YES ACOUSTIC: GUARANTEED NO HISS

A little dissapointed with this, having seen them do some acoustic numbers brilliantly on their last (2004) tour. There's no real atmosphere here, or if there was one, it's not captured on the film; but the basic idea does work, particularly where they re-arrange the number, so its not just the original arrangement merely un-plugged; "Roundabout" for instance gets a jazzy treatment. The extras comprise trailers for the event - it was a studio transmission prior to the premiere of "Yes speak" - which are definitely for completionists only - and the inevitable behind the scenes rockumentary, with commentary by Rick Wakeman which is by turns funny, then a little embarrassing to listen to. It's an interesting project, but if you have the chance, I'd advise you to try before you buy.

So this is what they would have sounded like before electricity was discovered. I think Yes has proven that they transcend time. The acoustic versions of the songs sound very similar to the Electric versions. Some of the songs did change a bit. they changed the pace of roundabout, but it's ok. I still like it. My only complaint is that the DVD was too short and Jon Anderson should stop talking so much. I bet they could have added at least one more song if Jon Anderson hadn't been talking so much. I can still watch this DVD over and over again though. I just get up to get a drink when Anderson is talking or I Cook or do homework. It's still something good to watch after a hectic day. It also offers something different from loud music, but it still sounds like YES. I hope more people will agree with me.

Too short!

Yes, that is the main problem with this DVD. Gorgeous is an excellent word to describe it, but too short.

OK, let start. This was a live performance in a studio, or something like a little hall, with just a couple of people as public, so you can hear them applauding by the end of the songs (I think together with the crew). But, at the time, it was a live transmission to 25 cinemas around the USA, something that was never made before (we are talking about January 2004).

The sound is really good. I mean, I feel delighted watching it with a not-so-moderate volume in 5.1 surround or DTS. You can hear one by one each instrument: Rick Wakeman's authority in the piano, Steve Howe with his style landed down in an acoustic guitar, Alan White and his feeling to play with the right intensity at every moment, Chris Squire and his talent, he really teaches how to play the acoustic bass, and the voice of Jon Anderson, sounding almost the same as 30 years ago. Jon also plays an acoustic guitar in most of the songs. It's actually a rhythm guitar difficult to recognize in some moments, but an excellent complement.

I congratulate the band and the crew. They built a jewel form a live performance. But only 38 minute.

So, why only 4 stars? I'm very careful with the 5 stars, and as I was not sure about giving 4 or 5, that means this is not truly a masterpiece.

It is very difficult to judge a recorded live performance because a large portion of the charm and ambience encountered in a live show is impossible to convey on CD or DVD. It is even more difficult if you're judging technical virtuosos YES, especially in an Acoustic set! I was first worried that the quality of the music (not the recording quality!) would be damped by the attempt to convert all their technical genius into un-amplified grand piano aided ballads! But oh boy how happy I was when all my doubts were proven wrong! The DVD is terrific, especially classics 'Roundabout' and 'Good People' which ironically -as ballads- may very well be the best two versions of the songs I have ever listened to! In addition, I have never imagined hearing Jon Anderson sing so beautiful and deep on stage, the guy now rates No.1 on my best vocalist list, surpassing greats like Roger Daltrey, Freddie Mercury, even most of my favorite jazz singers.

The DVD I got has seven wonderful tracks, but 'Good People' and 'Roundabout' just stand out! They are both ingeniously arranged for an acoustic set, and played flawlessly. The line-up is the second best (second to the one in 'Fragile' and 'Close to the Edge', in my opinion at least) that yes have ever had, the same one we saw in 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' and 'Relayer'. All this reassures the fact that technical geniuses like YES will have no problem adapting to any environment, be it classical or groovy. This DVD is a must!

It depends on which angle do you want to view this unplugged version of YES music. If you do not enjoy the kind of unplugged music, this is definitely a bad choice because it would not favor you at all. But if you like version of acoustic music, you still need to get familiar with Yes music before seeing this DVD. Why? It's quite difficult to start liking Yes from their live acoustic music because you have definitely missed its original sound.

