Yes Album: «Yes - The Best of Musikladen»

- Customers rating: (4.3 of 5)
- Title:Yes - The Best of Musikladen
- Release date:1999-10-12
- Type:DVD
- Label:Geneon [Pioneer]
- UPC:013023032392
This DVD is a wonderful treasure from the past, though I was also hoping for more. It clocks in a t 18:45, that's 4:30 of No Opportunity, about 3 minutes of the rocking part of All Good People (though with clips of the Your Move section superimposed over the music!) and a full glorious 11 minutes of Yours Is no Disgrace. No Opportunity is a fascinating glimpse at the early band (the sound recording is available on Something's Coming BBC by the way). They look so scared! It's in black and white but well-filmed. Peter Banks is physically relieved when his solo is done! (One can see how Steve Howe was a leap forward in guitar virtuosity.) All Good People and Yours is no Disgrace are both from a color broadcast a year later. All Good People is both cut short and full of stupid camera tricks and graphics, but Yours Is No Disgrace is superb - Bruford sticking his tongue out! Jon on the mellotron (I think)! Steve racing flawlessly through solo after solo. Picture and sound are very clear, and I don't think this performance is available anywhere else, not even on a boot (though it will be soon). A wonderful buy for any Yes fan, though if only it was twice as long.
Although there are only three song performances on this DVD, they are three amazing bits of progressive Rock history. These are performances by Yes that, up 'til now, I've only been able to catch every once in a blue moon on some late night video show.
The first, "No Opportunity...", is a rare glimpse of Yes in its original incarnation - with Peter Banks on guitar. I really liked Bank's work during his brief time with the band. However....
Once you come to the final two performances, one can easily see that there was a special gift in Steve Howe. He is by far one of the greatest guitarists in Rock history - "progressive", or otherwise.
"I've Seen All Good People" picks up from the point where "Your Move" ends. Would have been nice to see the entire song performed. But, what the hey! We're lucky to have this much!
"Yours Is No Disgrace" finishes off the DVD, and it is an amazing Howe and Squire tour de force. Both show their proficency on their instruments, and their unique styles of playing. Jon Anderson plays some strange little keyboard contraption along with Tony Kaye's main keyboard work. Bill Bruford is at his best, as well.
The addition of the spinning "hanging manequin head" (from "The Yes Album") throughout is an interesting element to the performances... But, all the crazy psychedelic camera "effects" employed on the last two performances - "All Good People" in particular - is a distraction I could have lived without. But, hey - it WAS the freaky post-psychedelic early 70's! Must have been "cool" to some back then.
If you are a Yes fan, this should be in your DVD collection.
Again, until they invent a way-back machine, this is the best chance you'll get to see Yes in their earliest prime. Cheesy effects and all, this is a great albeit short three track DVD. Both Banks and Howe feature here.
I am delighted to have this in my library. Footage of any kind of Yes pre-1972 is very hard to find, so to see these two performances was priceless. I wish it had a lot more, but I'm grateful to see any footage of these two early lineups at all.
The video of "Yours Is No Disgrace" made when The Yes Album was their latest album is especially interesting for featuring Tony Kaye playing with Steve Howe. It also shows the extent to which Steve Howe was a game-changer for the band, changing their sound towards what would become Yes's signature sound in Yes's classic era. The performance sounded great, and the video clearly reflects the era when it was produced. The biggest drawback is that all of the psychedelic effects make it harder to watch this lineup perform their parts.
The other video--"No Opportunity Required, No Experience Necessary" is notable for showing the original lineup (in black & white!), as well as showing the contrast between the band before and after Steve Howe. Though Yes always has had an interesting sound, even when arranging covers, it really shows how much the band grew in both musicianship, creativity, originality, and in defining their style in only two years. The most moving aspect of this to me was to see Jon Anderson visibly vulnerable and shy--something he overcame during his long career in quite short order.
If Yes is one of your favorite bands, then this is a great DVD to have if you can find it, especially if you don't personally know anyone with various unofficial recordings of this era and have very little to trade with others.
i saw yes in concert last year and they rule have 6 dvds concert stuff its great but the yes best of musilkladen i thought was a longer concert then expected so i hope i didn't wast 20 bucks for 20 min.

