Yes: Yessongs Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Yes: Yessongs Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 1, 2019

It can sometimes be just a little disconcerting (no pun intended) to see your favorite rock icons aging, watching as their bodies tend to crumple just a bit and (if they’re singers) their voices start to crack and waver. After all, a lot of rock is unabashedly based on “swagger”, no matter what the gender of the performer, and those who get into their seventies or eighties may simply (understandably) not have the same amounts of energy they did in their twenties and thirties. One of the groups who has rather miraculously stayed “forever young”, at least in my personal estimation, is Yes. I’ve in fact commented in other reviews that have featured the plangent tenor of Jon Anderson (currently 74 as this review is being written) that his voice has held up rather remarkably well through the years. I actually know some Music Directors for some pretty iconic (pop and/or mainstream) singers who were popular in the sixties, and they’ve repeatedly had to transpose material downward as the stars’ voices have started to change with the aging process, but Anderson still hits his high notes with apparent ease. Some “elder statesmen” versions of the Yes membership are on hand for the appealing “40th Anniversary” retrospective Yessongs: 40 Years On (this Blu-ray evidently came out in the UK several years ago), but for the “young” and in the words of some bandmates themselves, “naïve” versions of the band, Yessongs captures Yes at what was one of the most epochal moments in their careers, the 1972-73 tour supporting Close to the Edge.

As is documented in the fortieth anniversary supplement included on this release, the idea of filming Yes in concert was almost an afterthought, and as such this concert video is pretty primitive by today’s standards. Coverage is kind of willy nilly, and attempts to inject some extra elements like Roger Dean illustrations don’t really add much to the proceedings. Despite its kind of lo-fi performance aspects and its definitely lo-fi filming (and even recording), Yessongs remains a pivotal piece in understanding this band’s huge influence in the early seventies, and as such will probably be appreciated by fans despite whatever technical shortcomings this release has.

Yes: Yessongs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Yessongs is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. As the back cover states, Yessongs has been offered in a number of shoddy bootleg versions through the years, and for those used to those less than optimal quality outings, this version will certainly be a decided upgrade, but my warning to all prospective viewers is to temper expectations (and take a good look at the screenshots accompanying this review). The back cover states that this has "been restored by Pinewood Studios Post Production into a stunning High Definition picture and 5.1 surround sound restoration* to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the live Yessongs concert," but the restoration can only do so much with a smaller format source element that has inherent struggles with the concert's often weirdly minimal stage lighting. The overall darkness tends to affect detail levels as much (or at least nearly as much) as the 16mm source does, with even relative close-ups not offering that much in the way of fine detail. The darkness on the stage tends to bathe even "leading players" like Anderson and Howe, and Alan White on drums can only intermittently even be spied in part. Wakeman also often is shown best from the back, but at least there you can see some of the multi-keyboards he uses. Despite restoration efforts, there's still some damage to be seen, mostly in the way of white flecks, which are perhaps more noticeable due to the overall darkness of the effort. As should probably be expected, things are fairly grainy looking, but I didn't notice any major compression issues.

*See the audio section below for what may be an error on this release.

Yes: Yessongs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Despite Yessongs being branded on its cover with the DTS-HD Master Audio logo, and even the Audio Menu on the disc itself supposedly pointing to a lossless surround track, it turns out that the surround offering on this disc is a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track. It arguably opens up the soundstage a bit, but frankly not that much, probably because it's my understanding that no multitrack masters of the concert exist (or have been located). Instead, I recommend sticking with the LPCM 2.0 mono offering, which adequately recreates the filmed concert's sonics, such as they are. This is a fairly thin sounding track, as most who have already seen Yessongs may be aware, and the mono rendering may not always be totally kind to the impressive layering that Yes is so famous for offering. That said, fidelity is decent, within an understanding that this track has never really sounded fantastic, with good prioritization offering Anderson's soaring vocals generally above the fray of the often convoluted instrumental accompaniment.

Yes: Yessongs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Yessongs: 40 Years On (1080p; 58:35) is a hugely entertaining retrospective featuring a ton of excellent then (2012) contemporary interviews (though Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman are noticeably absent), along with some fun archival video. The only downside is the sole audio option is Dolby Digital 2.0, though quite a bit of this enterprise is simply talking heads, so disappointment may be tempered by that fact.


• Steve Howe: Beginnings (1080p; 12:35) offers a restoration of Steve Howe's short, previously thought lost.


• Trailer (1080p; 2:40)

Additionally four collectible postcards featuring Roger Dean's iconic artwork for the band are included in the keepcase.

Yes: Yessongs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Yeah, it doesn't look great, and it doesn't sound fantastic, but you know what? Yessongs is still a fascinating document of one of the most important prog rock aggregations of its era (and beyond, in my personal estimation), and as such should be enjoyed as a historic film presenting the band in one of its most iconic formulations, at a time when the rock music industry was undergoing some pretty significant sea changes. Video is certainly improved from some bootleg versions I've personally seen, but perhaps not in the huge quantum leap some may be hoping for considering this is so-called "high definition". It's disappointing that the surround track is mislabeled as lossless, but that said, it's not much of a surround track to begin with (again, of course in my personal estimation). The mono track here has the same perhaps minimal upgrade from previous versions that the video element does. The two major supplements, the previously "lost" Howe short and especially the 40th anniversary documentary, are hugely enjoyable.