Customer Reviews

Yes - Keys to Ascension

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

After reading some of the above reviews I wasn't going to buy this DVD. Being a Yes fan, I did anyway and I am pleased that I did. I realized that our amateur reviews need to be taken with a grain of salt. To me the other reviews made the video of "Keys" sound like a "0" on a 1-10 scale. Granted, "Keys" is no George Lucus production, but I found it to be very creative, attractive and enjoyable.

I think the video artists did a fine job of creating a video to accompany this concert. I found that most of the effects added to the concept of the music with superimposed water images and Roger Dean album art over the band on parts of Close to the Edge. Yes, there were parts of the video on at least a couple of songs that did not seem befitting, and detracted. There was an occasional imperfect synch of sound and image. There was also the use of a jerky slow motion effect used in a number of places (probably used to fill in gaps) that was less than desirable, but those things represent only a small percent of the total video. So does that make the whole apple bad? Not in my book. You can really see the classic Yes line up perform--up close. As far as sound quality, it is as good as the CDs (which is a great recording compared to the old classic Yes albums), but with the added enhancement of surround sound. The 5.1 is not as well balanced as other discs. On my system, I found that if I decreased the center channel by 4 db and increased the rears by 4 db plus added a 15 ms delay to the rears--it sounded more balanced.

I have also listened to the House of Blues 5.1 in the DVD-A version (audio only, no video) from the JVC sampler. This is good and has some real strengths of 5.1 mix separation and clear vocals. The weaknesses are that most of the lead vocals are just on the center channel, the extreme live reverberation in the surround and the drums are not as clear as on "Keys." The DVD-Audio sample of Magnification is great!--one of two BEST recordings/5.1 mixes I have ever heard to date. I've heard 23 DVD-A mixes.

In my opinion, I would say "Keys" is a good 5.1 DVD audio/video of the classic Yes line up.

This concert dvd is recorded spectacularly in 5.1 dolby digital. Although I agree with a few Steve Howe fans that this was not his finast performance, keyboardist Rick Wakeman more than makes up for it. This particular line up of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Cris Squire, Rick Wakeman, & Alan White is the same line-up that made YES the spectacular live band they were. The thing I love most about this concert is that they dress basically 70's period, play the songs from that era & do so extremely acurrately. The dynamics on this concert are simply incredible to the point of danger on some notes (particularly Wakemans performance during the song Close To The Edge)The pipe organ simply blends with Cris Squire on the bass pedals & boy oh boy be CAREFULL!
The singing is like Jon Anderson has stepped through a time portal & if anything, sounds even better than he ever did. His mic skills on this recording are amazing.
Over all, it is a must for any YES fan from the 70s!

Remember when they released the Keys to Ascension on CD? Did you feel that the sound and performance was so crisp and magnificent? Here we are in the age of wonderful modern technology and Yes is here to participate in it. Rick Wakeman participation is especially gratifying considering his hiatus as a Yesman. Oh how I WISHED they would release it on DVD.

So they did, and I must say the first few minutes I was on the edge of my seat loving it. The sound and video quality was excellent. But then i noticed that the parts of some songs where a Yesman displayed his proficiency of his instrument...was cut off by slow motioned videos of trees swaying, clouds drifting, water falling and other psyhchedlia you can think of. Sometimes these moments fit in quite well, but lets face it, theres overkill. There was also some moments when sound and video were out of sync/unison for sake of "exciting video editing tricks." You notice it towards the end of their opening piece, Siberian Khatru. On the live music track, Alan White is hitting his crash cymbal ONCE and the video shows him hitting a crash FOUR times half a second later. I dont like it when ANY live video does that. Remember video and sound were not in sync in the whole Yessongs video?

The thing that attracts me to this dvd is the rareness of some of these songs. Yes doesn't really perform Starship Trooper, Turn of the Century, Going for the One, America and especially Revealing Science of God on a daily basis, more or less it being on DVD. You do see Steve Howe's assortment of vintage classics. You can also awe of Alan Whites array of percussion and cymbals. Speaking of array, check out Wakemans rig...theres over ten keyboards folks. And good ol Squire who interestingly uses guitar amps in conjunction with bass amps to acheive his awesome sound.

Despite the two blundering aspects which could have made this a gem, the video footage is priceless and worth it, especially if you are a Yes fan. IF anything, you can listen to it as a high quality CD...just put the tv off and save yourself from frustration and high electricty bills. And if you are in the mood to watch it, it will be a good time. I would only hope they would re-release this video re-edited with all the junk cut out. We would be so lucky.

I have seen YES countless times over the years. this DVD is essential for any YES fan. I cant believe Rick Wakeman, he was never THIS good live. All of them really!!!! Alan White is the premier "rock" drummer today. He has no equal. Chris Squire, Steve Howe....its just amazing how good these guys are. Detractors say they are just going through the motions. Check out an 80's or 90's ELP video or something by Genesis if you want to see a band going through the motions......besides, even Siberia goes through the motions!

I'm not sure if I should buy this DVD because the reviews below -- despite all the four and five stars -- are basically saying "Buy this for the music, not the video." Since I own this same music on CD, I'm not sure if I should buy this just for the video.

If you buy a music DVD, you should judge it on the video as well as the audio; it's a package deal. If you think the video and graphics are not worth it, then you should just buy the CD or give the DVD the rating it deserves.

What I'm confused about is why everyone is giving this DVD five stars while saying that the video portion is less than great. That makes no sense. Are all of you such blind Yes fans that you can't judge a product of theirs for its true worth?