For me personally, I actually do not like unplugged music. No wonder when my rockin's friend who currently live in Swiss, Krisna Dhianta, brought this DVD set as a gift for me I did not spin it right away because I know that I would not enjoy it. Couple of weeks after the DVD with me, I finally got a chance to spin and .. guess what? It did not bite me at all .. it was so dull to my ears, I mean it. So, I just put it at my shelf. This happened quite a long ago (since the DVD was released) until last week. The trigger was simple: I was preparing a material to be broadcasted at FM Radio Network (Trijaya) down here at my country in the Satrurday Night Rock when I would feature YES as a legendary band to discuss. As I was so busy preparing the playlist and reading many books (including YES Stories) finally I found this DVD again at my shelf. So I did try to spin .. and do you know what happened? It gave me different kind of experience and I started appreciating this DVD!

Put it this way . I have been hearing the music of YES since I was 14 years old with "Roundabout" as the first track. I have known exactly all subtleties pertinent to this song right from the elegant acoustic guitar opening until the heavy rhythm art and guitar / keyboard solos during interlude. Oh yes, I have known it for so long. All details have resided in my memory cells. But this time what I'm watching is "totally different" style of music for the same song. It gives me unique experience. Judging from the performance of the band itself, I don't think this is the best live performance they have played ever. But, for sure, this is their first unplugged version ever!

"Southside of The Sky" is also another song that I have known it quite well the subtleties of each segment event during Rick's piano solo. But, listening to the other style gives me great experience. In fact the piano solo by Rick Wakeman in this track is very intricate and interesting for my ears.

Overall, it's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Wow!

When I heard the intro of the concert,I thought it would be a crap concert. Boy I was wrong! Even though it is short,the song selection is perfect for this kind of concert. All tracks are done very smart, with new arrangments. My favorite is "South side of the sky" followed by the bluesy "Roundabout".

I noticed that Anderson plays the wrong chord at some time,but I didn't hear it... That means that they "silenced" him while mixing the DVD,and his guitar was just for showing.At least on that song (I think it's on Long distance,I'm not 100% sure) Regardlessly,the set turned out to be a succes, IMO at least.

I bought this in a package that was YesAcoustic/YesSpeak sort of a double feature and found that the YesSpeak portion was worth a watch or two and the YesAcoustic was worth many watches! I particularly love that Steve Howe's guitar style is conducive to acoustic leads and is not hindered by the small scale and tone of the guitar. He shows intense skill in this performance. Jon Anderson...though slightly trite, sings incredibly well for his age. Chris Squire does a good job on his fretless bass and sings reasonably well. Wakeman blows us away with utterly tasteful piano playing! And then theres Alan who shows he is a very good player with brushes.

What is odd is that Long Distance Runaround is even better here live - it flows better - than on the original Fragile record. Alan White chooses the ride with his brushes on the Did we really tell lies or whatever it is section. This would be the only place where I've heard White improve on a Bruford part.

Great dvd and thoroughly enjoyable.

This DVD has a very short running time and most of the songs are also featured on the acoustic set on the Songs From Tsongas DVD. The acoustic version of South Side Of The Sky is great an was not featured (in this particular version) on the Tsongas DVD, but apart from that track there are not many reasons to buy both these DVD's and I would go for Tsongas as it offers much the same plus a lot more.

The only problem I have with this short performance is that Jon talks too much between the songs. And that there is no live audience as this was filmed for a one night only cinema show!

The bonus documentary about how and why it was done is really funny and features Wakeman as narrator. And as the comedian he is he makes fun of Steve and Chris a lot. Gave me a couple of good laughs!

I enjoy this DVD but still I feel that this is a product for hard core Yes fans primarily. If the Tsongas DVD didn't exist I would give this three stars for the beautiful acoustic renditions of these songs, but as it stands this is a two star DVD.

