Yes - Symphonic Live

Rating:
Summary: THE MOST ENJOYABLE OF ALL YES DVD'S
Review: Firstly, I think the Symphonic Tour was one of the greatest of all Yes tours. And being a Philadelphia (their adopted home town) native, and seeing every Philly Yesshow since 1974--even flying up for every show from my present home in Texas to "keep the streak alive"--this particular DVD strikes a chord in me. The editing and camera work on this DVD is impeccable. Including the cuts to the orchestra members absolutely enjoying the experience and the perfectly behaved Amsterdam audience shots were nice wide angle views of the stage. The second disc somewhat documents their Philly tour stop at the outdoor orchestra facility, the Mann Music Center (always dreamed they'd play there)---and a peek at the Roger Dean (artist of their album covers) art exhibit, which I attended. All in all, personal memories aside, great DVD. My favorite feature on the DVD was the "animation on/off"- where you could disable all animation that were interspersed during the show and even eliminates the closing credits during the last couple of minutes of the concert. In other words, just the show and no distractions. Very cool feature. Highly recommended, especially at Amazon.com's price!!

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly excellent live show
Review: As a long-time Yes fan I was quite hesitant to purchase this DVD; The absence of Rick Wakeman plus the inclusion of a symphony orcehstra seemed out of place and I suspected the show might be a bit pathetic. After a good friend recommended this I did purchase it and was absolutely surprised by the superb quality of the DVD - sound, track selection and overall performance. What is really great here is that this is an over 2.5 hour show that really covers their entire history; tracks from all classic albums - yes album, close to the edge, fragile, topographic oceans, relayer and later songs (owner of the lonley heart) and they are all performed by great musicians in excellent shape. Rick Wakeman is missed here but his young replacement does a great job, so you can focus on the other four. All are great - but personally I always looked at Steve Howe as the main power behind the band and as modern Rock's greatest guitarist, so for Howe's fans it's a real delight, especially his acoustic solo parts of 'mood for a day' and the movement from Vivaldi's lute concerto. The 3 tracks that I would rank as amazing are Close to the edge, Starship trooper and 'And you and I'; All other tracks are great too but on these 3 I really had a shiver when I saw these nearly 60 year old guys perform as they do...
As for the orchestra - luckily they are very mild and really contribute only in the background and do not steal the show; You can also see the players really enjoy the show - as the band members do. One last word about the DVD editing - it's excellent and it's the way a music DVD should be presented; The bonus DVD is a bit weak but who cares when you have such a great show by such a great band. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Finally- a great document of Yes' live power-
Review: Frustrated Yesfans rejoice!This is as close as we have gotten yet to the magical power of this bands' legendary live prowess,on DVD or VHS(official releases,anyhow!).Although Wakeman-less,the band proves,beyond any shadow of a doubt what a force to be reckoned with they can be,when captured effectively in a live setting.There are very strong versions here, of the epics,in particular.Close To The Edge,Ritual,and Gates Of Delirium...?all in one show?!...these guys are supposed to be aging dinosaurs of the (supposedly!) all-but-defunct progressive rock genre.Here they prove ALL of these assumptions wrong,AND then some!The newer material, too,is represented extremely well- In The Presence Of from the highly underrated Magnification release is a revelation unto itself(possible slight vocal overdubs notwithstanding).When I first saw this,it was a joyous occasion,for it was profound confirmation of what we Yesfans already knew-this IS, & has been,for a mighty long time-The Finest Live Band Upon The Planet.Here Steve Howe shines so brightly(guitar sound quibbles aside-its what he's playing that's important!),it's a wonder his legend hasn't grown any further than he had already accrued in the 70's-his playing just seems to get better & better!Here Chris Squire plays those amazing basslines from Gates in front of our astonished faces.Here Jon Anderson's voice descends from Heaven in a more majestic manner than it ever did,back when we were all young.And,here,finally!-is visible proof of the strength,power and endurance of Alan White on the drumkit(my brother refers to it as "A roomful of drums"-Alan's Percussion Room!),who singlehandedly steals the whole show by never letting up-possibly the single most focused performance by a drummer I have ever witnessed!The Orchestra,too,is fabulous-young,good-looking(mostly female!),and enthusiastically enjoying playing along with this,some of the most challenging material of our time.Completely enjoyable,beginning to end.If you love Yes,THIS is a must!If you don't love them,well,by gosh!HERE is a good place to see what you've been missing!

