Yes: Active

As CD-ROM goes mainstream, discs like Yes: Active symbolize a problem: Mass-appeal artists often offer the worst interactive value.

Like the David Bowie Jump disc, Yes: Active is largely a press kit devoid of meaningful content. The most useful section, ''Inside Look,'' lets you play all the songs from their new album, Talk; read lyrics; and watch video performances and interviews. The least useful, ''Jukebox,'' just slaps up an ugly graphic while those same songs play out of your computer's tiny speakers.

A lapsed fan like me might have gone for a longer perspective: say, a discography that lets you sample older Yes songs or an album-cover section featuring the bong-worthy work of artist Roger Dean. The only perspective here, though, is a marketing one. C-