At once was I surprised and thrilled to just see this sitting on the rack during a routine shopping experience at the local Wal-Mart. I scooped it up immediately and checked out the track list after realizing I was holing in my hands something I had often dreamt of- acoustic versions of Yes classics. I had some complaints, and I hadn't even bought the damn thing: There are no epic tracks, not even a single one of those ten minute pieces I would have loved to have heard given the unplugged treatment (like "Siberian Khatru" or "Starship Trooper"). Pretty much what's here is Fragile (less "Heart of the Sunrise"), two songs from Magnification, and the obligatory song from The Yes Album. Also, the Songs from Tsongas DVD contains many of these acoustic renditions, making this somewhat unnecessary, to be honest, although my opinion is that the performances here are far superior. The upside to having this DVD, however, comes in the form of the dry and wry Rick Wakeman, who narrates an absolutely hilarious and lengthy behind-the-scenes look at this performance. The atmosphere of this performance is solemn, and yet at the same time, quite informal (the concert could look like a funeral one minute, and the next minute someone is making a joke). The introduction, "Tiger Rag," is just good fun to watch and always gets me in the mood for the rest of the show. Here, one can hear an even sprightlier version of "Long Distance Runaround," a Chicago blues version of "Roundabout," and believe it or not, a countrified (almost bluegrass) rendition of "South Side of the Sky" (followed by a stirring piano solo from Wakeman). Is this essential? By no means- but it's entertaining as all get out. The behind the scenes footage more than makes up for the lack of musical content.

There are many negative and positive aspects in the "unplugged": Eric Clapton may list the positive ones. Personally I would be inclined to consider certain "unplugged" real constraints due to fashion. This, in my defense (which, then, I would understand if I'm wrong), is a factor that leads me to consider this a very negative this kind of albums. With exceptions (Eric Clapton or Nirvana [USA], for example). And this "unplugged" from Yes? Great for songs and positive music. But, in my opinion, is not representative of what the YesSound and his mentality. Since I did not find magic in this DVD I must infer that the thing seemed very strange enthusiasm is a thousand musicians and are fully energized. But to me the effect that "Yes Acoustic" causes is a myth that tries in every way to be reborn. It 's not the "Arabian Phoenix "!

This is a cheap Yes concert experience, better than I expected with the special features. It runs for just over an hour so does not deliver too much in the form of material. The doco by Rick Wakeman is okay and makes up for time, providing a few laughs with the grumpy old man's wry sense of wit, discussing the pitfalls of rehearsals. However, it would have been great to get other unplugged Yes songs such as 'Starship Trooper' rather than just a 33 minute set of standards.

The set list is pleasant enough and it is very good quality acoustically and visually. 'Long Distance Runaround' and 'South Side of the Sky' are highlights, and there are also nice vocals on the ballad 'Show Me'. 'Roundabout' and 'All Good People' that appear as always, but a lot of this acoustic treatment is heard on the "Tsongas" DVD, so this is nothing new under the sun.

It is great to see Jon Anderson before he was expelled from the group and of course his vocals are on song throughout. Wakeman is always a delight on keyboards, but Squire looks occasionally uncomfortable with the material, forgetting some sections of songs. Yes sound great unplugged though not a candle as to how they sound with the band in full flight. I recommend it though as it is so cheap and I picked this up for a bargain on Amazon for less than $4. Another Yes DVD to add to the collection for this price was irresistible.

This video and "mini-concert", is, in my opinion, a "strange" thing in YES` discography and videography. Why they decided to do this kind of "unplugged concert" in a Film or TV production studio in Los Angeles, on Monday 26-January-2004, which looks like it was played before very few people, and was broadcasted to a few cinemas in several cities in the U.S? Maybe it only was an experiment, and a very informal experiment. I have to say that since this DVD was released I have seen it a lot of times being sold in record shops in my city, even at reduced prices, and i never have been really interested in buying it. It was until recently that I saw it in a "suggestion for watching it" list in youtube that I finally decided to watch it to write a review about it. Unfortunately, the "behind the scenes" extras from the DVD are not included in youtube, so I can`t include in my review commentaries about them. But reading in previous reviews that Rick Wakeman contributed funny things to those extras, I can think that it really could be funny and interesting to watch to them some day. Wakeman is a funny person as Jon Anderson has commented sometimes and as I have seen in some videos that I have watched in youtube on which he appears interviewing some other very famous Rock musicians for some TV and on line web video programmes (one interview done to his son Adam is very funny and you can also watch to it in youtube if you want). But I am going to write a review about the music in this DVD.

