Yessongs

...don't expect CD quality sound - its AWFUL ! only came here to check if it wasn't my copy that was so bad.

Yessongs has to be one of the best live concerts i've seen on screen. Yes has to be one of the best progressive rock bands around. Their music has touched my heart, and these live performaces are just spectacular. Here we have the Alan White on drums, replacing Bill Brufored during the Close to the Edge tour, Rick Wakeman on keyboards, with his amazing solo of 'Excerpts from Wives of Henry..', Chris Squire on bass, Steve Howe, performing 'The Clap' furiously, and Jon Anderson on vocals, who never fails to prove that he has one of the most unique voices in the business. The best songs here, are 'And You And I', 'Yours Is No Disgrace', and 'Close to the Edge'. The only thing about 'Close to the Edge' is that during the song, images of organisms and living cells and what not are shown, and it gets annoying especially during the awesome parts in the song. Also, songs like 'Siberian Khatru', and 'Roundabout', which was found on the CD, isn't found on this film. Either way, the concert is awesome. Yessongs was also hard to find awhile ago, which was out of print for a time. But recently, Yessongs was rereleased on DVD. All Yes fans must see this film.

Despite it's rather brief running time (only about 72 minutes),this film will delight Yes fans (especially the ones that were subjected to their lesser material from 1980,onwards). This rock & roll concert film (or rock doc,as they are now being called) was filmed on their 1972, 'Close To The Edge' tour, before Rick Wakeman decided to step down from the band (and would be replaced by Swiss keyboard wizard,Patrick Moraz),and just as Alan White (ex Plastic Ono Band drummer)joined. The band snorts fire through several of their more familiar anthems (including one of the best versions of 'Close to the edge' I've ever seen/heard). I'm told that it was originally presented in four track stereophonic sound (I was not so lucky to have seen it in it's original release---I first saw it on the USA Network's 'Night Flight' program back in the early 1980's). Perhaps if there is any extra footage from that concert,maybe one day it will be made available on a DVD/Blue Ray extended version. Not rated by the MPAA, but contains nothing to offend.

This has to be one of the great rock films ever made. The only complaint about it is that you never get a chance to go backstage to see how the band were offstage and how they interacted with each other. Also, if a younger person were looking at this, they might get put off by the length of the songs, but they are so good that you barely notice how long they are. All in all this is an excellent film of one of the most popular bands of the 1970's. Hopefully they will get inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while they are all still making music.

At 72m it's too short but in these days if a concert was filmed it was for cinema release of via a TV company. This is the former.

largely shot in close up and with no stageshow to speak of this lives on the performances - The current DVD (Odeon) has it in 5.1 but as I don't have that I flicked between original and 5.1 - both sound the same to me which takes away from the overall impact.

It's Yes at their finest - and how you read that will colour your view of the film - They are one of those bands you either get or don't.

The DVD has several extras which add value but if your a prog fan you need this in your collection - If not avoid.