Highlights: The Very Best of Yes (CD - 1993)

Recorded between 1969 to 1987.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Greatest-hits collections from progressive rock acts are by their very nature problematic. The 15-minute track times, unusual crossfades, and lack of obvious singles can keep much of the artist's most notable work from making an appearance, something that Rhino's generic-sounding Greatest Hits compilation from Yes almost manages to avoid. Built chronologically, obvious cuts like "Roundabout," "Owner of a Lonely Heart," "I've Seen All Good People," and "Starship Troopers" are supported by deeper singles such as "Survival," "Soon," and 90125's brilliantly arranged "Leave It," making this scant, 12-track anthology one of the better compact Yes overviews to come out in years. ~ James Christopher Monger

If you view The Very Best of Yes as a singles sampler, not an attempt to offer a thorough overview of Yes' doggedly album-oriented career, this 11-track collection is actually quite successful, offering the bulk of the band's best-known songs, from "I've Seen All Good People," "Roundabout," and "Long Distance Runaround" to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "Leave It." It's sequenced chronologically, too, which gives some sense of the band's development. Therefore, for the curious, this offers a nice snapshot of what Yes did throughout the '70s and into the mid-'80s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

With songs that often rival classical music for length and sheer ambition, Yes is not a group whose work can easily be distilled to a single-length compact disc. However, for those looking to skim off the cream off a long and distinguished career, THE VERY BEST OF YES will do the trick, although it may well serve to whet the appetite for more.

This collection is arranged chronologically, beginning with "Survival" off the group's self-titled debut record and finishing with its last certifiable hit, "Rhythm of Love." Although it does not present a complete picture of the group's progress, the collection does chronicle Yes's major phases. Like many bands of the late '60s, Yes began writing songs that echoed the love ethos of the era ("Time and a Word") before graduating to full-fledged space rock on songs like "Starship Trooper." During its golden age, Yes had FM radio hits ("Roundabout," "I've Seen All Good People"), and during the mid- to late '70s, the group continued to refine its approach with fine compositions like the melodious "Wondrous Stories" and the raucous "Going for the One." The surprising #1 hit, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" captures the group in its more stripped-down '80s incarnation. minimize