Rating: 
Summary: Another Great DVD Capturing Modern Yes
Review: As _Live from the House of Blues_ caught Yes on The Ladder Tour from 1999, _Yes - Symphonic Live_ captues Yes on their Symphonic Tour from 2001 featuring Jon Anderson, Alan White, Chris Squire, and Steve Howe with touring keyboard player Tom Brislin, and a symphony. In addition to the classics ("And You And I", "Close to the Edge", "I've Seen All Good People"), Yes also play about 25 minutes of material from their very good orchestral 2001 release, _Magnification_.It's nice that "Magnification" and "In the Presence Of" are featured on this DVD as it is unknown as to whether or not either of these two very good songs will be played live again. "Close to the Edge" starts out disappointingly slow, but it does redeem itself about halfway through until the end. And the performances of "Gates of Delirium" and "Ritual" are worth the price of the DVD alone. Extra features include hit-or-miss animation that can be turned off or turned on while you watch the concert. The DVD also features Anderson's banter inbetween songs. There is also a 30 minute documentary that features the band members talking about _Magnification_ and playing with an orchestra. Die hard fans will really enjoy this section. The MVP of this DVD is Squire who still commands his instrument like few others, and sounds in top-form on backup vocals. Overall, this DVD is very, very good. If you really enjoyed the Symphonic Tour, or perhaps missed it, then you should pick this us to remember the, as Anderson would describe it, "magical and beautiful" experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many disappointments
Review: I found the DVD to be borderline good. The audio wasnt as good as others claimed it was. My sub woofer almost never came on. Jon Anderson has become so boring.
Rating: 
Summary: The best Yes thing ever.
Review: This is the one we have all waited for. Do not even think twice about it. Buy it NOW! It's so much better than the glut of othere DVD's that we have all purchased like good little consumers. I had not seen the orchestral tour and was approaching this DVD with trepidation. Surely we all remember the dreadful "Symphonic Tributes" to Yes, Genesis, Tull etc... not so this time. The orchestral arrangements are MASTERFUL and the orchestra was tight as can be. I was stunned. If you don't have a lump in your throat during "Close To The Edge" then you must be dead. :-)
The band was first rate. Everyone sounds better than they have in years. Truly. And THANK GOD Wakeman is gone. New Keys man Tom Brislin is the best part of this whole show. What a glorious thing to hear all the original parts actually played properly and not the arpeggiated masturbatory approximation we have suffered with for the past 20 years. Just buy the blessed thing.
Rating:
Summary: An astonishing live performance (but disc 2 is pointless)
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: "Yesology"-The Continuing Study Of Yes Music Lives On
Review: I just got the Newest YES DVD YESSYMPHONIC in the mail today, In fact I just got done watching it in it's entirety. Wow!!! This is a reflection of the bands ability to try and do new things with old material as well as there new stuff. I did get to see this tour live but am glad I purchased this as a genuine fan and collector. As I said in the title "Yesology" the Continuing study of Yes Music is not only meant for the band to continue puting out new albums and to continue touring it's a phrase for us as fans to continue to crave there music and hold it dear to us. If you haven't seen this I highly reccomend you order it today. I will be looking forward to seeing YES as well as all the fellow YES fans This summer. Should be another great Tour with Rick back in the band. See Ya there. David Jacques St. George, UTAH
Rating: 
Summary: Steve Howe is so overated!
Review: Steve can't even do Steve anymore!!!! His "Mood for a Day" and the "Concerto in D" solo are horrible. THEY DON'T EVEN COMPARE TO THE ORIGINALS. He has a hard time hitting all of the notes in MOOD and has a hard time with the tempo. OK...enough bashing. But come on...put another song on the DVD and not this. The rest of the DVD is OK...incredibly boring though. The sound is excellent and the choice of material is fine except for the Steve Howe solo section and "Owner of A Lonely Heart". Why this was put on I will never know. Steve acts like he is so above this piece of pop songcraft. He would obviously rather be anywhere else on the planet during this song. I hope someone else can actually be objective about this video. I purchased this based on the reviews I read. What a mistake! BTW Chris and Alan are the saving graces of this DVD. Both are still great musicians. Jon sounds good but is so "OUT THERE" now he is hard to relate to.
