky
3. Heart of the Sunrise
4. America
5. Close to the Edge
6. The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)
Disc Three
1. Siberian Khatru
2. Long Distance Runaround
3. The Gates of Delirium
4. To Be Over
5. Going for the One
6. Turn of the Century
7. Wonderous Stories
8. Don't Kill the Whale
9. Release, Release
10.Arriving UFO
11.Richard
Disc Four
1. Tango
2. Never Done Before
3. Crossfire
4. Machine Messiah
5. Tempus Fugit
6. Owner of a Lonely Heart
7. It Can Happen
8. Leave It
9. Hold On
10.Rhythm of Love
11.Love Will Find a Way
12.Holy Lamb (Song for Harmonic Convergence)
13.Brother of Mine
14.Fist of Fire
15.I Would Have Waited Forever
Disc Five
1. Lift Me Up
2. The Calling
3. I Am Waiting
4. Mind Drive
5. Open Your Eyes
6. Universal Garden
7. Homeworld
8. The Messenger
9. Last Train
10.In the Presence Of
It seems a bit strange that a supergroup such as Yes would release a box set of material so soon after their last multi-disc collection. Fortunately, for whatever reason, a lot more care went into this one, and it runs circles over 1991’s Yesyears.
This overall package seems to just flow so much better. The former compilation contained too many outtakes, rarities, and bizarre selections. Like its predecessor, this one tends to try to focus on the more well-known stuff, and the material is presented chronologically (for the most part) as well. Since it had been eleven years, this means that an entire disc of material is featured with newer material, which also makes this package more endearing.
No box set is perfect. Missing from this compilation are two of the very best Yes songs, 1972’s And You And I and 1977’s Awaken. My guess is that the exclusions may had more to do with the length of these two pieces – the 5 discs are packed quite tight with material. Plus, had they included And You And I, that would have meant that the entire Close To The Edge album would have been featured here. I’m sure that decision was probably frowned upon by someone in the Finance department.
There are only six unreleased rarities amongst all the material here. The first three, Dear Father, the re-worked Simon and Garfunkel classic America and Richard are all very strong additions. The next four, sadly, are rather pointless and seem to only take up space. Had it been up to me, I would have chosen a slightly different mix of tunes from the fifth, latter day disc, but I suppose the same could be said for any fan.
In short, a great retrospective that puts 1991’s Yesyears to shame and makes it basically obsolete.
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