Yes - Symphonic Live
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Movie Reviews of Yes - Symphonic Live
Movie Review: Yes!!! Yes!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw Yes live twice. Once at a small college theater with a packed house of about 2000 early Yes fans. This was the Yes Album tour and acoustics were perfect. Steve Howe burning up the fretboard with the zeal of a musician playing hot new music for the first time in concert. This was the original line up before Wakeman and all his classical influence. Some of which was truly great. Some of which needed more work. This concert had Squire and Bruford keeping time in a more free form Jazz Rock Fusion Billy Cobham/Stanley Clarke type of style. Anderson layered his folk rock melodies over the top of this fusion stew keeping it warm and inviting to the average rock listener. They played long extended versions of all the songs on the Yes Album. This show is definately in my top ten concert list.The second time I saw them was at a 1970's Mega Show touring for Fragile. This time with Wakeman. This show had a totally different feeling. A totally great feeling. They went from a jazz folk rock band into a classical folk rock band. A big fat layered keyboard sound building up to dizzying crescendos. I had to share this one with about 20 thousand in a stadium. The sound wasn't that great until I was about 50 feat from the stage. Of course it got better once I made by way to the front. Yes crowds were very polite. Compared to getting to the front of a Deep Purple or LZ concertSaw this new Yes DVD at a friends and thought it was really good. Agree there is to much editing and Howe should have be brought up. All in All it still gives chills to hear the old classics once more.Movie Review: An astonishing live performance (but disc 2 is pointless)
Summary: 5 Stars
It was only a matter of time before Yes performed with a symphony, really, but it's unlikely even the most devoted Yes fans will be prepared for the powerful performances on this DVD. From a technological standpoint, this has to be the highest-quality live recording of a Yes concert I have ever heard, particularly when heard in DTS; it doesn't exactly put House of Blues or Keys to Ascension to shame, but it is head and shoulders above either of those DVD's in crystal clarity. The 16:9 videography is sharp and well-edited, too...., Howe's two solo guitar pieces are beautifully performed, although the Vivaldi piece stands out simply because Howe has done Mood for a Day to death. (Thank goodness he didn't do the equally overdone Clap.) Of the live pieces, Gates of Delirium and Starship Trooper have enormous strength with the orchestral backing, and newer tracks such as Magnification and In the Presence Of fit right in to the classic repertoire seamlessly. In all, a staggering concert from a band that, at its age, one might think burned out and ready to pack it in; instead, they sound revitalized and ready to go another 30 years!
Disc 2 of this DVD, sadly, is kind of superfluous. There's a throwaway video for Don't Go (off the Magnification album), and the tour documentary has some fun behind the scenes stuff but little depth, and most fans won't likely watch it more than once. But it doesn't negatively affect this item's overall rating, because the set is so inexpensive and the concert itself is worth the price alone.
Movie Review: An emotional experience!
Summary: 5 Stars
There have been a lot of reviews on this-mostly positive, apart from one twit who obviously was on another planet. Yes fans will need no further prompting to get this- it's the PERFECT gig, showing Yes music in all it's glory and how the symphonic palette lends itself so admirably to the genre.
So Rick isn't on stage with the band, which is a shame (Rick was on one of his regular 'I want to do something else for a while' trips, and that's fine) but session player Tom Brislin acquits himself admirably, the rest of the band are the musical titans that we all know and love and the material is timeless and classic. Yes, even the new stuff, which I love! I know that 'Don't go' (with it's Beatle-ish vibe) is supposed to have gone down like a lead brick, but I think it's an unackowledged classic, likewise 'In the presence of'. (if you're still complaining, how many other bands have a library of classic tracks of the calibre of Yes? Even at their 'worst', they're better than most bands at their best).
The orchestra are having a ball, and quite right too. As a player myself I know how disheartening it can be to have musos who are 'just doing their job' and going through the motions. The guys and gals here are right into the music, having a ball , and participating in a piece of musical history.
Every time I view this, it reduces me to tears to joy. This is everything a music DVD should be, and then some.
Classic music from THE classic band of all time!
Movie Review: Magnificent: their best concert sound/video ever, hands down
Summary: 5 Stars
When this DVD arrived in the mail, I figured I'd take a quick peek just to see what I could look forward to when I had the time to actually sit down and view it. 194 minutes later, I came out of my trance.This is a spectacular concert, expertly filmed and brilliantly mixed. If I could only own one Yes video, this would certainly be it. The orchestral arrangements are masterful, and the band members have never been stronger. It's a glorious white-knuckle ride all the way.
The bonus disk material is great for hard-core fans, but it's home video quality so don't expect anything more than that. I do wish they had included a full and uninterrupted version of Tim Panella's mix of "Long Distance Runaround" over the bonus disk's credits.
This concert is absolutely stellar. And it's FUN to watch, because everyone on stage, including all of the orchestra members, are obviously having a blast playing and enjoying themselves in the process of making this amazing music.
I often find myself shaking my head at how many live versions of Yes' most popular songs are out there, and although I would love to have heard more songs from "Magnification", don't be fooled into thinking that this is "yet another" live Yes album. The new orchestral arrangements give every song a totally different feel, and, combined with the great visual presentation, make these versions indispensable.
Awesome stuff. Bravo, Yes!!!
Movie Review: Value for the Money A+
Summary: 5 Stars
If you a Yes fan you will find this performance very satisfying and an excellent value for the money (when you consider a concert ticket can be $90 bucks these day and this is about $20 you can't go wrong). I gave this 5 stars not because it's perfect but it really really well done.The video quality is fantastic with great shots of the band and the sound quality with a decent stereo system is excellent. I really like the selections because they pull from a number of albums and while I initially thought that the orchestrat would mean cheezy it really adds and doesn't over do anything.
Given that you are some level of a fan of the group I can only imagine you not liking this for a few reasons:
1) If you only liked the "90125" version of Yes this DVD will disappoint (i.e. No T.Rabin , only 1 song from that period and 'Owner' is not up to bar with any Rabin version)
2) If you are a hard core Wakeman fan you will be bummed as he is not part of this (scheduling conflicts I'm told kept him from this tour as he has TV and Radio shows in the UK)- Tom Brislin however does an excellent job of playing the notes on the keys but keeping a his own sound. I prefer that over cloning parts.
3) If you dislike the idea of young women from an orchestra jumping up and down on stage during 'Roundabout' as if this was a remake of Beach Blanket Bingo. then don't watch that song!
Enjoy!