Classic Album War: UK 'Night After Night' vs Yes 'Yesshows'

Join host Pete Pardo for a discussion of two progressive rock live album classics, UK's 'Night After Night' and Yes' 'Yesshows'. Who will advance to the 2nd round? #uk #yes

[johnbenard]

Gotta Go with UK. Just amazing for only 3 people. John Wetton bass guitar, acoustic guitar & vocals, my all-time favorite vocalist. Terry Bozzio on drums, and Eddie Jobson, keyboards and electric violin. both very overlooked and under-appreciated Musicians.

[paulmangerian]

I saw UK in late 79 opening for Tull on Stormwatch tour.

[paulsimister]

I'd love to hear an archive release from the Relayer tour. It is a sensational studio album and I'd be interested to hear Moraz play on the classics from The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge. Not heard much of the other hand so the easy vote is Yesshows.

[drummusicinc]

I love yes....
One of my favorite bands...
But I chose UK cause Bozzio is an amazing drummer who flys under a lot of people’s radar.

[WarhawkBeyond]

Love both live albums but I really enjoy UK Night After Night more, the band as a three piece have a much more muscular sound and really pack a hell of a punch, they were like ELP on steroids. John Wetton both vocally and musically sounds absolutely fantastic, Eddie Jobson is an absolute beast on the keyboards and violins, Terry Bozzio is a powerhouse of a drummer and a very heavy player. Overall fantastic a live recording and highly recommend you check out their extended double album.

[zdvd]

Yesshows. This album, Gates of Delirium in particular, is how I began to understand Yes and what a phenomenon they were. Chris Squire's performance on that tune is out of this world, and the construction of tension and release has never been matched in any other prog track.

[fredandpattychandler]

Huge fan of both great bands. Heavily influenced by Yes and UK. I play violin. Eddie Jobson is an extraordinary talent. I'm going to go with both bands. I just love Prog.

[juliocrevoisier]

I started loving YES when I heard YESSHOWS. It is a great live album! Great sound, killer performances. On the other hand, UKs NIGHT AFTER NIGHT is cool too but their first album is by far stronger. X )

[Justin_Kipper]

Good breakdown on these albums!


I voted for UK because I definitely played it a lot more back in the day. I did feel that UK was going a lot more "commercial" after their first album, which was confirmed after Asia was formed, but this was a fine live album. As far as 'Yesshows', I usually just listened to 'Yessongs' instead too.

[vazzduchesne]

U.K. for me.
Saw them live so I’m somewhat biased.
Yes without Bruford is “Maybe” for me.
Perhaps not all will agree...
That’s u.k. by me.

[uriahok]

Night After Night is my choice. Bozzio's drumming is jaw-dropping.

[eduardocalvo]

Nice battle. This U.K. live album is very good and I enjoy it a lot. You got Terry Bozzio with Zappa credentials doing a great job. But really miss having Allan Holdsworth in the lineup. Yes will always prevail in my house. The original LP again could’ve benefited from a little more production planning. You had to switch sides to listen to the full Ritual. Would’ve been nice to have had a Ritual with Wakeman. The Gates of Delirium is Moraz’ show. Worth the price of admission alone. The closing Soon section in a live setting, doesn’t get any better (where have I heard that?). I still own a Japanese CD edition (heftily priced but the only available edition at the time). Would’ve been nice to have included a Wakeman Awaken and a Moraz Sound Chaser (by the way, epic versions in the Word is Live boxed set with the original keyboardist on each).

[pjones]

UK...easily. I have very clean bootlegs of that entire Japanese tour and they were on fire! The expanded edition is substantially more enjoyable..but it's not even close.

[davidryan]

When UK had Holdsworth and Bruford in Their What a Band They were...This Line-up didn't cut it for me...Yesshows  While not as good as Yessongs Does feature The gates of Delirium...so for that alone  Yes Wins This One.

[johnwilliams]

Yesshows wins for that version of Gates of Delerium.

[arnaudb.]

Yesshows for me. The Moraz parts are so amazing.The best keyboardist (at least technically) in Yes in my opinion.

[kevinthetruckdriver]

I'm going with the underdog on this one.
*Jethro Tull*

What?? Wrong band??

Okay. *Missing Persons*

What?? Wrong Again??

Ok ok ok *Asia*

What??

Those are the bands the 3 *UK* members went to after they broke up??

You wanna try *Frank Zappa, Uriah Heep, Curved Air (who??), King Crimson (Another who??) & Roxy Music??* Bands they were in before *UK??*

Note: *I loved their radio commercials* for *UK's "Danger Money"* I heard while I was stationed near Kansas City in 1979. They were funny. Yes, they played on the *YOU KAY.* 😂😂

Double Note: I *loved UK's "Danger Money" album* more than their *debut UK* but I HATED *Carrying No Cross* when I was stone (on Mary Jane). When I went to Germany, drinking German Beer & smoking hash. I started to like *Carry No Cross". It's a trip.
*🤔 Wonder what it would sound like on LDS?? - Captain Kirk*

[eduardocalvo]

Pete, couldn't resist. You mentioned it here. So, here are my predictions on your top 10 albums of all time. Seen many hours of your top 10's, history of, album battles, top prog albums, etc. I am assuming we're talking studio releases only, which would make sense as we're right in the middle of these epic live album battles. I won't list them in any specific order:
Vol. 4
Secret Treaties
Animals
Burn
Rainbow Rising
Whitesnake (self titled)
In Rock
Three Friends
Foxtrot
Jailbreak
Close to the Edge

Why 11? If there was ever a justification to pull a Mulligan, it's this list.

Can't wait to see how I do!!!!

[ericredlefsen]

The expanded version of Night After Night puts it over the top and makes it a better album than Yesshows.

[alspilowey]

I was at Cobo Hall in 76, still out of 100+ concerts I've been to, one of the best and the most memorable stage.