Customer Reviews

House of Yes - Live from the House of Blues

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As a longtime fan of Yes, I am pleased that after 30+ years we finally have a superb concert video of the band. Taped originally in HDTV format, this DVD is a special treat for those viewers who have a progressive-scan (480p) DVD player and an HD-ready television. The video is brilliant and sharp, and the Dolby Digital 5.1-channel sound mix is exquisite. Each instrument can be heard in detail, which, considering the prodigious musical skills of each band member, is a real listening pleasure.

Yes fans will especially appreciate the excellent performances of Yours Is No Disgrace (the opening number), Homeworld (from the most recent CD), and Awaken. Standards like Roundabout, And You And I, and Your Move/I've Seen All Good People are done competently if cursorily, and the technical quality of the sound and picture is hands above any other Yes footage to date.

Guitarist Steve Howe is in great form, as good as he has ever been. He and bassist Chris Squire play a variety of beautiful and unusual instruments, which fellow musicians will enjoy seeing (Squire even has a 3-necked bass on Awaken; the top neck is basically the bottom 3 strings of a standard electric guitar. Perhaps this instrument was built just for this song!). Squire and vocalist Jon Anderson seem to really enjoy the performance, and their positive attitude adds to the viewer's enjoyment. In addition to his vocal duties, Anderson plays a variety of interesting incidental instruments, including a miniature harp he hangs on his chest with a shoulder strap. Unfortunately, the younger generation of Yes-men, guitarist-vocalist Billy Sherwood and keyboardist Ivan Khoroshev, don't get enough air time. Both are incredible musicians, and it would have been nice to see more of them (sadly, Sherwood has since left the group). Yes is not a big drum band, but longtime drummer Alan White gets his share of shots, and he also seems to be having a good time.

Several DVD extras are worth mentioning. The best is a DD 5.1 channel mix of Homeworld, which is a totally different experience from hearing it on audio CD. The video that plays during Homeworld consists of shots of the video game of the same name; this is also fairly interesting. There are also interviews with all band members (except White) and a few shots of them playing in the studio.

Considering progressive-scan video source, DD 5.1 sound mix, and overall performance quality, this DVD is a must-have for the home theater enthusiast, and of course for any Yes fan.

I have been a fan of Yes since I first heard the "Tormato" album in 1978, but there has never been a full-length concert video of the band,...until now! "The House of Yes" is beautifully recorded, both in terms of the clear, well-mixed audio, and the bright, colorful visual presentation (although I'm not sure why the concert is presented in the widescreen "letterbox" format). This also the only "official" live Yes recording to feature Yes' late 90's six man line-up with guitarist/vocalist Billy Sherwood, and ol' Billy gets in some good moments here, especially on the newer tracks "Face To Face", "The Messenger", and "Lightening Strikes". The bands newest keyboardist Igor Khoroshev also makes a great showing for himself, and manages to steal the spotlight in many places! The set list really represents the overall history of Yes quite well, with a mix of classic 70's showpeices ("Yours Is No Disgrace", "And You and I", "Perpertual Change"), early 80's rockers ("Cinema", "Owner of a Lonely Heart") and a healthy dose of energetic material from 1999's "The Ladder" (including the great prog epic "Homeworld"). The only major disappointment is an extremely edited-down version of the Yes classic "Roundabout", which excludes the the acoustic intro, middle verses ("out on the drifting clouds/the eagle searching down on the land"), and even parts of the instrumental break...one must wonder why they even bothered to play the song at all! But some of the many highpoints, like an emotionally dramatic performance of the majestic epic "Awaken", go a long way towards making up for this disappointment. If you are a Yes fan, old or new, then this is certainly one for your collection!

