The Long version:
While this was only the 4th Yes album I ever bought, it was the Yes album that took the longest to click with me; but once it clicked, it connected hard. I'm very familiar w/ it through many listens on many different formats. Like most all Yes (but this album even more-so), the music is very lush, layered, inter-weaving, dynamic and complex- all qualities that lend themselves to a great surround mix. And boy has Mr. Wilson delivered, as he always does- but even more-so. As much as I love his Yes re-mixes, I'd rate GG's Power and Glory and Tull's Aqualung and his best to date that I have. This exceeds those imo. It is also the most that he has ever departed from the original work- in many ways (see below). I believe he utilized, to fantastic success- a great amount of artistic freedom on this project. I can feel his passion in the music, right along w/ the band (and the band includes Eddie Offord, who is an invaluable and intrinsic part of this music).
While there are many striking aspects of this audaciously ambitious work, one thing that has always stood out to me about it is TONE. The variety of tones on every instrument on display in this album is staggering. It's like Yes wanted to expand their musical palette so they could have as many hues available as possible to paint the vast auditory landscapes they wished to create. The keyboards obviously have almost infinite tones, but also on this album, Wakey's presets are all spot-on (unlike some later years). It's amazing how great he sounds on an album he despises and dislikes playing. Howe's uses different guitars and effects to achieve an awesome array of sounds and textures. Squire uses effects to vary his tones throughout and Alan bangs away on a vast variety of toms, cymbals, gongs, all manner of percussion. And then there's the many shades possible with those 3 harmonizing voices. Yes was all about pushing the envelope- and one of the things they pushed here was how unique and how many different tones they could convey.
And it those tones where Maestro Wilson weaves his magic. He has a way of taking most of these many different tones and make them really sing: it's like he takes what's there and makes it... even more-so. A really fluid guitar line, of which Howe weaves many, becomes even more liquid. An edgy guitar seems to expand it's bite. A vibrating cymbal seems to shimmer more. A floating keyboard chord seems to hover and even vibrate in a large space. A vocal becomes 4 dimensional- Jon's solo part is present in the front and the rear at the same time; it's not pulled out into the room, it's doubled in a different space (one of the liberties he took w/ the original material beyond what he usually does- but it works to great effect).
But here's another way he deviates from the original much more than usual (if hardly at all in most cases). Some of those tones, while they sound similar- and better- also sound significantly different. I don't know if they're a different edit or he uses some EQ, but some of those tones are changed quite a lot. The most I noticed them was in The Remembering. There's one part somewhere around the 13:00 mark where there's a crescendo that is the same in nature but I swear the texture of the guitar is completely different. It makes for a more dynamic build-up, but it jarred me with it's difference (I think it works great- just wasn't expecting it).
There's another spot where's Squire's bass has the exact same rhythm and pitch, but again the tone is vastly altered. The beginning of the Ancient (which brought a huge shirt-eating grin to this stoic old face) echoes it's cymbals all around you to great effect, but in it's expansiveness changes the basic character of that element. It's already been noted by others that he uses a completely different edit of Squire's bass lines in Ritual and of Wakeman's solo in Revealing.
Steven has made changes in tone in this 5.1 mix that seem to go against his usual philosophy of staying as true to the original as possible. He's taken liberties with some fundamental sounds, but the results don't change the basic character of the music as a whole- they just make those parts stand out even more. Part of that effect is the result of being able to separate the elements, as in all good surround mixes; part of that effect is from the added clarity he always achieves in his re-mixes; but a lot of that effect is that his choices in altering these tones seems to give them more immediacy and presence. Bravissimo Maestro!
Another area where SW exceeds his usual practice is in the amount of motion inherent within the soundfield. He generally eschews much panning between speakers in favor of just keeping a full, robust, well-filled sphere of sound. But in this mix, there's an amazing amount of motion. I'm not referring to pans between channels, though there is a slight amount of that, usually with Rick's keys and Alan's percussion. If that kind of motion is macro-motion, what I'm talking about is micro-motion: motion within a limited part of the soundfield. For example, there are some of Steve's flowing lines that seem to expand and contract as the motion around a speaker mimics the flowing of the line. There are keyboards that seem to not just hover over an area, but swirl intensely as they hover. The shimmer of cymbals I referred to earlier seem to come from some micro-motion. They don't just echo, they expand. Whatever instrument, any sustain or decay seemed to last longer and have more weight; every musical element of this mix seems to be somehow reinforced.
This mix is filled with micro-motion which again gives more presence to the elements. Everything is expanded and taken to it's limits. I believe SW has ignored his usual philosophy for re-mixing and instead adopted Yes' philosophy from this album: push the boundaries; exaggerate the extremes to the farthest possible point before reaching over-saturation. It's a gem in it's execution and almost mystical in its synergy. This was the album Yes always wanted to make; this is the mix Mr. Wilson always wanted to create. And the result is the absolute pinnacle of recorded music, imo.
I could go on about the many examples of sublime beauty present in this album that have been strengthened by SW's magic, such as the haunting variety as we get over over-hanging trees to the heart-rendering variety that is Steve's guitar that brings such sweet relief following the climax of that thunderous, brilliant cacophany that is the climax of the whole journey. But I've already gone on too long- which is apropos of this album, but in my case the criticism would be warranted, whereas with the album it's not.
Suffice it to say, I was thrilled, chilled and completely fulfilled by this experience. I'm not afraid to say that I teared up as the last notes died down.
I truly believe that SW feels more proud of this re-mix than any he's ever done- as well he should. I also feel sure that the pain we felt when this was temporarily shelved was nothing compared to what he endured; I bet it drove him crazy having this creation but being powerless to get it to those who could appreciate it's glories. This was always one of the albums he most wanted to work his surround magic on. He worked passionately over a three year period and his efforts paid off in spades. I don't know if he asked for and received, or he just took great artistic license with this, but the freedom he's shown in making bold choices hearkens back to the 70's music industry (more parallels) and the results are mind-blowing.
Thank you Mr. Wilson. You've taken a gem and not only made it shine unimaginably brighter, but also revealed all of of it's facets in brilliant relief. Bravissimo indeed.
