Yes‘ most familiar ’70s-era albums have undergone a remarkable sonic transformation as Steve Wilson creates new Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound mixes. Steve Howe is still listening to the originals.
“There are different mixes and they all have their different values,” the guitarist tells Rolling Stone. “And maybe it’s the time I should confess that for me, the original mixes are the original mixes. It’s not possible to surpass them. They’re the end stop. … I was there. I know the differences. They’re incredibly small, incredibly slight – but to my ear, I can tell.”
Wilson’s spatial audio remixes include stereo and 5.1 versions of Yes’ Close to the Edge in 2013, The Yes Album and Relayer in 2014, Fragile in 2015 and Tales of Topographic Oceans in 2016. Yes was then inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, with Geddy Lee of Rush making a guest turn for their late co-founding bassist Chris Squire.
READ MORE: Ranking Every Yes Album
“We much admired them,” Howe says of Rush. “This was a very powerful trio. … I love the guys very much, particularly Geddy, who I had a chance to spend some time with a little while back. So basically, this is a great band with its own story, but they came from the embryo, if you like, of what [Emerson Lake and Palmer] and Genesis and Yes started doing in the ’70s – and I say bravo.”
Wilson released Dolby Atmos mixes for The Yes Album in 2023 as part of a super deluxe edition of the album. His Dolby Atmos mix of Fragile arrived in May as part of a similarly expanded reissue.
Howe has led Yes since Squire’s death, releasing 2021’s The Quest and 2023’s Mirror to the Sky with the stalwart bassist’s handpicked replacement, Billy Sherwood. Yes is currently on tour with Deep Purple. Their North American dates continue into September.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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