What can you expect from YES in a tiny club like the House of Blues?...."Everything" They sound incredible, the music is given 100% effort. Homeworld, the new tune is great!, Igor the New Keyboardist is exceptional. Great Performance of Awaken, Perpetual Change. Lightening Strikes, Good Day, etc.....great stuff. Now all we need is For Yes to Film the Masterworks tour for another DVD soon David_Carlin@vtel.com

As a long-time Yes fan I was very pleased with this release. The classics like "Awaken", "Yours in No Disgrace", and "And You and I" are performed beautifully. In my view, "And You and I" is the best recorded live performance since the version on "Yessongs" with Steve's soaring slide guitar. Plus Steve seemed better amplified than on the ABWH concert video. Igor plays everything flawlessly, Jon sings in top form, Alan comes through with some great moves, and Chris...what can you say...Yes fans are probably in Nirvana. Also, Billy supplied great backing vocals and lead guitar licks on "Owner.." and "Cinema". The new tunes are done reasonably well, esp. "Homeworld" which is my favorite of the latest "Ladder" release. It would have been nice to include "Close to the Edge" and "Hearts" as others have mentioned. Hopefully Yes will release the audio CD later on with "Hearts" especially, because I've heard CTtE a billion times live (although admittedly it's great) but never "Hearts" which is a very cool song. This video is amazing if nothing else as witness to the longevidy of these excellent musicians whose positive music and values can be summed up with a simple phrase, "Yes!".

This is one of the best produced music DVD's that I have ever seen! The songs and performances are outstanding--that's a given with YES.

This concert was originally filmed in HDTV for DirectTV so the color resolution is very crisp and clear. The 5.1 surround sound was mixed very well also. (I just wish that they had included a DTS sound mix also!)

This DVD contains lots of interesting bonus materials including a virtual tourbook of concert photos, and an in-studio interview with the band.

I also really enjoyed the 5.1 audio mix of the new YES song "Homeworld". Imagine listening to your favorite audio CD in surround sound. This is how all audio CD's should be mixed in the future!

There are two types of music listeners out there. Those who love YES music, and those who don't get it. If you are the latter, don't bother reading on.

I was blown away by the sound quality of this DVD. As a rabid YES fan I have seen the band in concert many times and I must say that this was an excellent performance by each member of the band. Jon Anderson's vocals on this show are excellent, and the camera work perfectly conveys the emotion he feels on stage.

Steve Howe is (as usual) technically brilliant. His pedal steel work on "And You And I" is a beauty to behold. This show captures Steve in peek performance playing multiple guitars, and adding backing vocals. Very Solid.

Chris Squire after a few years of looking bored on stage has gotten back to the old groove, and shows why he is one of the great bassists in all of rock & roll. He really seems to be enjoying himself. Sadly, neither of his concert showcase pieces; "The Fish" or "Heart of The Sunrise" are included here, but he does shine none the less.

Alan White continues to play excellent percussion, and is solid and very enthusiastic throughout.

Igor Koroshev, new to the band at the time of this recording, aquits himself with a great performance, as he tackles the keyboard parts of legendary YES players Rick Wakeman and Tony Kaye. He also shines on the new material from "The Ladder". Long time YES fans should give this guy the benefit of the doubt, he is trying to fill some very big shoes after all.

Billy Sherwood contributes on guitars and backing vocals. Billy is great when it comes to songwriting, and studio work, but i feel his presence on stage with YES is somewhat superfluous considering that all the classic material was constructed for a five piece band.

The video is as crisp as I've seen for concert footage, and the 5.1 audio is tremendous.

If you have never seen YES in person, this is about as close as you are going to get. An excellent DVD all around... two thumbs up!

