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Yes

The New Director’s Cut DVD

Review by Gary Hill

In some ways you can say, “we’ve seen it before.” Of course, isn’t that par for the course whenever you see “Director’s Cut” anywhere in the title or subtitle of a DVD? Much of this disc is taken from the Yesspeak documentary. The entire concert that was presented in part on this set is shown here. There are still the little interview segments present here. While those make this a nice documentary meets concert film, I still wish there had been a way to bypass them and play the concert through without the interruptions. Still, it’s nice to get the full musical performances as opposed to the truncated versions found on the original release. Were this the only change here it would have been a good thing, but we’re not done yet.

We get a full second concert here and it’s another amazing set from the band. In fact, I might have to say that this concert is (at least in terms of the musical performance) superior to the one presented first. It certainly is better that this one is shown without the annoying little interview interruptions. With Yes’ future in question these days this may well be the most lasting tribute to the band’s live presence.The band have recently announced that Benoit David will be touring with them on vocals and Oliver Wakeman will be filling the keyboard duties. So, it seems likely that there will never be another chance to see this lineup of Yes live.

Yes is really a band that every progressive rock fan should see live. I have to say that the performances contained in this set might well be the best live showings the band ever did. For those who haven’t seen them in person it will serve as “the next best thing.” Yes fanatics will want to snag this up immediately. Even if you’ve already got the Yesspeak set, this is a better product by far and well worth the upgrade.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2008  Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.

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