Customer Reviews

Symphonic Live

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I saw that Yes finally released the CD for Symphonic Live I was thrilled. This was an amazing tour and the DVD captured it perfectly. For long time fans the orchestration of these epic pieces is a nice change of pace and really adds to their power - especially Close to the Edge, Gates and Ritual. Tom Brislin is also an underrated keyboard player and did a great job filling in for Rick Wakeman. It is a must have for all long time Yes fans.

Yes has never needed an orchestra because they've always sounded like an orchestra. When the band was playing at full fury, you'd swear more than five musicians were playing on stage. The Symphonic Live tour incorporated an entire orchestra to accompany Yes, and this CD, from a 2001 show with The European Festival Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Keitel, offers Yes music, not overwhelmed by the enormity of the symphonic sound, but tinged with the subtle nuance of an appropriate and vital fifth instrument.

Where keyboardist Rick Wakeman, replaced on this tour by a very able Tom Brislin from New Jersey, once offered a full-bodied mood to Yessongs suggesting orchestration, the Symphonic Live version's strings swell. Often it comes as no surprise where the depth of the music lies, but just as often, the symphony is an unexpected layer to Yes' complexity, flaring up sometimes fully, sometimes quietly where you'd least expect it. Brass and strings add a dramatic and majestic edge to the chaotic "The Gates of Delirium"; the orchestra harp lifts "And You and I" to a swirling luscious glory, and "In The Presence Of" with it's suite-like progress, reaches cosmic heights only the mystical Yes can conjure.

Aging Yes is at the top of their musicianship throughout Symphonic Live, with Steve Howe's funky and bluesy and progressive guitar playing being a constant pleasure. The biggest surprise is the backing vocals from Howe and bassist Chris Squire, which due to better technology have never sounded better live. The only disappointment is "Ritual", from Tales From Topographic Oceans, which becomes a verbose disjointed all-show, no-soul bombast from bassist Squire. A perfect rendition can be found on YESSHOWS from 1982. The CD packaging on Symphonic Live is limited to just essential information.

What a difference a few generations can make. I saw this tour in Albany, New York, and the neatly trimmed manicured rows of attendees sitting like attentive pupils in class, politely watching Yes, were a far cry from the Yes shows I remember in their heyday in the 1970s, when you had to step over half-conscious and overdosed jean clad bodies on the way to your seat in a sports arena serving as a music hall, with enough marijuana smoke in the air to choke a horse. Here at the Symphonic Live show, I lit a cigarette and was swarmed by security who dutifully escorted me like a criminal out the gates to a designated smoking area. There was little chance of lighting up anything else. Talk about your gates of delirium.

Yes was one of the first "prog" bands in the 70's to marry the worlds of Rock and Classical. Finally, we get to hear them the way many fans have always thought they were meant to be heard... backed by a full symphony orchestra! This two-disc set features several cuts from their studio album, "Magnification" (also featuring an orchestra) but the real treat here is hearing the older material performed in a whole new way. If you love Yes, you won't be disappointed with this.

This was one of Yes' most brillaiant tours; even w/out Wakeman....Tom Brislin fills in admirably on Keys and rarely gets referenced...so I am referencing him....the work he does on classic Yes songs shows fantastic detail not just to the notes, but the sounds (esp "& You & I). They should've let him play the intro to "In The Presence Of"...(played by Alan..no offense, Alan)
Starship Trooper, another fav w/ the orchestra joining on "Wurm". Gates of "Delerium", "CTTE", and "Ritual" all in one show w/ an orchestra????

Where is heaven? I'll tell you.....being at this show was!

This album is perfect for Yes fans, and especially for those who want to hear this great band in a whole new way. I would totally recommend this.

This CD simply blew me away. After hearing Jon Anderson play with the Cleveland Youth Orchestra in May 2010, I was fascinated and moved with the creation of orchestra and Yes music. I had seen this concert tour back in 2001/2002 and I knew it was something big, and really, once you listen to Close to the Edge, Gates of Delerium, and Ritual, you might agree that these masterpieces were created with the orchestra in mind. I have been a long time Yes fan, but in my opinion, this CD is a classic and a must for any music lover's collection.

I already had the DVD. This CD does not have the same Quality of sound but when you are on the road, or not able to watch Yes, then this is the way to go. I love the Symphonic sound they give to there 'classic' songs.

Album is good.....but sounds more like a typical live album (e.g. Yessongs) that something played with an orchestra

If you like YES you'll like it

Anyone with even the slightest interest in the Yes legacy will enjoy this Live album. This configuration of Yes features it's anchors -- Jon Anderson on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar and Chris Squire on bass. And the song selection is a wide variety of some of the band's best. "Close To the Edge" and "Long Distance Runaround" anchor the first CD while the second disc finishes strong with "I've Seen All Good People," "Owner of a Lonely Heart," and "Roundabout."

A YES concert speaks for itself and this CD perfectly captures their 2001 tour. My own personal reasons for always remembering the show I saw at Jones Beach on Long Island, New York is because the show was on Friday September 7, 2001. Four days later, we were attacked on 9-11.