Union 30 Live

[bondegezou]

Forthcoming is a limited edition 26CD + 4DVD set from the Union tour, organised it seems by the ARW side, mixing official recordings with a beat-the-boots approach. Details at http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wnyesm.htm#archlive

Henry

[jarmsuh]

I can only imagine how much it will cost and it's enough to discourage me to buy a product by a band that has not released anything good in decades...

[bondegezou]

I can only imagine how much it will cost

There's one US site with a $386.99 price tag. Clearly some retailers have jumped the gun before the promo launch, so we may not be seeing accurate prices yet.

Henry

[Dan Roth]

I can only imagine how much it will cost.

Preorder site is up and it’s $299.

https://www.musicglue.com/yes-union-...ersary-edition

The press blurb mentions “some fans are paying in excess of $70 per show from various Japanese websites.“

Must be the same “Fans were paying over $100 dollars for a second-hand [ARW] shirt and can now buy our official merchandise at a sensible price."

[bondegezou]

The press blurb mentions “some fans are paying in excess of $70 per show from various Japanese websites.“

(The other) Yes have said it's fine if you want to download stuff for free from yessongs.nl.

Henry

[mydiax]

Preorder site is up and it’s $299.

https://www.musicglue.com/yes-union-...ersary-edition

The press blurb mentions “some fans are paying in excess of $70 per show from various Japanese websites.“

Must be the same “Fans were paying over $100 dollars for a second-hand [ARW] shirt and can now buy our official merchandise at a sensible price."

If purchased from the link above, the total with shipping is just under $400. Almost $100.00 for shipping.....

[Dan Roth]

funny no one noticed if purchased from the link above, the total with shipping is just under $400. Almost $100.00 for shipping.....

You might be the first person to actually add it to their cart and take a look at the checkout page...

[reynard]

If purchased from the link above, the total with shipping is just under $400. Almost $100.00 for shipping.....

Well I was first made aware of this release via an email from Gonzo this morning and at the end of said email is this fwiw:

ATTENTION ALL NORTH AMERICAN FANS.

Whilst we would love you to buy the set directly from us, the $75 shipping costs are insane!! We recommend you order your copy from one of our US domestic partners, links below:
https://recordstoreday.com/UPC/5056083208531

https://www.popmarket.com/union-30-l.../5056083208531

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X8D2RSN...4105800&sr=8-1

ATTENTION ALL JAPANESE FANS.

Whilst we would love you to buy the set directly from us, the $75 shipping costs are insane!! We recommend you order your copy from Disk Union our Japanese domestic partner, links below:

https://diskunion.net/progre/ct/detail/1008271957

And also for the record, I did buy the Rabin box set and am regretful. Was motivated mostly by 90124 which I never got originally and the second hand market had gotten far out of my price range. So figured for a little more then it would cost to get a hold of it, I get that plus two live shows and and some nice remasters etc. Well first off the box far bigger then it needs to be for what it contains so shelving it can be a problem and the remastering doesn't sound any better/different then my original recordings of his solo stuff (to my ears) and the bonus song on Face to Face isn't actually on the disc. Just a radio single edit of a song so no loss really but just points to the lack of quality overall. The live shows are good but of course they're not hard to get a hold of and weren't crazy expensive
before the box release. Regardless, caveat emptor and all that... needless to say this "box" is something I'll certainly be passing on.

[bondegezou]

I did buy the Rabin box set and am regretful. Was motivated mostly by 90124

What were the liner notes like for 90124? The original standalone release had misprinted liner notes so large portions of text were missing. I wondered if they'd been corrected for the box set release.

Otherwise, I entirely agree with your reasoning.

Henry

[JKL2000]

I can only imagine how much it will cost and it's enough to discourage me to buy a product by a band that has not released anything good in decades...

I'm holding out for the 50th Anniversary release of it!

[Dan Roth]

[bondegezou]

The Wakeman archival live sets by Gonzo were badly done. The Trevor Rabin box set by Gonzo was badly done. Gonzo is a re-born Voiceprint and the badly done Voiceprint releases are too numerous to mention. If this was being done by Rhino, I'd be pre-ordering. Done by Gonzo, ain't interested.

Henry

[Harbottle]

The Wakeman archival live sets by Gonzo were badly done. The Trevor Rabin box set by Gonzo was badly done. Gonzo is a re-born Voiceprint and the badly done Voiceprint releases are too numerous to mention. If this was being done by Rhino, I'd be pre-ordering. Done by Gonzo, ain't interested.

Henry

Totally agree. I won't buy anything by Gonzo.

[arturs]

^^^ Can't comment on the Rabin set, but VP/Gonzo definitely has a mixed record. On the plus side, Gonzo put out the fantastic 10-CD Hugh Hopper series. They also put out a very nice Third Ear Band archival series that is essential for fans, though Esoteric subsequently re-did it within their re-issue program. The other thing I can point to that they did very very well was the original Union Live set, most of which appears to be incorporated here.

I own the limited Union Live set that introduced me to the Pensacola show. As a performance absolutely brain-melting. As a boot, mediocre. I wouldn't pay for eight more shows of that quality. But if many of these are indeed multitracks or well-balanced soundboards, then well maybe I'll consider it. It is also priced at the high end. I think $199 is more the right price point. Progeny was only around $75.

[kilianltia]

I own the limited Union Live set that introduced me to the Pensacola show. As a performance absolutely brain-melting. As a boot, mediocre.

They literally ripped TheTooleMan's excellent multicam remaster DVD (available for free on DIME and other similar outlets), cropped the image slightly to exclude his watermark and made people pay for it. TheTooleMan subsequently said that had they asked him he would have given them the original files without watermarks!

