Revealing Science Of San Diego (Highland HL223)
Civic Center, San Diego, CA – December 9th, 1997
(67:19): Rhythm Of Love, Open Your Eyes, Heart Of The Sunrise, From The Balcony, Children Of Light, Long Distance Runaround, Owner Of A Lonely Heart, The Revealing Science Of God, I’ve Seen All Good People
Revealing Science Of San Diego is a one disc set sourced from a radio broadcast of the December 9th, 1997 Yes show in San Diego. The sound quality is excellent stereo but with some mastering glitches in the first half of “Heart Of The Sunrise.” Highland released this in 1998 and several years later “Long Distance Runaround” was used on a bonus disc for Magnification, included on YesSymphonic and Magnification – Collectors’ Edition in 2002.
The tape cuts in several notes into “Rhythm Of Love” and has no DJ comments or station IDs which has lead some to speculate it isn’t a radio broadcast at all. Nevertheless it is a fascinating tape to have, not only for the sound quality but for the interesting selection of songs to be broadcast. “Rhythm Of Love” was the third song played that night but is strangely first on the disc. Yes at this time where emphasizing a distancing from the Rabin band and a return to the classic sound, and to begin a radio broadcast with one of their most eighties sounding songs is strange.
New material played as well. “Open Your Eyes,” the title track from their latest album, is given a long word of explanation by Jon Anderson, saying, “If I remember we wrote this song via Fed-Ex and then we got together to polished it off of course and the song the title of the new album. It’s called ‘Open Your Eyes.'” It is a potent performance and an effective Yessong which unfortunately hasn’t been played since.
The other new song is “From The Balcony,” which Anderson discusses, “We were recording this new album Open Your Eyes and me and Steve met in the hotel to go down to the studio and then we just wrote a song before we left and then we recorded it so let’s see what it sounds like.” It is a pretty song with a catchy melody but isn’t developed enough for Yes standards. One of the revelations is a tight, three minute version of “Children Of The Light,” one of the few songs from the Keys To Ascension sessions to be played live. They play a sparse arrangements lasting about half of the studio recording.
The expected “Owner Of Lonely Heart” with ending embellishments by Koroshev is played before “Revealing Science Of God.” Dropping the more familiar and rehearesed “Close To The Edge” from the broadcast in lieu of this is a gutsy move on Yes’ part and to have such a pristine recording of the Topographic Oceans track is a tremendous blessing. “I’ve Seen All Good People,” the first encore, is included but “Starship Trooper” is missing. Overall Revealing Science Of San Diego is a commendable release by Highland and with seeking out.
