SYMPHONIC LIVE

YES!

This is the CD version od the DVD released back in 2002 (which I haven't seen).

Is this Yes with an orchestra instead of a keyboard player? NO! The orchestra fills in for much of the absence of a full-fledged Yes keyboardist, but Tom Brislin fill in nicely for many of the necessary keyboard parts.

So let's go:

Skip track 1, Overture, it's just the tape played while the band enters - you've heard this before.

Close To The Edge starts out a bit sloppy. It's too bad they start with this song, as it's obvious that the band is not fully warmed up until about halfway through the song. The final verses and choruses are spectacular, with Squire & Howe playing as intricately as ever. Brislin does a nice job on the keyboard solo, but I would prefer if he had not tried so hard to play Wakeman's solo note-for-note.

Don't Go and In The Presence Of are nice renditions of songs from the Magnification album, and provide a nice warm up to the highlight of the first disk, The Gates Of Delirium. The orchestra does quite a bit to make this song very large sounding. Squire, Howe and White all play this one with a fury I've never heard from them before. This one is going right to my MP3 player.

The obligatory Steve Howe guitar solo ends the first disk. Doesn't he get tire of playing Mood For A Day at every show?

Disk 2 begins with fine performances of Starship Trooper and Magnification. And You And I benefits the most from the orchestra, with the arrangement bringing this old piece, which I had been tired of hearing, back to life.

I'm going to commit blasphemy here. I'll admit that I never could appreciate TFTO. The performances on all 4 track to me sounded drab and lifeless. The compositions are nice enough, but the original recordings sound forced, and at times, dull. The performance here of Ritual makes me want to revisit the album. Here, the orchestra brings the piece to life. And again, Howe and Squire play this piece like I've never heard them play before.

I've Seen All Good People is played straightforward, and the performance of Owner Of A Lonely Heart shows why the band usually played an acoutic, shortened version since Trevor Rabin left the band. Howe just doesn't have the same flair with the guitar synth.

And who could ever complain about Roundabout?

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