----------------------------------------------------- AUGUST 9, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Palm Beach Post Boxed set is, in a word, maybe By Joel Engelhardt IN A WORD, Yes (Rhino) -- The problem with boxed sets is that true fans already own all those discs and less-devoted fans don't care enough to spend big bucks for the musical equivalent of an encyclopedia. With that in mind, I wouldn't recommend rushing out to plop down $70 for In a Word, the newly released boxed set from progressive-rock pioneers Yes. There's little new here, just six songs out of 55. And the 80-page full-color booklet, aside from tracking the band's revolving door since its 1968 London origins, adds little more. The boxed-set quandary is made more vexing with Yes because the band went through so many personnel and stylistic mutations that it dumped many of its original hard-core fans in the 1980s and lured a "pop" following, only to discard it in a return to its progressive roots. The progressives won out. The lineup that will perform Sunday at MARS Music Amphitheatre -- singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman and drummer Alan White -- is nearly identical to 1972's Fragile. (White replaced original drummer Bill Bruford later that year.) The boxed set does little to sort it all out. Instead it dredges up bits of the group's various incantations, presenting a six-hour mixed bag on five CDs. Here is the earliest Yes, an innocent sound before the group entered its most creative stage, the period from 1970 to 1974, when it produced six stunning albums, including Fragile, best known for the hit Roundabout. And here is a reconfigured Yes, left for dead by critics after stumbling through the late 1970s, but surprising with 1983's Owner of a Lonely Heart, which outsold Roundabout. True to form, the boxed set captures little bits of every step along the way, even the moment when two distinct groups toured, one representing the group's 1980s ambitions, the other its 1970s origins. Sadly, those disparate musical approaches find themselves united on a single disc of the boxed set. One good thing: In a Word goes a step further, exposing fans to Yes' more recent work. The group is still putting out albums, like 1999's The Ladder and 2001's Magnification, both lightly represented on the boxed set. Squire, who started writing songs with Anderson in 1968 on the night they met at a Soho bar, recently bemoaned the difficulty of earning radio time for new songs -- even for a major group whose dated hits continue to receive repeat play on "classic rock" stations. Still, unless you're looking for a quick way to update your Yes collection from wax to CD, there's little reason to invest in the boxed set. The six previously unreleased songs just aren't worth the price of breaking up theme albums, like Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans, that are better heard intact. Grade: C. YES -- 7:30 p.m. Sunday at MARS Music Amphitheatre, suburban West Palm Beach. Tickets: $25 lawn, $45-$65 reserved seating. Phone: 966-3309. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com