Yes: Classic Artists
$8.59
Description
The story of Yes is as controversial as their music. The twists and turns of the band’s career is now told for the first time in a series of exclusive interviews with Yes members past and present for this definitive and fully authorized DVD documentary. Praised and criticized for defining progressive rock, Yes have been surprising and delighting worldwide audiences for over five decades. On record and on stage, Yes created a fresh sound and striking visuals, blending genres… More >>
Home Music
Yes: Classic Artists
Yes, has been, IS, and always will be the soundtrack of my life. I have read everything about them, seen many of their shows, have ALL their releases and will own this one. Thank you YES for a lifetime of pure enlightenment!
Rating: 5 / 5
The trailer has been online for quite some time at youtube (here it is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GDeaAy6oGI) but the film has finally been listed on Amazon as coming out in Jan. ‘08. This being an opinion based soley on the trailer, not a review of the documentary itself, I’d have to say the film is a winner, featuring rare interviews with the likes of past cohorts Pete, Eddy, Michael, most of the band members and even some obligatory members of the press. “Dinosaurs”? No way of knowing if it beats previous Yes documentaries though. “There’s something special still to happen” -Rick Wakeman. Are you ready for 40 true summers long? After all these years Yes is still my favorite band.
Rating: 5 / 5
I don’t mind the interview segments but that is pretty much all there is here. Over 2 hours worth. When i titled this ‘old guys talkin’ I am not being critical of the fact that the guys are older, but that there was little attention paid to recapturing who they were in their prime via photos or performance video. I feel this dvd was a little on the low budget side.
Rating: 3 / 5
I’ve now revised my original review after watching both the interviews and supplemental material. This is a great documentary of Yes and comparable to YesYears, the documentary filmed back in 1991.
What makes this documentary unique is that we have many more individuals related to the Yes organization through the years including Mike Tate, Roy Clair (Sound Systems), Eddie Offord, Phil Carson, and a few of Yes’s former managers (Except Brian Lane of course). Peter Banks, original guitarist of Yes is featured here as well. Bill Bruford is back again as well as all current members of Yes.
This appears to be a British Production and very well done indeed. The video generally interviews current and former members during each stage of development of Yes’s Career. Many of the same stories are told again, such as Bruford’s account of early Yes travel when they drove themselves to the gigs then driving asleep at the wheel on the way back which led him to arrange alternate travel.
Peter Banks for the first time recounts his firing from the band on video. Steve Howe talks about his feelings on the 80’s version of YES in detail and difficulty dealing with the dual guitar role on the Union Tour. Chris Welch, Biographer of Yes and former Melody Maker writer recounts many memories of the band. I don’t really consider him an authority on YES exclusively, but he was more or less responsible for helping them gain exposure in England. Since I’ve heard many of the same re-counting from most of the bandmembers, I enjoyed the blunt honesty of producer Eddie Offord and Mike Tate since they were closest to the organization during that time.
Missing from the DVD are again, Patrick Moraz, Former Manager Brian Lane, however Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes are on here and give very detailed accounts of the recordings of Drama. Trevor talks about touring with Yes in the 80’s as well as the production of 90125 in which he was the producer.
Supplemental Material is excellent, and there is also a small interview with Keith Emerson as he recounts a story of being asked to join Yes.
There were some good moments where Mike Tate told the story of how Yes obtained their first decent PA system from IRON BUTTERFLY. They generally signed over all publishing rights to obtain this. Insane. Bill Bruford on the other hand was told to give half his royalities to Alan White when he wanted to leave the band, due to Brian Lane. This was brought up in Chris Welch’s biography of Yes.
I have in the past recommended that each current and former bandmember should write a detailed account of their own Yes Story including an in- depth look at Yes’s song construction process as well as studio work. Biographers have tried this but I believe they continually fail. Chris Welch, Biographer of Yes “Close To the Edge”, story of Yes for example in his video comments here, gives his negative criticism of such albums as Tales from Topographic Oceans and even the Relayer Album which were still two of Yes’s most underrated work yet are still masterpieces, so I could not agree with some of his comments. I believe Chris Welch’s over-exposure in this documentary actually hurts it, but I am not taking off points here because there are still many other views.
Overall, an excellent addition to the YES DVD collection and I recommend it highly.
Rating: 5 / 5
YES is one of my all time favorite bands. They used to come to Nashville every tour and I saw them every time. I’ve seen them more than any other artist, about 16 times beginning with THE YES ALBUM tour, twice on the TALES OF TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS tour. I even saw the tour without Jon. Unfortunatly, I saw them last about 8 0r 9 years ago. It may seem unfair to review something I haven’t seen, but I’m pretty sure I would be bored to death with 2 lenghty discs of interviews and bio. Give me the music any day.
Rating: 2 / 5