Rating:
Summary: Yes Super Symphony
Review: A quite superb DVD of a quite superb concert. Both anamorphic widescreen picture and 5.1 surround sound quality are of a very high standard indeed and fans of Yes will enjoy seeing songs from their latest album 'Magnification' performed live. This DVD is infinitely better than the other 2 Yes DVD's availble. A must buy!!
Rating:
Summary: Finally, A World Class Production of Yes
Review: An Excellent Production, Pure and Simple. The band encountered many obsticles in this Live production, the biggest being the issue of using a different local orchestra for each region or town they played in, and also that Larry Groupe (The original conductor and key person who wrote many of the orchestra parts with the band could not stay for the entire tour). However though I understand that Larry hand-picked the conductor that you see in this production and it all still works very fluidly. Songs like Ritual and Gates of Delerium worked exceptionally well and the sound quality is top notch. Yes is still the only band I know of that will still take the risks for music sake. And may I add on a personal note, that the orchestra had (on this performance night), a collection of rather attractive females in the orchestra that later joined the band on stage for the Roundabout finale. They all danced to the song and brought a nice ending to the show.
The DVD itself is full of computer generated landscapes that open the show. This is the first time I've seen a Yes inspired Landscape, (not quite a Roger Dean piece of Artwork, but not intentional either) brought to life vividly in moving digital computer generated animation. I'm also glad they showed some behind the scenes at the Mann Music Center Show in Philadelphia. I was at this show and it left me speechless. This band continues, as I would like to believe, for the music and their fans. I believe Jon Anderson is in his bliss right now. They are again performing epics, and new epics, still realizing their dream. In the age where a two to three minute song is the max for radio airplay, Yes receives Standing ovations each evening for their 20+ minute epics. I remember Jon in an interview mentioning that the idea of making an epic song is to carry the audience and listener on a journey and this DVD will allow you to feel this energy. My hats off to the Band and the hope that the work continues. Yes is extremely underappreciated by the masses, but it is our little secret (the fans)....they know this. There is such a family atmosphere at a Yes show, you pretty much know you can talk to anyone there and most are well versed with the Music and the Band. My best to the Band, their family and the Fans.... David Carlin
Rating:
Summary: YES MUSIC AT ITS BEST
Review: IVE BEEN A YES FAN FOR MANY YEARS AND FINALLY YES HAVE RETURNED TO THE MUSIC THAT DEFINED THE BAND. QUIET SIMPLY YES AT THEIR VERY BEST. FROM CLOSE TO THE EDGE TO IN THE PRESENCE OF--AND BEST OF ALL THE GATES OF DELIRIUM....THE MUSIC SPEAKS FOR ITS SELF. YES SYMPHONIC LIVE IS A MUST HAVE DVD.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Yes DVD so far
Review: When I first heard that YES was going to tour with an orchestra I was very skeptical about the quality of the orchestra arrangements. Some members of YES tried a few years ago to orchestrate a few songs from the Yes catalog and the result was something like Yanni meets the Moodies with extra Cheese! This DVD has none of that. It is a powerful performance with very appropriate arrangements. The delivery of Gates of Delirium and Ritual are perfect. Tom Brislin is brilliant on keyboards , his stage act reminded me of Patrick Moraz and Keith Emerson. Anderson's voice has never been better, and I can say the same about each one of the guys, they all master their instruments. They band sounds fantastic. I am VERY glad about the option to remove the animations from the concert, the animations just get in the way (I really dislike the KEYS DVD because of that, who wants to see a woman hanging from a cliff when Rick Wakeman is playing the minimoog at the speed of light?). The picture quality is the best I have seen so far for any DVD concert (including Stings newest), the sound is also very well equalized. You can hear orchestra and band perfectly. If you are going to buy only one YES DVD or ANY concert DVD per say make this one your choice.
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