[arturs]

They literally ripped TheTooleMan's excellent multicam remaster DVD (available for free on DIME and other similar outlets), cropped the image slightly to exclude his watermark and made people pay for it. TheTooleMan subsequently said that had they asked him he would have given them the original files without watermarks!

If it allows the band to get paid for their work, I have no problem with commercial releases of former bootlegs. Given Yes' continued willingness to work with Gonzo I assume the band have been getting paid. Also the bootleg status of Pensacola and Denver was made clear in the sales materials for the original Union Live so I knew what I was buying. I agree they should have made an effort to find the best versions out there and it sounds like they did not.

That being said I don't think I would want 8 more Union tour bootlegged shows, even for free, and I certainly would not want to pay $30 per show. I had assumed that this release did in fact incorporate the live tapes mentioned by Jon Kirkman a few years ago. If this is a competing release then yes that is very frustrating particularly if there are multitracks that are not being released.

[bondegezou]

If it allows the band to get paid for their work, I have no problem with commercial releases of former bootlegs. Given Yes' continued willingness to work with Gonzo I assume the band have been getting paid. Also the bootleg status of Pensacola and Denver was made clear in the sales materials for the original Union Live so I knew what I was buying. I agree they should have made an effort to find the best versions out there and it sounds like they did not.

The current Yes aren't generally willing to work with Gonzo. This release has been organised by Larry Magid, who was working with ARW, and is being promoted by Rick Wakeman. It's Wakeman and Rabin who work most with Gonzo, although Anderson and Bruford have too. Presumably appropriate permissions have been obtained from the current band/band members to allow this, although, that said, it is possible that either no permissions were needed (the current band, Howe or White may not have any control over this material) or permissions were just not obtained (wouldn't be the first Voiceprint/Gonzo release where that's happened).

Henry

[battema]

For years I was so excited to get my hands on an official Union live release and I was over the moon when Gonzo's prior set was announced. Once I finally had it, heard the quality...I honestly don't think I've listened more than once to the whole thing.

There are eras of the band where I'd gladly pay for a King Crimson-style box of remastered boots and things from Yes. Relayer + Drama tours spring to mind. I don't get a ton of mileage from Progeny but am glad I have it. But if the prior release from Gonzo represented the potential best of what's available then this would need to be under $100US to justify the cost for me.

Given the cluttered/storied/many armed history of Union, too bad they couldn't have done something like a disc or two of outtakes, early versions from the ABWH II material, B sides and things. Still not sure it'd overcome the likely price point but it'd add something more than paying hundreds for repackaged boots.

Just my $0.02.

[kilianltia]

Oh dear... It seems they have no shame at all.

If they had gone back to the original station masters and freshly re-transferred the radio sourced material then there might be a reason to get this but I'd bet they have just taken widely available bootlegs and burnt them onto CDs here. Extra points if they didn't find the best available bootleg sources!

As for the "mixed by Trevor Rabin" tag on the Mountain View show, he already mixed the original one so I'm willing to bet it's identical to the 2011 DVD release. If they had had any intention of releasing a worthwhile package they would have finally edited and mixed the Denver show but that would have actually involved a budget.

But yeah, by all means, let's get in the queue for the Union tour water bottles. Fukcing hell...

The most frustrating thing is that Jon Kirkman, I think it was, mentioned the possibility of a Progeny style set from the Union tour on one of the Cruise To The Edges. I'm speculating here but chances are that would actually have been sourced from multitracks. With this being released, they have absorbed the hole in the market for a Union tour release meaning we will probably never get to hear that material.

[Paulrus]

As for the "mixed by Trevor Rabin" tag on the Mountain View show, he already mixed the original one so I'm willing to bet it's identical to the 2011 DVD release.

I was at that Mt View show. As I recall at one point (maybe during the long delay while they were fixing microphones) Jon said something like "I can't think of more things that can go wrong... "Hey guys, let's record tonight!"" That's what they consider worthy of inclusion in an expensive box set?

[profusion]

The most frustrating thing is that Jon Kirkman, I think it was, mentioned the possibility of a Progeny style set from the Union tour on one of the Cruise To The Edges. I'm speculating here but chances are that would actually have been sourced from multitracks. With this being released, they have absorbed the hole in the market for a Union tour release meaning we will probably never get to hear that material.

There's a good chance that any proper multitrack recordings from the Union tour (and it HAS to have been considered, considering the cash grab nature of the entire project) would have burned up in the Universal fire. Arista would have had control of those originally.

1969-87 material would be controlled by Rhino now, so whatever unheard stuff still exists would reside there. Just based on the shows used on Yesshows, Detroit '76 and Rotterdam '77 should be release candidates if the multitracks survive. New mixes of those complete shows would be auto-buys for me. Apart from that, there might not be much left that isn't already circulating.

The best bonus material for this boxed set would be special footage of Rabin and Howe giving each other icy stares backstage.

[bondegezou]

1969-87 material would be controlled by Rhino now, so whatever unheard stuff still exists would reside there.

Is owned by Rhino (Warner), but not necessarily residing with them. Tapes could have ended up with band members, for example.

Henry

[kilianltia]

In other news, now Yes apparently played Wembley Stadium on the Union tour... A two minute google search would have revealed that it was in fact Wembley Arena.

[calyx]

This gets my award for the least attractive mega-box set.

[Rufus]

In other news, now Yes apparently played Wembley Stadium on the Union tour... A two minute google search would have revealed that it was in fact Wembley Arena.

Yes, two nights! I was at the 2nd!