Search - Yes :: Symphonic Live

About time.

Michael Lombardo | 03/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

CLASSICAL YES

Guy De Federicis | east of here | 06/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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 - old is new again!

L. Moore | Toledo, OH USA | 04/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."