TOUR OF THE UNIVERSE

I bought this DVD from Jon's "Tour Of The Universe" Tour, few months ago (Jon signed it for me too). The songs are pretty much the same which he played at the concnert, but there are some differences. First when watching this I was going to give it only 2 or 3 stars, but like many times with prog you slowly start to give it more value.

First expression might be that Jon did this in his garage alone. I was suprised how well it sold in Amazon. The songs sound quite simple since Jon does all the playing himself (exept song 14). Jon really isn't too skilled musician with guitars and pianos, but his voice is still beautiful and amazing. The backround images and videos vary from excellent to lousy 3D animations.

I really loved all the Yes song in this DVD, they are really great and beautiful. No doubt Yes fans will like them. Jon's own songs are not that in my opinion, but if you are fan of Jon you propably will like them. The DVD also some extras and some stuff betveen the songs. They are quite weird. I didn't keep them even worth of watching. Maybe some one likes them.

Generally if you are a fan of Jon then this is a must have. If you are fan of Yes and might be interrested of hearing different versions of Yes songs and possibly some Jon in addition then do consider this! It would also be interesting to hear other reviews of this product too.

3.7 stars = not great, but good!

Jon Anderson - Tour Of The Universe DVD

Review by ProgKidJoel

Jon Anderson is easily my favourite recording artist of all time, with or without Yes. Brilliant vocals, masterful songwriting and fantastic live presence contribute massively to this. This DVD, however, really does not show what Jon can pull of in a live setting. The entire DVD is made up of acoustic renditions performed solely by Jon, and more than often accompanied by (lame) CGI and 3D live projections.

The performance on this DVD is sufficient for one man, but this doesn't really do alot of these songs justice, for example, The Revealing Science Of God. Jon also has a mishap with the vocal section of this track, but the song loses nearly all of its feel due to the staleness of one guitar and one voice playing it alone.

Sonically, this DVD is quite good. Aurally, this is near perfect, but visually, its hampered by the use of the 3D projections. Example: Jon Anderson projected onto a billboard in a CGI city is alot less enticing or thrilling than seeing the man live on a real stage in a real performance setting. Other than this, I have few complaints, and its fantastic to see many Jon Anderson solo tracks played along side those which are considered to be the most controversial Yes songs.

A great DVD, but hampered by its single instrumentation and cheesy editing.

-Joel