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| Yes - Yes (Special Edition EP) |
 Released: 2003 Label: Classic Pictures Cat. No.: DVD7032X (PAL) / DVD7032XNTSC (NTSC) Total Time: 70:00 (inclusive) | |
Reviewed by: John "BoBo" Bollenberg, May 2003 Pulled from the vaults of a German television series, please be warned that the actual Yes footage on this DVD only lasts for a mere 18 minutes! This release is one of the many Classic Pictures DVD’s in their EP series. What you get here are three songs from a very early stage in Yes' career. "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" dates from 1969 and comes in black and white only. The band performs this Richie Havens original in the original line-up of Tony Kaye on organ and Peter Banks on guitar. The strange thing is that Banks is seen here performing a track from the band’s second album Time And A Word. When the album was actually released, Banks had already left the band to form his very own group Flash and was replaced by Steve Howe. It is however Banks performing all the songs on the album yet on the main picture of the band he had already been replaced by Steve Howe. It’s that same Steve Howe that really accelerates the band’s future, as is clearly shown in the following two tracks. Dating from a TV-recording from 1971, Bill Bruford is wearing his infamous black sweater sporting the name TUBS. From "I’ve Seen All Good People," the part "Your Move" has been omitted, so what you get is straight into "All Good People." The images are full color and very psychedelic and already show how original Yes was compared to a lot of contemporary artists. Also Chris Squire does some amazing things whilst Anderson’s voice today sounds as fresh as these vintage images from thirty years ago! "Yours Is No Disgrace" comes in a longer version than what can be found on The Yes Album mainly due to the superb guitar solos. Here Tony Kaye strictly confines himself to the organ whilst Jon Anderson plays a very early form of synthesizer. The images however don’t allow us to see what kind of synth it really is. Probably even Jon can’t remember what type it was! Throughout this track we see a foam head hanging from the ceiling by means of some string, rotating above a white chair. This is, of course, as if the sleeve design for The Yes Album has come alive. So many years after the actual recording, these tracks still sound very, very original and daring and were also the last to have Tony Kaye on board, Tony leaving for Peter Banks’ band Flash and being replaced by Rick Wakeman. No doubt the images on this DVD are very interesting for any Yes fan, but the duration is not long enough to justify its purchase. The DVD itself contains what is called "Track Select" and 'Pop-Up DVD." In fact this is exactly the same thing, where the "Track Select" section shows the recording in full screen, whilst the "Pop-Up DVD" section also includes some information about Yes' career on the bottom of your screen. In the "Previews" section you get very small previews of no fewer than 20 other releases in the EP series plus a glimpse at four DVD compilations. Finally the "DVD Jukebox" section contains four songs by different artists as a taster for their full DVD releases. These contain Rick Wakeman, ELP, BJH and Procol Harum. Making this DVD a must-have for all Yes fans maybe is a little too much. For sure what you see from the Yes camp is interesting material but surely more material must have been available in order to stretch this DVD to at least one hour’s worth of footage. Depending on the retail price, it’s up to you to decide whether this item should be part of your collection. More about Yes (Special Edition EP): Track Listing: No Oppportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (4:22) / All Good People (3:30) / Yours Is No Disgrace (10:38) / Pop Up DVD (18:30) / Previews (12:30) / DVD Jukebox : Rick Wakeman – "Reprise From The Forest" / Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "The Curse Of Baba Yaga" / Barclay James Harvest - "Mockingbird" / Procol Harum – "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" Musicians: Contact: Website: yesworld.com Discography
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