Rating:
Summary: Solid.
Review: Actually, my own YesSymphonic experience wasn't that great...I saw 'em in a half-assed ampitheatre that had a 10:30PM curfew, with noise ordinances to boot. So not only did the performance feel rushed, you could barely hear it in the first place! Thankfully I had a much better experience with the YesSymphonic DVD...it captures the band & orchestra in fine form, and it definitely exceded my expectations. What really was the "X" factor was this particular orchestra...you could clearly see that many of the players were fans of the band & really getting into the music, and as a result everyone seemed to be performing on a higher level. Steve Howe's guitar occasionally sounded like it coulda been mixed better, but all in all this DVD was a pleasant suprise for me. I still want a proper Yes concert DVD with the classic lineup (with better visuals than that gawdawfully cheesy Keys to Ascension), but this'll hold over most diehards for the time being...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: Wow! I love this band. This dvd I bought by luck at a local music store. I just happened across it on the shelf and bought it hoping it would be ok. I've only recently gotten into Yes and really didn't know a thing about them other than their 80's album 90125. I love their music and have since purchased almost all their cd's and wanted to see them actually perform on stage. I'm a drummer and think that among other great percussionists and drummers, bill bruford and alan white are fantastic in their own right. I was immediately impressed with the clarity of the opening screen music "Don't take love for granted". On my surround stereo it kind of threw me off guard and gave me goose bumps (the volume was up!). Then I actually watched the dvd and was mesmerized by the performance and quality of the entire production. Every member was featured quite equally (Alan White even gave a drum solo which of course made my day). Being a musician I can see that each member is a master of his instrument and how they act on stage is of no consequence to the power of their performance (just close your eyes and listen)they wre just having a little fun. They've been producing great music since the 60's so I think they deserve to have a litle fun on stage with their music and fans. Although i feel that Yes didn't really need a symphony to back them up, the young orchestra really added "uumph" to their sound and stage presence and in a couple of places I could tell that Yes enjoyed having them. Overall, this DVD made me wish I could have been there to see them live because if they sounded this good on DVD I think live would have been ten times the experience. I usually gauge how good a band is by hearing them perform live. If they sound just as good live as they do on the album without overproduction then I figure they are talented unlike a lot of today's "techno-sleep" bands with no real talent. If they sound even better live than on the albums then I consider them worth my money and time and this dvd is definitely worth my money and time.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: Having seen this concert live, I couldn't resist buying the DVD to enjoy again and again. The Band (and Orchestra) are at their best. This is a MUST HAVE for any Yes fan! You WILL NOT regret this purchase!

Rating:
Summary: le mejor banda de todos los tiempos
Review: Hablar de Yes es hablar de uno de los grupos mas
tradicionales dentro del genero del rock progresivo.

Su ultimo DVD en concierto, es una obra de arte, Yes
symphonic live, cuenta con todos los elementos
importantes para convertirse en un clasico. La
interpretacion de los musicos de la banda es impecable
y la orquesta que tienen como respaldo ayuda a adornar
la magnifica musica que yes a compuesto durante
todos estos años de carrera.

El sonido esta muy bien mezclado y trae opciones
como 5.1, DTS y estereo digital.algo que brinda muchas
posibilidades al perceptor.

La imagen es clara y el manejo de las camaras es
sencillamente espectacular, el director captura todo
la armosfera del concierto, algo que hacia tiempos lo
fans de yes estabamos esperando, una buena produccion
en vivo de la banda.

La seleccion de los temas es importante, trae todos sus
temas tradicionales, clasicos y unas joyas como:
Ritual,the gates of delirium,dos obras de arte que
pocas veces ,Yes habia presentado en un concierto
grabado en video.

LO unico que los fans extrañamos es la presencia de Rick Wakeman,si este maestro de los teclados hubiera
estado presente en este concierto,seria el extasis total,claro esta que el musico Tom Brislim lo hace
sumamente bien, asume el puesto con todo lujo de detalles.

El empaque en el que viene el DVD esta muy bien diseñado y con las graficas de tema fantastico a las
que yes siempre nos ha acostumbrado, y ademas trae un segundo DVD con un video bonus del tema Don't Go perteneciente a su ultimo trabajo en estudio, Magnification Y un documental con entrevistas a los
integrantes de la banda e imagenes grabadas durante la gira.

Si usted quiere ver la esencia de YES,su grandiosidad musical e inigualable produccion musical tenga dentro
de su coleccion este DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Just Say "YES" Loudly!
Review: "Yes" always has an omnipotent presence in concert and their musical talents are amazing. Even Jon Anderson's vocals are nearly the same as they were over thirty years ago. This great concert sounds fantastic in DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. I suggest turning the volume WAY up. The camera work is typical of any concert with lots of (thankfully short) close-ups of the German backing orchestra (they are extremely talented, however). There is a nice ambiance when using an orchestra instead of keyboards and it works very well here. The orchestra members are generally very young, but their intense joy and talent is not lost here. All of Yes's best songs are represented here, almost to every single note ("Ritual" being one example). There's not a lot of flashiness, but each band member has their chance at solo work and the results are perfect. The documentary is just for fun and the bonus video is a nice addition.