Summer. 1971. Jethro Tull had recently released "Aqualung", and I bought a ticket for 5 bucks to see Tull at the New Hampshire Hampton Beach Casino. General admission, I was pushed up to the front of the stage, people were climbing in the windows, and toppling air conditioners in the process. Had I not been a teenager, I would have probably been smart enough to fear for my life. The opening band was Yes. They had most recently released The Yes Album. Absolutely incredible! Music like I had never heard before. Their music that night stayed with me, and left more of an impression on me than the fact that I was recruited by Ian Anderson to help him steady a large column speaker in the ensuing riot at the end of the show. A happy coincidence, the next week my family vacationed in Montreal, Canada, and I was able to purchase "Yes", "Time And A Word", and "The Yes Album". Back home in the states, I asked all of my friends if they had ever heard of a band called "Yes"....they thought that they were being so witty when they replied "No"! I knew that it was only a matter of time before this band caught fire....and indeed, they did. My fondest memories (memories are scarce, this was the 70's, and they say if you remember the late 60's and early 70's you weren't there), are of the Yes concerts every year. I never missed one if it was close enough to get to. I remember catching them 3 times inside of 2 weeks one year. Witnessing "Tales From Topographic Oceans" in quadraphonic sound at Boston Garden was one of the highlights of my concert-going life. Tracking the and down and actually meeting them (all too briefly) was a thrill I'll never forget. As Jon Anderson says in an interview on the disc "Where did the last 30 years go?". And it's so true. It doesn't seem like all that long ago to me, but, I guess it was. Somewhere in the late 70's early 80's, I stopped going to Yes concerts. Again, in 1992, I went to see them, and they were terrific. Within a couple of years, I saw them for my last time, they had recently gotten together just about everyone that had been in the band for this tour. (Except, notably for Peter Banks, the original guitarist that formed his own prog-rock band called "Flash" - I went to see them in Boston in the early 70's, but the turonout was so dismal that they refused to play, but that's another story). Out of loyalty over the years, I have picked up the cd's that Yes were putting out, sometimes a year or two after they were released. All but the classics were relegated to my "I'll listen to these someday" pile. So, when "The Ladder" showed up on the shelves, I grabbed it. Now, I have a cd player in my car - not a changer, so, being essentially LAZY, I leave the same cd in there for long runs. This one has really grown on me! I bought the DVD, mostly for the 5.1 Dolby surround (Yessongs is one of the POOREST-sounding CD's, VHS, OR DVD's you could possibly find!). Getting old? Sure. I can't describe the wave of melancholy that comes over me when they flash the pictures of the band members at the opening of the concert. This is the Yes I remember, the concert pictures from the years I attended. Back when I believed that Jon Anderson was a holy man. Now, through jaded eyes, I see him as a tiny bit affected. Still, all in all, a good role model, and a great lead vocalist. The music on this film and their most recent CD "The Ladder" is truly the best that they have come up with in years. It's not merely hype when Jon says that this was a return to their roots, provoked my their manager (who Jon says is "in Heaven", so I assume he has died, unfortunate). The musicianship, as always, is lightyears above most rock and roll recording artists. Jon is in good voice, Steve never stopped practicing, and Squire, I believe IS the best bassist to ever grace the stage. If you don't own a subwoofer, do yourself a favor and BUY ONE before you get the DVD! Keyboardist Igor has the requisite bank of Wakeman keyboard products, and knows how to use them. This "wunderkind" was probably pretending to be in Kraftwerk or Triumvirat while in the womb. Guitar-tunist Sherwood, who is shown for a total of 15 seconds of the whole 2 hours, probably pays the band to be onstage with them. I thought he was, perhaps, a roadie. Pretentious? Perhaps. I went through a period wherein the lyrics almost embarassed me. But, this was my world growing up, much preferring prog rock and Yes to the swill being trowelled out by K.C. and the Sunshine Band and Bad Company. Better musicianship than you'll find almost anywhere. I can't believe it has been 30 years, either, guys! And if you're all looking a little old in the tooth, what does that make me? Be good, all of you, and I'll tell you tales of seeing Genesis do "The Lamb" and "Selling England By The Pound", with Gabriel AND costumes, AND stage-blowing-up, 8 rows back in very small venues. Gotta run, "Awaken" is playing.

I is so nice to get a music DVD that has positive spirituality at it's center. The performances on this DVD are unbelievable. Jon Anderson is at his spiritual best here. I was totaly involved with the performance. I wish other bands would see this and understand the spirit of joy that YES has been providing for many years. To see and hear "Awaken" on this DVD was wonderful. The only down side to it was that it ended. I would recomend it to anyone who loves music and wants to add a little positve joy to their lives.

This is the best concert DVD to date. The band, video and audio are spectacular! Some songs on this DVD are close to 30 years old and they still sound fresh and better than any music you hear on radio today.

"Time and a Word" and "Ritual" are each less than one minute. "Cinema" is just the intro. All other songs are presented in their entirety. The computer graphics added during "Homeworld" are ok and don't take away from the performance, but great musicians playing great music makes a great DVD and added graphics are not necessary. There is a slight pause between "Face to Face" and "Awaken" where the camera pans to the audience, but this is only a minor DVD flaw and does not take away from the flow of the show.

