YES (CLASSIC ARTISTS)

Any fan of prog rock knows that YES is the foundation of British progressive rock which is a fusion of various musical styles, including folk, classical music, blues and jazz with exceptional musical talent. YES truly embodied the term "super group" with five individually- talented members and music that relied on each performer's part rather than just a supporting rhythm section holding up an ego-maniacal lead singer and flashy lead guitarist.

Writer Chris Welch and director Jon Brewer sit down with each current and former member of Yes individually and talk about the history of the band. Very thorough and introspective. And what a documentary it is. Three and a half hours of "talking head" interviews with a lot of back and forth edits between questions and band members. A lot of history of each member but mainly where it pertains to YES rather than go into their solo endeavors and side projects. Very fitting for a band that's been together over 40 years and all of them still alive and contributing to this movie. Some good archival footage too. The doc spans from the humble beginnings as a 60s folky band with their unique spin on covers right through their classic early 70s period, early 80s period with their union with The Buggles, their high profile Top 40 period with Trevor Rabin and into their current period as primarily a performing show band.

Bassist Chris Squire and singer Jon Anderson are the two founding members and the main figureheads for the documentary. Squire is the only member to play on every YES album and every YES song that has bass guitar, (except one song from Drama). Anderson has quit and returned several times. Almost equal input comes from other original and classic members of YES including guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, guitarist Steve Howe and drummers Alan White and Bill Bruford. There are also interviews vocalist and producer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes who were formerly known as The Buggles.

YES might not still be playing together today if not for Rabin. It would have been nice to hear his side of the story. Would be interesting to know why he was censored or maybe he just refused to discuss YES.

If you're a fan of YES or progressive rock, this is a MUST SEE documentary. Be warned: It is very long but never boring.