Yes - Yessongs

Starring:Steve Howe, Jon Anderson, Alan White, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman
Director: Peter Neal
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Yes was on tour to promote the recent release of Close to the Edge when this energetic performance was captured on 16-millimeter film in London's Rainbow Theatre in December 1972. Although this DVD was mastered from a ragged print (with plenty of scratches evident throughout), this is actually the better of the two Yes discs available (the other--Live in Philadelphia--has an even murkier transfer from videotape), with marginally better sound quality and a 75-minute performance that finds the band at the height of their "early years" popularity. The lineup is the same as that of the 1979 performance in Philadelphia (Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Rick Wakeman), but this concert is by a much younger, much more ambitious band that was still forging its formidable prog-rock identity. As a result this is the more valuable of the two Yes performances on DVD--a tighter, sharper, more satisfying look at the band at the peak of their creativity. It's also worth noting that they allowed room for solo improvisations (such as Howe's playful rendition of "The Clap" and Wakeman's excerpts from "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"), but as a group they remained intimately faithful to their studio recordings. And although even die-hard fans will grumble about the film's murky quality (which DVD can do nothing to improve), camera access was adequate for this show and each member of the band is given adequate screen time to demonstrate his instrumental virtuosity--particularly Howe, whose guitar work here is nothing short of amazing. While it's unfortunate that both DVDs featuring live Yes music leave much to be desired, this disc is definitely worth owning if you've ever wanted to see the giants of '70s prog-rock at the top of their game. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Experience the pure power of Yes on their 1973 world tour, featuring the classic lineup of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. London's Rainbow Theatre reverberates with the energy of the legendary rock group as they perform many of their signature mood pieces from the "Fragile" and "Close to the Edge" albums. You haven't seen this classic rock group until you see them live. Songs: Your Move/I've Seen All Good People, The Clap, And You and I, Close to the Edge, The Six Wives of Henry VIII [excerpt], Roundabout, Yours is No Disgrace, Starship Trooper [excerpt].

Customer Reviews:

Yes - Yessongs DVD.......2007-06-10

Back in 1972, the progressive band Yes was in their infancy and with an original line-up of Steve Howe, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White played most of their songs from the Fragile and Close to the Edge albums. Video quality is poor and grainy as befitting that era and sound is even poorer in PCM stereo. Only for hardcore Yes fans. The more recent Tales of the Tsongas DVD is a much better alternative with the same line-up.

Number One Band On Stage.......2007-05-23

Top notch flight crew and a very nice journey to some of the better places in the galaxy. Your favourite songs are here: Close to the Edge and And You and I along with some stuff from earlier albums that takes me back to the good old days and that's for sure.

Alan White is the drummer he plays a bit different than the original Yes drummer Mr Bruford but considering the complexity of Mr Bruford's approach to Rock and Roll drumming the replacement is made none the less.

Steve Howe plays the guitars here I must say that even after seeing the Band Yes in Ypsilanti a little later I was considerably surprized at the licks he played with astounding accuracy and somehow even better live than the record. He even used the usual line-up of several very expensive guitars to get the Yes sound I've come to recognize and enjoy.

Chris Squire played bass guitar and sang a great deal where does he come up with all those uncanny riffs to go along with Yes' relatively simple chord format? I don't know probably sits and sits and then it comes to him and he writes it down and plays the daylights out of it.

Rick Wakeman is the keyboard man. His stuff is always formal. And accurate. And melodic in every sense. He doesn't sing though....

Jon Anderson is the main vocal attempt.
Must be very nice to have a voice naturally fit for the upper register without having to shout.

Yes play all my favourites on Yessongs. The product description says it all as far as what's on this DVD but they don't say what they thought of the show. Great show. Yes play their stuff as nobody else can. I've seen a couple of bar bands and a lot of garage bands attempt Yes' stuff but I have to say you have to have an understanding of this stuff that obviously comes from having written the song before you can pass it off as good ol Yese.

On the other side the sound is terrible only the studio can capture Yes.

Yes, take it from me.......2007-05-12

Take it from me we're lucky to have this potent, mesmerizing recorded concert of Pro-Rock's answer to the Rolling Stones. Yes in high gear at the height of their prowess is a scary proposition. If only there was more of this stuff. I'll take all they got.

There seem to be a lot of complaints about the quality of the sound and picture. As someone who saw Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones, Yessongs, Jimi Hendrix and The Song Remains the Same in movie theaters at the time of their releases, I can't agree. The Hendrix movie and Yessongs are mind-blowing in both audio and image, capturing their subjects in all their glory.

On top of being a musically supercharged concert, Yessongs is full of good cinema technique, interesting montages and just the kind of shots you hope to see, like Howe during All Good People, Close to the Edge and Roundabout or Alan White playing the triangle during And You and I. There's even at great shot of a young, ardent fan having the bottom dropped out from underneath him when the band leaves out the final bridge to Yours is No Disgrace. These touches along with the superb set list and excellent sound quality make this the same kind of must to your music DVD collection that, back in the day, made Yessongs a must for your vinyl collection.

My only gripe would be that Yessongs VHS, which I originally paid $55.00 for, and vinyl should have included extra material when transferred to DVD and CD. At least it would have been nice.

Yessong, Noquality.......2007-01-04

I give this DVD 3 stars, VERY reluctantly. The selection of songs on this DVD is awesome. Every song a true classic. The awesome talent of all the players is mind boggling (to an amateur musician). The quality of this DVD, however, strips a couple stars off the rating.

I'm not sure why the movie didn't have half the songs the album did, or why the songs aren't in the same sequence on both. I was hoping to get the remastered CD to play along with the movie, because the sound quality on this DVD is absolute garbage. I don't know what sort of magical systems some of these other reviewers have that make it sound so good, but on my Pioneer surround sound system it sounds like, well...garbage. I can forgive the video quality being grainy, since the film is more than 30 years old. But with the phenomenal improvements in sound reproduction, such as digital remastering, I see no reason for this DVD to sound so bad. I watched it twice, the second time to see if I could fiddle with the settings on the surround sound system, but no such luck. After that I took if off my DVD shelf and hid it in a drawer, somewhere, in another room, so nobody would know I have it...

Classic YES is the best........2006-11-04

I have always been a big YES fan.To see classic YES tunes performed live was great. Watching Steve Howe playing the guitar was even better than I imagined,because the only times I saw YES live was with Trevor Rabin. A very good purchase.

Average customer rating:

Yessongs
Starring: Yes
Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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