There should be more DVD concerts like this available. Re-release the ABWH DVD, film Masterworks, and how about some Zappa, Tull, Dregs, Holdsworth, Rush, Utopia, Gabriel, Genesis and other similar artists?

Saw this same show some 5 weeks later in NY and it was even more impressive than the DVD. Purchased the DVD on release date back in the spring and think the following excerpts from my concert review apply to the DVD as well...

In 21 years of YesShows, this was unparalleled for tightness. There were literally no Flubs other than Steve's guitar tech not having an ax hot enough when he handed it to Steve mid song.

It was however; my second favorite show to 1989's ABWH shows (although they contained some flubs) for the following reasons: Bruford > White, Wakeman > Khoroshev, Levin > Squire.

I love Alan and Chris. They are first rate players any way you look at it. But, Bruford and Levin are World Class and proved it on the 1989/90 tour. As for Rick, he is just not of this earth and it is unfair to compare anyone to him, even the absolutely phenomenal Igor. I understand if you disagree with this as a Yes fan. But if you really are a musician with any real training, there is no denying the superior technique and presence of Bruford, Wakeman, and Levin. Enough of this...

The reports that Jon Anderson looks more like the Jon atop the rotating stages of 1978-9 are dead on. He really looks as great as he sounds. His speaking voice was somewhat weaker than usual, but he had no problem hitting everything he sang. Whatever it is, clean living, Janeeeeeee, or mother earth, I've got to get me some of this guy's eternal looks, sound, and soul.

Also as reported, Steve is playing the best of his career. The solo toward the end of YIND just set the tone for the entire evening.

Chris looks much healthier and even sober compared to the slurring Squire of the Yes Years Retrospective Video. Alan was his ever-solid self. I believe that Alan does more new things with his playing than anyone else in lineup. If you compare Alan's live work from 1973, to 10th Anniversary, to 9012 Live, to Union (when I think he really started to become a force), to Keys (where he shines)...he really has grown and tried a lot of different twists. Credit where credit is due folks, if Chris and Alan don't carry this mission through the lean times of Drama, XYZ, and Cinema, there is no Yes 1999.

Igor is immaculately clean and crisp. He slaved his stacks of keyboards nicely through his midi controller up front so that during the majority of his playing he was looking us all dead in the eye. His playing on Homeworld was precise and his

version of Awaken was better than Wakeman's on the Union and KTA Tours, making this my favorite piece of the evening (despite my usual preference for Close to the Edge as the Magnum Opus segment,...confetti was a really cool touch). Igor also did a cute cowbell left/G-trills right during choruses on Roundabout which was mercifully shortened(Contrary to other's disappointment, Yes played the parts that mattered and in missing Steve's acoustic parts the guys bowed to Igor who just beat the stuffing out of his organ in a well deserved show off segment).

And You And I was also as sweet as ever. The climbing unison lines of It will be a Good Day also give me the chills. Face to Face was extremely powerful. The Messenger is akin to Saving My Heart ...I keep waiting to hear a Coca-Cola Ad somewhere in there! All Good People was crowd favorite.

Very glad there were no self absorbed egotistical solo segments like so many other Tours of the past.

I did not miss regulars like The Clap, Heart of the Sunrise, LDRR/The Fish, Starship Trooper. There's always next time!

I did miss regulars like Siberian Khatru. Now the verses I sang don't add much weight to the story in my head so I'm thinking I should go and write a punch line, so here it is...

Billy is as good as any utility guy. Igor can definitely take this thing forward if Jon, Chris, Steve and Alan are true to their philosophy that Yes is bigger than the individuals and all about the music. Wakeman has suggested that this could go on like the London Philharmonic goes on. I would like to think that there is a Yes in 2999 and the Peace, Love, and Positive Energy will be there for all eternity. It is all very easy to imagine, except when it comes to Jon. Jon is really a one of a kind (did you ever get the feeling that he's not from here???). There is no emulating him. Perhaps we can get an exception made to this "sheep only" thing and get this man cloned, or he can record a hologram to be programmed, modified, and maintained for those that will follow???