Yes - 9012Live
Performance
Production
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Yes - 9012Live
Performance
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As my musical tastes have drifted more towards the progressive rock scene over the last couple of decades, so has my taste for Yes. During the mid-70's, when Yes were at the peak, having already released such legendary albums as "Fragile" and "Close To The Edge", I was still more into the simpler hard rock sounds of bands like Aerosmith and Boston. Of course I had heard, and enjoyed, such Yes rock-radio staples as "I've Seen All Good People" and "Roundabout", but, at that time, most of their music was simply too "progressive" for my young mind to handle. It wasn't really until Rush released their 1980 masterpiece, Moving Pictures, that progressive-rock really began to overtake my musical consciousness. In 1983, after a few years of wondering whether they were going to carry on as the Yes/Bugles hybrid that produced Drama, or whether they were going to dissolve into the Chris Squire and Trevor Rabin led Cinema, Yes bounced back with 90125, a pop-rock masterpiece that sounded nothing like any of the prog epics that preceded it, and would feature their first number one single, "Owner Of A Lonely Heart". The new lineup would include Chris Squire on bass, Trevor Rabin on guitar, Allan White on drums, Tony Kay on keyboards, and Jon Anderson returning on vocals. Trevor Horn would be relegated back to just producer status. To many Yes purists, 90125 was the equivalent of ELP releasing Slippery When Wet, but for every fan who abandoned them, five new ones took their place. I almost feel embarrassed to admit that 90125 was the album that really launched my interest in Yes. During my senior year in high school, I was lucky enough to catch the 90125 tour when it stopped by my old concert stomping grounds of Portland, Maine, in 1983, less than a month before the recording of the Edmonton, Canada show that you see on this DVD. I was disappointed at how this video does not do proper justice to the awesome show that I witnessed twenty three years ago. The incredible light show I remember from this concert was barely noticeable on this video, and you never really got a good appreciation of what it was like to be there. It was filmed too much like a music video, rather than a live concert. Many of the older song performances, such as "And You And I" and "Roundabout" were cut from the original video. Thankfully, at least "Roundabout" was restored as a bonus feature. It was hearing these old classics performed live for the first time, along with my disappointment with the Rabin-led follow on albums to 90125, that really opened my eyes to the magic of this band's older material. There are those fans that simply cannot enjoy both the Rabin-era, and the Steve Howe-eras, of Yes, but I am not one of them. As much as I will always crave the epic sounds of The Yes Album, and Fragile, I still enjoy a good dose of 90125 with the occasional Talk chaser. 9012Live was filmed on September 28th and 29th, 1983 at the Edmonton Coliseum Bowl, by then relatively unknown director Steven Soderbergh, who went on to direct such movies as Traffic and Erin Brokovich. When this video was first released in 1985 on VHS, it immediately became infamous for the annoying Charlex effects that Soderbergh got a little carried away with. These Charlex effects consisted of video clips, of mostly '50's-era movie and television scenes, computer animation, which are encased in small windows that float around over the main picture. Just what I want to see when I'm watching a concert video. Thankfully, Soderbergh listened to the fans, and provided an alternate, Charlex-free version of the film as a bonus feature. The set list includes most of the 90125 album, excluding only "Our Song" and "Hearts". These songs were actually performed at the show I saw, as well as this show, so I'm not sure why the resulting video was edited down so much. The performances were excellent, for the most part, but never strayed too far from the album versions. Many of the vocal harmony's, especially the a capella stuff on "Leave It" were obviously pre-recorded. Towards the end of the show the band opens up a lot more and infuses "City Of Love" with tons of excellent improvisation, which made for a much heavier and more exhilarating version than the original. This version of Yes was by far the most energetic and enthusiastic you will ever see on stage. "Starship Trooper" closed out the show amazingly, and Rabin deserves credit for making this performance on par with any of the classic live versions of this epic song. I can clearly remember back to that night in 1983, being blown away by the finale, as their monstrous lighting rig slowly rotated down to envelope the stage, making it look like a starship that was ready to launch. This video does not come close to capturing that live experience. The DVD is presented in the original full-frame aspect ratio as the original recording. The video quality is not much of an improvement over the original VHS version. The picture looks very dull overall, but at least the grain has been kept to a minimum, and some of the colors were restored nicely. The new Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix is very anemic and compressed sounding, and the audio level was recorded so low that I had to turn my amplifier up about 30 percent higher than normal to achieve my normal listening level. The Dolby 2.0 mix fared slightly better, but is still just your average stereo mix. The most puzzling thing is that when viewing the disk menus, the audio is about three times louder than during the main feature, which leads me to believe that something went horribly wrong during the mastering of this DVD, which would explain the numerous delays associated with its release. The bonus features include some enlightening interviews with the band, the restored "Roundabout" performance, a non-Charlex, "Directors Cut" version of the concert, and Soderbergh's "Access All Areas!" documentary. The interviews were especially candid, with Kay giving his thoughts about being replaced by Rick Wakeman, Anderson talking about why he left and rejoined the band, and Rabin providing his thoughts about the apartheid going on in his home country of South Africa. My how things have changed since 1983. Even with all of the production woes that plagued this DVD, it is still a must-have for any fan of the Rabin era of Yes. It is almost worth the price of admission alone, just to see the band all decked out in those silly bright, pink and yellow colored stage clothes, matching eyeliner, and teased hair, as they became trendsetters for the '80's pop scene. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - May 2006 |
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Set List |
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Running Time: 68 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - April 2006 |