YES: From A Page (Expanded and Remastered Edition)

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Submitted by Dennis Russo on Thu, 06/18/2026 - 13:53

A problem I see nowadays with new records from bands of the “Second Generation” of Classic Rock, including Prog Rock, is that many of the members of the original bands are in their late 60s to 80s, and while some are still recording and touring, others have either passed away, retired, or are forever mad at each other.
The problem I have lies in remixing and remastering songs from back when members of the band are no longer able to assist in the process. Often, the job is left to other people who do what they think the band would like or approve of. Sometimes that works. More often than not, though, for me it doesn't.
Where it does succeed, and as in this case succeeds exceptionally well, is when some band members are still around and/or they have extremely talented children who were members of the band and have played and worked with them in the past to bring these new edits and expanded mixes to life.
This new YES album, “From A Page,” is produced, expanded, and remastered by Oliver Wakeman, the son of Rick Wakeman, who, like his father, played with YES and is himself a multi-talented musician and songwriter. The album was mastered for vinyl by Karl Groom.

The vinyl album under review here is a 1/2-speed remastered two-album gatefold set pressed on 180-gram vinyl that contains the original versions of the songs from the four-song mini LP, along with alternate versions and demos.
What's also very cool is that Oliver even got Roger Dean to do the YES logo and album art, so just looking at the album there is no mistaking it for a bona fide YES record.
And there is so much to see within the confines of the covers. Aside from the amazing artwork (I'd like to see “Streamers” look at it!), the record sleeves themselves harbor a bunch of neat treasures. The sleeve for record one has a really nice glossy picture of the band, while the other side has the lyrics and a callout stating “In memory of Chris Squire (1948–2015) and Alan White (1949–2022).”
Now onto the albums themselves. From the first notes on side one, I was awash in a beautifully laid-out wall of sound with great definition of piano, guitar, and vocal. This wonderful definition and clarity was a theme that carried through the entire two-album set.
Both the original versions and the “new” ones were exceptionally mastered/remastered and, while on some songs I thought I could detect where Oliver's keyboard pieces had been restored, it was never what I would call obvious. When I took off my “audiophile ears” and just sat back, listened, and let the music envelop me, everything sounded as if it had always been done that way.
This was, in all aspects, a masterful job by everyone involved. “Into The Storm” on side one especially for me... stunning! I don't think I've ever heard their voices sound so clean and clear together on a record within such a wide soundstage.
And for those who hadn't heard him sing with YES, Benoît David sounds almost tonally identical to Jon Anderson. If I didn't know it wasn't Jon, I'm not sure I would have been able to tell at all.
My favorite song on this album is “Aliens.” The guitar work and lyrics are great, and the vocal diction is crystal clear. Every instrument occupies its own place in the soundstage with beautiful depth layering.
I also especially liked the demo version of “To The Moment.” With Steve's wonderful guitar work, it reminded me so much of vintage YES (and by that I mean last-century YES) that I had to listen to it several times.
What I'd like everyone to take away from this review is that even though there are only a relatively few different titles, each version here is a wonderful listen in its own right. Never once do you get a feeling of redundancy or “sameness” listening to the same song.
This is an especially rewarding album for those of us not fortunate enough to have gotten it when it was originally released. Here we have the best of both worlds.
It most definitely should be in every YES collection, no matter what your favorite lineup of the band was or is, and in every Prog Rock fan's collection as well... AND especially on vinyl because this is where the music really shines, with a sense of reality, humanness, and harmonic correctness that's almost palpable.
This remastered edition is strikingly good in every sense. It's what made us all fall in love with Prog Rock in the first place.