Blu-ray Review: Yes: Yessongs

By
Laurence
– October 24, 2018Find Others: Blu-ray, Review, Special InterestGet More: ,

STUDIO: Screenbound International/MVD | DIRECTOR: Peter Neal
RELEASE DATE: Oct 26, 2018 | PRICE: Blu-ray $17.62
BONUSES: Steve Howe short “Beginnings,” documentary
SPECS: NR | 72 min. | Music concert | 1.33:1 fullscreen | Mono/5.1 DTS HD remix

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie  | Audio | Video  | Overall

First issued in the UK in 2012, the Stateside Blu-ray edition of Yes: Yessongs, the 1975 film capturing the seminal Seventies pro-rockers during their 1973 Close to the Edge Tour, remains a respectable but unremarkable concert offering.

Featuring one of the strongest line-ups in the band’s ever-altering roster of some 40-plus years—Jon Anderson vocals, Chris Squire on bass, Steve how on guitars, a glitteringly-robed Rick Wakeman on keyboards/synthesizer, and Alan White on drums—Yessongs offers nine songs, highlighted by the pre-Close to the Edge I’ve Seen a Good People and Roundabout, both from 1971’s Fragile.

The Blu-ray features a restored high-definition transfer from a 16mm negative in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, abetted by the original mono sound mix and a newly created DTS mix. Yeah, it all looks and sounds better than previous editions,  but there’s something comfortable to be found in the still-shaky audio presentation, grainy appearance and old-time burn marks and nicks that were present in the original celluloid presentation.

Buy or Rent Yes: Yessongs

Related titles:

  1. New Release: Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa and more
  2. DVD Review: Janis: Little Girl Blue
  3. Blu-ray: New Orleans Music In Exile
  4. Blu-ray: The Rolling Stones – From the Vault: Sticky Fingers, Live at the Fonda Theatre, 2015
  5. Blu-ray: The Who: Tommy: Live At Royal Albert Hall

About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.