Yesyears


Yesyears is the first boxed set by English progressive rock band Yes, released in August 1991 on Atco Records. After the group left Atco for Arista Records when they became an eight-man formation in 1990, the deal gave Atco the right to the band's back catalogue, thus allowing them to release a career-spanning box set. Yesyears contains studio and live tracks from 1969 to 1991 with previously unreleased mixes and songs, digitally remastered by Joe Gastwirt.
One of the major attractions of Yesyears was its inclusion of rare material, including many previously unreleased songs, and a full-colour booklet detailing Yes's history. A cut-down 2-CD edition of Yesyears, titled Yesstory, was also made available, while Highlights: The Very Best of Yes, effectively a single CD version of the set, appeared in 1993. Yesyears was discontinued in the late 1990s, preceding the release of Rhino Records' In a Word: Yes , an updated 5-CD box set, in 2002. Most of the rare material found on Yesyears but not on In a Word would surface as bonus tracks on Rhino's reissues of Yes albums in 2003 and 2004.
An official home video documentary on the band's history, also titled Yesyears, was released as a companion to the box set.

Track listing

Yesyears failed to chart in the UK or United States

Personnel

Yes

  • Jon Anderson – lead vocals, harp, guitar
  • Peter Banks – guitar, backing vocals
  • Bill Bruford – drums
  • Tony Kaye – keyboards
  • Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals ; lead vocals
  • Steve Howe – guitar, backing vocals
  • Rick Wakeman – keyboards
  • Alan White – drums
  • Patrick Moraz – keyboards
  • Geoff Downes – keyboards
  • Trevor Horn – lead vocals
  • Trevor Rabin – guitar, lead vocals

    Additional musicians

  • David Foster – backing vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Billy Sherwood – additional background vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards

    Video

Yesyears is a 1991 video retrospective covering the band's history to that point, from their formation in 1968 through their 1991 album Union and its subsequent tour. It was released in conjunction with the box set. The video features interviews with the entire band, which, at the time of filming, featured eight members.
This rockumentary mixes new interviews with archive clips from live concert footage, recording session footage, television appearances and music videos, as well as a behind the scenes look at the then-ongoing 1991–1992 Union tour. The video was originally released on VHS. In the UK, both Yesyears and Greatest Video Hits were reissued on DVD on 9 February 2003, though Yesyears has never officially appeared on DVD in the US.
AllMusic called the video: "A surprisingly good and honest portrait of the band and its entire history" and said the interviews are "surprisingly candid". The Guardian wrote: "This DVD rockumentary is, on first glance, a rather ghastly affair, full of wrinkled men with mullet haircuts and transatlantic English accents. But as it lumbers along, you find yourself warming to them and their story, and perhaps even joining them in hankering after those halcyon days of the early 1970s."