| The
Review |
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
http://www.concertdvdreviews.com/
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