YES / LA Forum 1974 Mike Millard Master Tapes / 2CD

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The original master excavation of the legendary virtuoso Mike Millard, who has been the protagonist of 2020. A historical masterpiece, which is the latest bullet, is released on Press 2CD.

[The ultimate masterpiece tour in rock history] This time, “TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS TOUR”, which is a masterpiece of YES, has achieved permanent preservation. It is the finest audience recording of “The Englewood Performance on March 18, 1974” which is one of the acts. Speaking of 1974, Millard was in its infancy. It was the fifth recording according to the list that he himself made. In the first place, the reason why I was recording from that early on was because Millard himself was a YES fan. First, let’s look back at the whole picture of the “ocean topography tour” that ignited the initial impulse of the legendary master and confirm the position of the show.

● 1973
・November 16-December 10: UK (25 performances)
<<December 7th, “The story of ocean topography” release>>
● 1974
・February 7-28: North America #1 (21 performances)
= “Recollection” is missing from the set =
・March 1-25: North America #2 (22 performances) ←★here★
・April 11-23: Europe (10 performances)
<< May 18: Withdrawal from Rick Wakeman >>
*Note: The above is a rough one. The program for all dates is unknown, and there are days when all songs are not played even before “North America #”.

This is a century masterpiece tour. After all, this tour started with the concept of playing the two works “Crisis” and “The Story of Ocean Topography” as a whole. “Reminiscence” began to fall from the set on the way though it was delayed, but it was still a rare tour with 6 large songs in the 10-20 minute class. The Englewood performance of this work is the second half of such a historical tour. It was the 17th performance of “North America #2”.

[The highest peak update version of mirrored recording that has been loved for many years] This work recorded at such a show is a brand name that conveys the master sound of the legendary recording. In the first place, this recording has been loved as a treasure of the “ocean topography tour”. The show with a large set of big songs was the extreme of the dramaticism that Rock could draw, but unfortunately no soundboard recording was left. Therefore, for many years, enthusiasts have been pursuing the ultimate audience, but this recording was the “final answer”. Of course, the point is tremendous sound quality. It’s too natural to call the “mirrored collection” “high quality” and it’s so wonderful that it exceeds the limits of the vocabulary, but the fact is true. On core that you can’t feel the distance from, detailed details, and strangely distant audience noise… Why is it possible to capture the sound so far after only the fifth time? He says, “Effort makes a genius,” but I think the genius is a genius from the beginning… I can’t help thinking so.
Moreover, this work is the most original sound that can be encountered in the present age. It originates from the DAT that was directly dubbed from the Millard original cassette, and is the master announced by the prestigious “JEMS”. As a matter of fact, a similar touching master was discovered before, and it was loved as “TALES FROM GREAT WESTERN” in our shop. However, this JEMS board has surpassed everything. The sound is up, but what’s especially great is the longest update. Not only the intro at the beginning of the performance and the outro at the end of the performance, but also the parts that fade with a tape change and the division of the disc are recorded for a long time.
The JEMS master had been upgraded in almost all aspects, but when we analyzed it microscopically, there were some parts where the conventional master was the winner. It is “ancient civilization”. It is a tradition to patch out the late recording part on the next day by “March 19th” mirrored recording, but the new master was a little short (39 seconds) on the day. Also, although the cause is unknown (probably a mistake at the time of transfer), there were two silent parts (5 seconds and 6 seconds). In this work, such a part (50 seconds in total) is also supplemented by “TALES FROM GREAT WESTERN”. We have realized the “longest version of the day” that transcends the original sound version published online.

You don’t have to talk much about the contents of the show. The “five golden people” are playing the set of “Crisis” and “Marine Topography”. It is a show that truly embodies the utopia of the progressive rock. This work is a press 2CD that preserved the scene permanently with the master sound of Millard. Although it may not be possible to become a popular record in the world due to the fact that it is recorded as an audience, its true value is a transcendental record that transcends even “Yes Songs”. Experience the symphonic rock treasure as much as you want.

★ Compared with the already released “TALES FROM GREAT WESTERN”, all of the intro/outro/tape change points/disc split points are recorded longer. The sound quality is also upgraded.

(Remastered memo)

★Improvements in the JEMS Mirrored Master Edition announced this time.
* Although the cause is unknown, the following from The Ancient is missing due to silence.
12:41-12:46 / 12:58-13:04
After adjusting the existing sound quality and pitch, I compensated for it and am not sure.

*The JEMS Mirrored Master announced this time has been replaced by Zakkuri and 3/19 Long Beach performance from The Ancient 18:03 to the end, but it has already been released from 18:03-18:42 (3 Since it was recorded in /18), I adjusted the part and replaced it without discomfort, and connected it from 18:42 to 3/19 performance cleanly.

★By the above processing, it will be the only board in the world that records the longest and best mirrored sound source.