Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Yes - The Studio Albums 1969 - 1987

Though known about for a few weeks, this box set has just been officially anounced on the Yesworld web site. Anyone hoping for any more info will be sorely disappointed. All we know is that all 12 studio albums will be packaged in a clamshell box. The mention of remastered albums simply means they are using the Rhino masters from back in 2003. So nothing new there. For any yes fan, they will already have these issues. So who is this box set aimed at? The timing is odd too. Hot on the heels of the SACD box from Japan and with the imminent release of Steven Wilsons CTTE remixes, this doesnt make much sense. Is this Atlantic trying to get something out of the publicity surrounding the upcoming CTTE release (which they licensed to Panegyric anyway and they are creating a lot of buzz) or is it to do with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination?

The competitive pricing of the box at under £40 for 13 discs (Topographic Oceans is a double disc of course) means that the packaging will be minimal. Ok, you get new Roger Dean artwork and some Big Generator remixes, which were only released on the Japanese mini LP version, but fans would really want more than this to warrant purchase. I think the discs will be in card sleeves. Hugely unimpressive if these are simple card wallets like the 5 disc Original Album series box from February this year ( yes, that was another box set). Maybe they will be like the Joni Mitchell studio box set, where they did try and replicate gatefolds and inserts. Whatever, there wont be any booklet I am sure. Which will be lacking as for the amount of bonus tracks included (66), you really do need some relevant background info on these. However, for the pricing, this is good value, especially including all those bonus tracks. So for anyone who has been off the planet for around 40 years and wanting to hear what all this Yes stuff is about its a good package. For the rest of us, the Panegyric remixes is the way to go.

 

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