Barry Rogoff

> If 8/30's taper had just decided or been able to attend 8/31 we'd REALLY have a miracle.

Sorry about that. I was buying rather expensive tickets from a scalper at that time and was confident that I'd get a good recording of the first show. If I remember correctly, the second show (this one) was added only after the first one sold out. Had I known that there would be a signficant difference between the two, I would have taped the second one as well.

D. A. Payne

Since this one popped up again today in "what's new" I might as well add an update to my earlier post of a year or so ago.

8/31 and now 8/30 [78]are the only two live performances of Release Release I've heard. An interesting tradeoff between the two - one [8/31] is the better, more flawless performance while 8/30 enjoys vastly superior recording quality.

If 8/30's taper had just decided or been able to attend 8/31 we'd REALLY have a miracle. On 8/30 Jon in particular was having some significant trouble with RR - voice just not hitting the high notes, cracking and even off key at times. He didn't seem to recover fully until after Parallels, but with Silent Wings et al he was firmly back in control. The others meantime had their own problems during RR - it was an almost impossible bronco of a piece even for Yes in their prime

I imagine Yes had quite a post-show discussion about the 8/30 RR performance and decided the following night had to be better. Indeed, 8/31's RR was tighter, more energetic, had more inspired instumental improv, and all vocals were spot on. It had all the studio version's precision, together with the energy only a live rendering could deliver. Sadly, the recording quality was average to poor and in the referenced factory boot it appears to have two spliced sources - one sounding even worse than the other.

So now I'm most intrigued by Mr. Wurm's comments below. I'd forgotten there were more than 3 RR performances and it seems logical the piece would've gotten better each night before it finally was dropped. The September night he refers to no doubt was something else. It's tempting to hope again a high quality audience tape of a flawless Release Release delivery might exist after all. Considering the vast and tragic ommissions afflicting THE WORD IS LIVE ["TWIL"], no doubt it'll never see proper light of day if it does.

WURM

EXCUSE MEEEEEE. THERE WAS NO RELEASE, RELEASE ON 9/3/78 or 9/4/78. 9/3/78 WAS THE FIRST SHOW WITH DON'T KILL THE WHALE INSTEAD OF RELEASE RELEASE. OUT OF THE 6 TIMES THEY PLAYED RELEASE RELEASE 8/28/78, 8/29/78, 8/30/78, 8/31/78, 9/1/78, 9/2/78. I HAVE 8/31/78, 9/1/78, 9/2/78. THE BEST IS 9/1/78. A FEW SHOW LATER PARALLELS WAS DROPPED FOR THE GREAT VERSIONS OF STARSHIP TROOPER EVER!!!!

WURM

I HAVE THE SHOWS FROM 8/31/78, 9/1/78, 9/2/78, 9/3/78, AND 9/4/78. THE RELEASE RELEASE FROM 9/1/78 PROVIDENCE IS INCREDIBLE.

OrsonWellz

Kudos to Payne; I share his sentiments regarding "Release, Release".

Indeed it is a shame that this back-of-the-house perspective is all we can muster for a live recording of this nugget, though having even this murky account obviously tops the alternative of no recording at all. Even if the band should once more feel their respective oats and brave a 21st century attempt of this scorcher, methinks they could not possibly bring the energy, stamina and R&R bravado required to mirror this Boston rendition.

And having duly noted the mediocre quality of this recording, allow me at the same time to profoundly thank whoever is responsible for said mediocrity. But for you and your surreptitious little recorder, we'd all have to go without.

D. A. Payne

Though fortunate enough to have caught Greensboro [NC] 14 days later I regret not having attended this one. Why? Primarily, though not exclusively, Release Release. So important a moment in Yes history was it I'm compelled to offer a review from only a poorly made CD of an average quality '70s audience tape.

Already one of Tormato's two best numbers, RR could be called the Sound Chaser of Wakeman's Yes. Complex, stunning and brilliant even by Yes standards, like Sound Chaser it delivers an added dimension of supernova shock waves albeit without the Moraz-inspired avant garde. According to Yes themselves it was such an energy drain to play they decided to drop it after only two or three performances. Even Sound Chaser for all its Herculean demands in precision, creative improvisation and raw energy alike had been a staple at every Moraz era concert.

The Highland CD referenced below serves as our only record of RR live, at least that I've run across. Despite a less than stellar quality audience tape [even for 1978] and a couldcareless volume CD burn, this piece in concert was so powerful it can't be adequately described. Yes had to gear up for it with a moment of silence broken only by a series of metering rim shots from Alan White, as if they were preparing to storm the Normandy beaches or launch into some straight classical epic. Jon's careful introduction of it suggested a deep sense of awe at what they had created. The studio version pales in comparison, though it was strong enough to suggest how much more Tormato suffered from poor production than poor writing.

Silent Wings in various performances came a close second, and like RR was more powerful live. Horribly, it doesn't appear on the CD under discussion despite being listed as such. More live versions of it are available and heard by vastly more people, but if RR, Parallels and Awaken from this concert are any indication to have dropped it was inexcusable. Never mind we're dealing with a bootleg CD of poor quality to begin with. Awaken too was incredible - a better performance even than one from NYC the following year whose audience recording quality was superior.

For all its distortion and missing high-end, the Highland CD let enough through to justify reviewing three exceptional works from one stand alone Tormato tour stop. Even an inferior audience recording captures it like industry edits never do. Hopefully someone who was actually there will post a review one day.