Yes - Yessongs
by Peter Neal
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DVD details
Actor: Alan White, Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Steve HoweDirector: Peter Neal
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Anthony Stern
Cinematographer: Brian Grainger
Cinematographer: Ian McMillan
Cinematographer: Richard Stanley
Editor: Philip Howe
Producer: Brian Lane
Producer: David Speechley
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), PCM Stereo; English (Original Language), PCM Stereo
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 72 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1997-12-17
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product features:
- Yes
- Jon Anderson
- Rick Wakeman
- Steve Howe
- Chris Squire
DVD Reviews of Yes - Yessongs
DVD Review: Magnifico, but.....
Summary: 4 Stars
My love of classic Yes -- particularly the live performances of "Close to the Edge" and "Yours Is No Disgrace," on the old Yessongs album, led me to purchase this visual DVD, in part because I needed to actually see Steve Howe's fingers moving over the frets during my favorite parts.
The opening minute or so of "Close to the Edge" on the old live audio album, Yessongs, for example, is, to me, an absolute miracle of guitar playing by Steve Howe -- someone who at his peak in the 1970s combined phenomenal intricacy of rhythm and texture with phenomenal speed, and a sense of unbeatable wildness with classical discipline, and beauty. He was a wonderful fusion of the classic and romantic, the formal and the informal, Vivaldi, Country and the most lovely Rock. So I was disappointed to find that those who filmed the performance rather foolishly filmed, not Steve's fingers on the frets during those moments of incomparable genius during the first minute of so of "Close to the Edge" -- instead, unbelievably, the DVD shows a half minute of images of amoebas bifurcating and so on, as one hears the music unfolding in the background. How could they fail to put this man's fingers and face on film at the moment of his remarkable peak?
Similarly, during "Yours Is No Disgrace" when Howe is playing the longish, brilliant rapid cascading run of intricately shaped notes that precedes the first vocals of the song -- to me, perhaps the most glorious guitar run in the history of music -- truly a full quantum leap above all the other great guitar players I've heard -- a run I can only picture to you by asking you to combine an image of the delicacy and sense of vastness of the greatest impressionist paintings (seen in person), together with an image of the greatest, fastest action or chase sequences you ever saw in any Hollywood blockbuster. Unbelievable drama, brilliantly adept dynamism, indeed heroism, fused with ethereal sublimity. Sometimes, to listen to classic Howe playing guitar, sounds a bit like a classically trained humming bird's invisibly fast wings must be playing the notes, or perhaps it's that time slowed down for Howe, so that despite the incredible speed of the notes, he was able to shape them, and establish remarkably complex rythmic patterns in the midst of that dramatic speed. And above all, so pleasing to the ear (though one might have to listen a couple of times before the beauty of it begins to dawn). And despite all the synthesizers and electronic gizmos available to him and, as I understand, innovated by him, he usually chose a wonderfully raw, pure rock guitar sound.
And what were the filmakers doing during this mighty run of notes by Howe? Incredibly, they were filming not Steve Howe's miraculous fingers working the frets, but Chris Squire, bless him, who was not even doing anything much at that moment. Sheesh.
For those who know the old Yessongs live album/CD, I should note that the performance of Yours Is No Disgrace on that album is not the same as the performance on this DVD. The great longish sort of duet in the middle of the song between Howe and Squire --where Squire interjects every few seconds or so some bass note or other that wonderfully accents Howe's gorgeous lead -- that section, I would say, is not as well done in the concert that was recorded on this DVD -- but it is still great to see Howe on the DVD working out another version (earlier inchoate version?) of the themes worked out so brilliantly on the classic audio recording Yessongs.
For those who love Yes, this DVD is definitely worth it. There are other live performances on DVD, but I haven't got those yet.
Description of Yes - Yessongs
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].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
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