1.01 Firebird Suite (3.00)
1.02 Yours Is No Disgrace (15.17)
1.03 Rhythm Of Love (5.43)
1.04 Shock To The System (6.13)
1.05 Heart Of The Sunrise (11.27)
1.06 The Clap - Mood For A Day (7.56)
1.07 Make It Easy (0.58)
1.08 Owner Of A Lonely Heart (6.26)
==============================
2.01 And You And I (11.11)
2.02 Drums Duet (4.38)
2.03 Hold On (7.08)
2.04 I've Seen All Good People (7.33)
2.05 Tony Kaye Solo (1.40)
2.06 Changes (7.33)
2.07 Solly's Beard (7.19)
2.08 Long Distance Runaround (4.36)
2.09 Whitefish (8.00)
2.10 Amazing Grace (1.42)
==============================
3.01 Lift Me Up (8.52)
3.02 Rick Wakeman Solo (5.12)
3.03 Awaken (19.45)
3.04 Roundabout (9.08)
==============================

Yes
Paris, France
Le Zénith
June 3, 1991

Source: LDB Master Series #267 Torrent
Lineage: Philips stereo microphone > Sony Professional > master tape >
Aiwa Tape Deck AD-WX828 > Creative Audigy SE > HD >
SoundForge 7.0 > CD Wave > FLAC Frontend (level 6)

Jon Anderson (Vocals, Guitar, Harp)
Bill Bruford (Drums, Percussions)
Steve Howe (Guitars, Vocals)
Rick Wakeman (Keyboards, Piano)
Chris Squire (Bass, Vocals)
Trevor Rabin (Guitars)
Tony Kaye (Keyboards)
Alan White (Drums)

Setlist

1.01 Firebird Suite (3.00)
1.02 Yours Is No Disgrace (15.17)
1.03 Rhythm Of Love (5.43)
1.04 Shock To The System (6.13)
1.05 Heart Of The Sunrise (11.27)
1.06 The Clap - Mood For A Day (7.56)
1.07 Make It Easy (0.58)
1.08 Owner Of A Lonely Heart (6.26)

2.01 And You And I (11.11)
2.02 Drums Duet (4.38)
2.03 Hold On (7.08)
2.04 I've Seen All Good People (7.33)
2.05 Tony Kaye Solo (1.40)
2.06 Changes (7.33)
2.07 Solly's Beard (7.19)
2.08 Long Distance Runaround (4.36)
2.09 Whitefish (8.00)
2.10 Amazing Grace (1.42)

3.01 Lift Me Up (8.52)
3.02 Rick Wakeman Solo (5.12)
3.03 Awaken (19.45)
3.04 Roundabout (9.08)

Total Time 181:17 (2:41:17)

Remaster
1. Speed correct.
2. Adjust tonality/EQ.
3. Reduce Hiss, clicks and pops.
4. Attenuate extraneous peaks.
5. Adjust dynamics.
6. Correct channel imbalance.
7. Repair dropouts.
8. Repair tape flips/changes.
9. Track.

Notes:
Rare distortion present and unrepairable.
All tape flips/changes repaired for continuous listening experience.
Suggested CD Burn:
Disc 1: Track 1 - 8
Disc 2: Track 9 - 18
Disc 3: Track 19 - 22

======

All One Big Happy Family

The Union tour was a difficult time for the band YES. 1970's YES members Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe had just finished a successful tour as ABWH despite a threatened law suit from 1980's YES members, Rabin, Kaye, White and Squire. With the second ABWH album stalling and the record executives grappling with the idea of two bands out on tour playing YES music, the suggestion was made, or forced upon the musicians depending on whom you talk to, that all eight players should come together as the band YES. As Steve Howe has said, "(Union) was more in control of the producers than the players and that required a lot of compromise from everybody".

For the new album, appropriately called Union, material from the ABWH camp was merged with songs written by Trevor Rabin and then topped off by material written by members of the group once they were together. According to Chris Squire the production of this album was hardly a real union of the two musical camps involved, "I think it's important to note that on the album there was no point where the eight of us were playing together on any one song. It was really like Jon was going back and forth between the ABWH band and us like a loose cannon." Despite all the talent that was brought together for this endeavor, no one seemed very pleased with the end result. Rick Wakeman famously has said, "I call it the Onion album because every time I hear it, it brings tears to my eyes". Trevor Rabin referred to it as a "black mark" on the band's history.

On tour, an interesting setlist was devised. In an attempt to satisfy everyone's concept of what was YES music. There were six songs from the early 1970's Bruford-era of YES. These included: Yours Is No Disgrace, Heart of the Sunrise, Clap, And You And I, I've Seen All Good People and Roundabout. For the 1980's YES camp represented by Rabin and Kaye the following 80's material was chosen: Rhythm of Love, Make It Easy, Owner Of A Lonely Heart, Changes, Solly's Beard and Whitefish; six in all. Three Union album songs were added: Shock the System, Saving My Heart and Lift Me Up and the show was rounded out by the inclusion of a perennial favorite, Awaken.

The setlist did not change much during the tour. After many gigs the band worked out all the kinks with individual songs performed well; even the drum duet of Bruford and White was polished. Interestingly, during one show in Lake Placid the band decided to cut out the solos and play Close To The Edge. Accounts from those who were there were mixed. Anderson, Howe, Bruford, Squire and Wakeman were the only members on stage for that song and it was performed imprecisely, in the opinion of some. By the time the band arrived in New York City for the next show, the decision was made to return to the standard setlist and Close To The Edge was dropped.

Despite the uncomfortable beginning of the Union project and the lack of union during the album's creation, it appears that some actually enjoyed the tour. Rick Wakeman said, "The Union tour was a wonderful tour....it was undoubtedly the most enjoyable YES tour I ever did". The performance was presented on a circular stage, with the two musical camps forced together. Jon Anderson noted, "I felt like a bee buzzing around and pollinating everyone".

During this tour, Bruford was still using the unusual drum kit introduced during the ABWH tour. Squire was described by one fan as looking, “tremendously over weight and ridiculous in that Tormato tour jacket”. Despite the uncomfortable, forced union of these musicians at the start of the tour, another fan said, “It is known that some current and former members are really not very friendly with each other but on this night you would think they all loved each other as brothers”.

The tour began with 33 shows in North America, starting in Florida and ending in Seattle, Washington. With only one week of rest, they resumed in Europe with another 22 performances; finishing with three shows at the Wembley arena. As if that wasn't enough, it was back to the United States, again after only one week off. The tour finished in August and was followed by a long break. Five shows were played in Japan in March of the following year but that would be the end of the Union rendition of YES. After that brief tour the band split apart. Steve Howe, Bill Bruford and Rick Wakeman were no longer part of the band and the rest went on to the next project, Talk.

PRRP Staff