The "unplugged" albums and videos series was really a fad from mostly the nineties. So, in my opinion, with YES doing this kind of "unplugged concert " in the early years of this century really was a bit "strange", in my opinion. Anyway, they decided to do this kind of thing in a very relaxed way, The duration of the concert is really brief (nearly 38 minutes), and it starts with what Jon Anderson calls "a soundcheck" with them improvising a bit with a musical piece called "Tiger Rag", with particularly Wakeman and Alan White looking like having a lot of fun. Anderson looks in most parts of this video like "directing" the band, doing his job as "leader of the band" and "communicator" with the audience. Chris Squire looks a bit tired and maybe not as interested as the other members of the band in doing this "unplugged" thing. Alan White plays very well as always. Steve Howe looks a bit tired too, but playing very well too. But the most "inspired" musician in this mini-concert is Wakeman, playing very well the piano in all the songs, particularly playing and improvising very good piano parts in "South Side of the Sky" (with even Anderson and Squire praising his playing as "that was very beautiful" at the end of the song). "Show Me" and "Time is Time" are vey well played too. It is also interesting to watch to and to listen to some old songs played with different arrangements ("Long Distance Runaround", "South Side of the Sky", "Roundabout" and "I've Seen All Good People").

In conclusion: while this "unplugged" video is not very interesting for my taste, it has some very good musical things . It also shows that maybe this was the best line-up of the band, with every musician doing their jobs very well, showing a lot of experience from the years that they have played together and in their individual musical careers. They are very good musicians. But this "unplugged" experiment still looks for me as an "atypical" thing from them that they even did in their next tour in 2004 (their "35th Anniversary Tour"), but fortunately not as a whole concert. So, this video is more for the most dedicated fans of the "unplugged concert series ".

Everyone seems to have to do an acoustic album/concert nowadays. Some are good, but most fall flat. It's especially hard to do a progressive acoustic album because usually the progressive elements get washed out in trying to perform the music in acoustic form. There are two bands that seem to have excelled in doing this however: Porcupine Tree and Yes. This review is for Yes' Acoustic album.

This album has in concert acoustic performances of some classic Yes songs that we are all used to hearing done with a full band. It is an intriguing curiosity, it nothing else, to wonder how Yes' songs would sound stripped down to the acoustics. How will the progressive elements fare when all the bells and whistles are taken away? Well I have to say, this is a pleasant surprise. I was not expecting to like this album. The line up is amazing, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Alan White, Chris Squire and Jon Anderson are all there. And they pull this off beautifully. Wakeman and Howe stand out the most, playing their respective acoustic instruments substituting all of their electronics for the wooden sound of the piano and acoustic guitar.

The songs are shortened somewhat, which is to be expected, because some of the long passages just would not have translated well. "South Side of the Sky" of course didn't have to have the piano interlude altered too much because it is acoustic in the original. But now the rest of the song fits the acoustic-ness of that solo and it works nicely. "Roundabout" is amazing in it's acoustic version, though shortened leaving out some part I would have liked to hear, but it is still quite satisfying and takes on an interesting rhythm in it's acoustic version. "Your Move" is about what you expect because it was mostly acoustic in the original, but what really works is when they break into "Seen All Good People". This really works out well. Everything else works very well here too and when everything is said and done, you are only left wanting so much more. Yes did not wear out their welcome on this acoustic album, and that is the biggest flaw here. The audio portion is only 37 minutes, and I can think of so many more songs I would have loved to hear with this treatment, especially considering the quality and enjoy-ability of the songs that are included here.

Because of the brevity of the of the audio portion of this album (it comes with a 30 minute documentary narrated by Rick Wakeman) it makes what could have been a 5 star album (if it continued to be as good as this was) down to a 4 star album. It only leaves you wanting so much more. Amazing sound and performances make this a worthwhile album and it also should be a standard for other progressive bands that want to do the same thing.