Yes - Yessongs [Blu-ray]

I give this DVD ***** because I saw it when it was first shown as a movie in theatres in the mid 1970's. I am very happy that someone choose to preserve this gem. I am a progressive/progressive metal aficionado from before YES & ELP. "In the Court of the Crimson King" is probably the first recognized progressive album/ group and it still is alive and well today. King Crimson lost Greg Lake to ELP and gained Bill Bruford from YES. Bill Bruford did play on some of songs on the Yessongs album, but Alan White replaced him during the Yessong tour(s)and played drums & percussion on the Yessong movie, which was from a performance recorded during the tour(s).It is correct that the quality is not Blu-Ray or even HD-DVD. It appears to have been transferred straight from the 16mm(?) film to DVD with little or no re-engineering. It would interesting if somebody were to clean-up the picture and re-mix/produce the sound. But then you'd loose the ambiance of the era. It is very much influenced by the psychedelic. Perhaps it could be sold as "Collector's Set" of both the re-processed and the original, much like the CD set of Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' which has both the original and the 25th anniversary remix by Roger Glover.Yessongs is the best of Yes Mk 2 (more or less +Howe, Wakeman, -Bruford). It is a legendary performance of music made before it's time. The incredible Howe-styling on his many Les Pauls, And Wakeman on the Hammond C3 and the much ignored mellotron, Anderson's unique high vocals , and Squire's characteristic chunky Rickenbacker. Then the stage ambiance, enhanced by Wakeman' sequin cloak and Squire's winged cape; the incredible tension of the simplistic music, tight vocal harmonies and CO2 fog of 'Close to the Edge' is haunting. GET THIS DVD if you have any interest in progressive rock. This, in a large nutshell, is the essence of progressive.A Question to anyone else who remembers the original theatre film: I seem to remember more footage, songs. In particular, Steve Howe playing his unique pedal steel guitar stylings. The DVD seems to be an edit of the original film?

Many of us have waited almost forty years to see what we heard back then. Anyone that doesnt like it shouldnt have bought it because they just must not have liked Yes that much. They dont understand how central to the time in our lives this album was. Thats Ok because they can keep listening to the crap they make today.Ironic that you can get all the crap you want on video nowadays that was recorded new and digitally but the great stuff like this is just fine for us true fans! So shut up you who put this down, it wasnt meant for you.As a review for the DVD, just what I thought it would be like. Makes you shake your fist in the air and scream out Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh!!!! at the end. Nuff said.All that can be said about this is put on the album and imagine what Yes playing their instruments and singing would look like. That is what this is. Audio and video are as good as you could get from then. This is history.

This is a video of the 1975-1976 Yes concert tour. I saw it in San Antonio. It was a tremendous concert musically and visually with the band at the peak of its abilities. The video and audio are not good by current standards but it is watchable. As we say the Yes members grow older over the years, it is fun to be reminded of what they were when they were younger.

YessongsDVD MenuYour MoveI've Seen All Good PeopleThe ClapAnd You and IClose to the EdgeExcerpts from the Six Wives of Henry VIIIRoundaboutYours Is No DisgraceI am giving Yessongs the dvd four stars simply because it captures an awesome band playing in an awesome way. Everything you need to fully appreciate just how GREAT YES was in the early 70's is captured here. I am a merenovice fan compared to many who have commented here, and who will comment, so keep that in mind. That being said I thought the dvd was pretty great. I basically knew every song, and the setlist is a "greatest hits" sort of setlist too. Most fans of YES will know the songs. As for the visuals the film quality was pretty good overall. However, anyone can clearly see how the concert was simply SLAPPED ONTO DVD FROM A VIDEO SOURCE. There is absolutely NO remastering of any kind. Near the end of the show I could see lines on the screen from I guess where the video source was scratched. And there are all kinds of video anomalies that anyone would see in an old vhs movie, or any dvd that was never remastered. Still, with all of this being known, the stage was well lighted and very band member was easily recognizable. The image is NOT blurry or fuzzy, and the closeups are good. It is true though that often when someone was playing a solo the camera was not on them. Here I am thinking of Chris Squire on bass, not enough closeups of him playing bass solos. Also, I don't really remember many closeups of Alan White the drummer. As for Rick Wakeman mostly the camera came up to him from behind or from the side. We don't see Rick right in front of us often if ever. Mostly all of the good closeups are on Steve Howe on guitar and Jon Anderson on vocals. The audio is what I had the biggest problem with. The audio isn't so bad, but it seems that it was dubbed on to the film and it doesn't quite match the band and the singer as they play. The sound is synched up closely, but it's not a match. It often seemed like the band was lip synching to a soundtrack. Obviously they were jamming and playing incredibly, but this is what I think is the biggest flaw of the dvd. The other thing that pissed me off was how the dvd case was one of those new cheapos that is mostly hollow and missing plastic. And the disc is a simple silver affair without color. There is no track listing on the dvd insert or on the disc. It does smack of someone making an easy buck. Also, at the end of this concert film we see the movie as being rated G. Wow, straight from a movie theater piece of stock footage to a dvd.Anyway, this is a great band at their peak playing great rock and roll. Forget about what this disc is not and focus on the MUSIC. The MUSIC is what this dvd is suppossed to be about. Yes, the limitations of the dvd are a real pisser, but this concert is just shy of being 40 years old now. The band now has a replacement singer. Time marches on. Don't let the quality of this dvd keep you from enjoying a truely fantastic band who was caught peaking in their craft.

Iconica formazione prog che ha lasciato un segno importante...

Al ser un Blu-ray esperaba una calidad de imagen superior al dvd pero casi no se notan las mejoras (Algo se aprecia en la nitidez aunque es muy poco)En cuanto al sonido permanece con la mísma baja calidad que tenía el dvd, o sea, malo.El concierto en sí es muy bueno eso ya se sabía, pero hay que reconocer que es un documento que todo seguidor de Yes le gustará tenerlo en formato físico.Incluye unos extras de los músicos hablando en inglés sin subtitulos y algunos temas muy interesantes sobre la banda.Yo a pesar de la baja calidad del blu-ray no me arrepiento de tenerlo, son los YES y es el YESSONGS, palabras mayores.

Qualité du son et de l'image plutôt ordinaires, mais c'est compréhensible et excusable. Peu importe, juste de les voir faire resurgir de beaux souvenirs.

The below description by reviewer Pink says it all, so nothing needs to be, or can be, added to that.So the only addition to that are the pictures i took of the box.The only strange thing is........On the back cover, as a disc feature, it says that there are 4 new Yessongs artwork cards specially created by Roger Dean, but there is nothing seen of this as a disc feature (in a gallery or something like that), and nothing in postcard form included in the box.Maybe only with the first pressings, but not with this one i got.Not a big problem, but strange nonetheless.Other than that, i am a happy camper!I recommend this Bluray to all Yes fans, and lovers of progressive rock.Full 5 stars!!!

No es lo que esperaba para un Blu-Ray de aniversario deja mucho de lo que hoy se podría haber hecho al remasterizar de lo que fue un gran concierto de este grupo.