It probably will never happen again to have Anderson, Squire, Howe, White and Wakeman performing (live) songs like The Revealing Science of God, America, etc., all captured in phenomenal 5.1 sound (just the sound, which is much better than the CDs, is worth the price of the DVD). So it is amazing how some folks criticize the video of the performance, since the video is way better than the one in Philadelfia or Yessongs DVDs. Many, I think, do not know that the video was taken from two of the three performances in San Luis Obispo, and that is evident in the video mix. For instance in RSG, you may see Anderson singing with open eyes (one day) and with closed eyes (the next day)at the beginning of the song, both performances were combined in the video. In a way they tried to show how both performances were done (sometimes you see one performance in the foreground and the other in the center image). Besides that, you get some really good shots of Wakeman performing his wonderful Moog solos, or the mighty Howe performing the introduction to Onward in such a way this song is orders of magnitude better than the original Tormato take. Please, at the end, consider that all this wonderful music is cheaper than the two Keys CDs, but with considerable better sound.

While this DVD boasts a stellar songlist, the abysmal failure to synchronize the audio and video totally wrecks what could have been a solid effort. What were they thinking when they released this DVD? Did anyone in either Production or the band itself bother to watch this? Why does Alan White hit a snare and then we hear it a second later? This is horrible. For a band that has more raw talent than nearly anything released today, this is a disgrace. I didn't even mind the visual effects. In fact, I liked what they did for Starship Trooper. But how in the world could they put this to market with such an obvious flaw. Anyone with a computer and music software understands how simple it is to fix a minor adjustment like time-sync. Wow. I hope they admit to this error and offer a replacement to any fan that invested in this product.

Having originally seen Yes during the "Tales of Topographic Oceans" tour, and several times since, I couldn't wait to watch this DVD. I was salivating to watch Howe's fingerwork up close. To see Wakeman's keyboard wizardry from two feet away was something I could only have dreamed of. Well, I'll have to keep on dreaming. The hatchet job performed on this video is criminal. After several minutes, it becomes obvious what you're watching and what you're listening are not the same performance. Would you like to be at a concert and suddenly, in the middle of a guitar solo, someone places a picture of clouds directly in front of your eyes? How about a few minutes of a flowing brook? After the 3rd or 4th time you'd want to kill somebody. EVERY solo by EVERY musician on EVERY song is visually blocked or distorted one way or another. It's a real shame, because the line-up of band members and the songs performed are spectacular. But this DVD in no way shape or form matches a concert experience. Sadder still is the lack of any special features now available on many discs. The best concert DVDs make you want to invite your friends over, crank up the volume, and soak up the total experience. This video falls way short of that mark.

This is the best Yes video to date. I can't believe these other reviews. I have seen Yessongs, Live in Philly and House of Yes. The first two are unwatchable due to the terrible soundtracks. House of Yes is good but obviously the playlist doesn't compare with Keys. As for the added graphics, I did not find them to be a distraction and in some cases I thought they were pretty damn cool. They did have a slightly dated quality but I found it appropriate for a concert of all 70's music. I can't believe I almost didn't get this due to some of the other reviews.

I was really looking forward to this DVD, considering how much I enjoyed the audio CDs from these Fremont concerts that were released a few years ago. And since the DVD was released several months AFTER the VHS version came out, I thought they may have used that extra time to put some extra features on it, give it some expert post-production, etc. No such luck.

The good points: The song selection performed at these Fremont concerts was, of course, wonderful, the musicianship superb, and the sound quality very strong. (But we knew this already from the Keys to Ascension audio CDs.) Also, it's a beautiful theater, with a nice set and tasteful lighting.

The bad points: All the really cheesy slow motion video effects, straight out of the 80s - I may as well have been watching Gary Newman's "In Cars" video. Enough has been said about that already by other reviewers below. But much worse than that, for most of the concert the audio track lagged behind the video about a quarter of second, and this was EXTREMELY annoying, and unforgivable in my opinion. You see Alan hit a crash cymbal well before you actually hear it. I can't believe they released this thing which such a glaring defect. I'm also surprised that no one else has complained about this in their reviews. The person I was watching it with last night noticed it, too, so I'm not crazy.

Finally, I can see now why Rick left the band again shortly after these concerts. He looked very bored and out-of-it for almost the entire show. And also, this DVD does reveal something VERY disillusioning: Rick was not playing all the keyboard parts himself - there must have been a tape used, or someone else was playing keys from somewhere offstage. There's ABSOLUTELY no doubt about it. There's one point towards the end of Going for the One in which there's this blazing piano part going on, but the camera clearly shows that Rick is only playing some simple chords on a synth, and definitely not flying all over a piano. Very upsetting. There may have also been a backing vocalist somewhere offstage, as well. Almost wish I'd never seen these shows now, but instead still lived with the false belief that the concerts I heard and loved on the KtA audio CDs were actually being played live. (Note: Yes did use an offstage keyboard player for the 90125 tour, since Tony Kaye just could not handle all the Wakeman and Rabin parts himself, simply not being talented enough. So, this is not a first for Yes, but still shocking considering this is Rick Wakeman we're talking about, not Tony Kaye.)

Overall, this DVD is a waste of money. Second only to the appallingly un-mixed Relayer concert released about ten years on laser disc, this is the worst video production I've ever seen of Yes. Stick with the KtA audio CDs which you probably already own.