The Extraordinary World Of YES

 Home
 Contacting Us
 More Pages...

YES on Bluray 2014 - "Songs from Tsongas" & "Like It Is"  

New to the Bluray format in 2014 is "Songs from Tsongas" which captures a full show from the 2004 American tour by the classic Yes lineup Anderson-Squire-Howe-Wakeman-White. The DVD edition released in 2005 was very good but the improved picture quality of the Bluray edition takes it to a new substantially higher level. Especially when viewed on a large screen full HD TV, this Bluray disc is arguably the best ever representation of the atmosphere and energy of a classic Yes show. It is immaterial that this particular Yes performance wasn't even the best of the tour because it is the combination of the Bluray technology with skilful film making, multiple camera angles, great musicianship, well balanced surround sound, a spectacular Roger Dean stage set and a big enthusiastic audience that makes "Songs From Tsongas" compelling. The addition of excerpts from another 2004 show in Lugano, Switzerland is a bonus but the SD image quality pales against the HD main event. If anyone is wondering whether the upgrade from DVD to Bluray for 'Tsongas' is worthwhile, the answer is undoubtedly Yes.

"Like It Is" was filmed at the Bristol Hippodrome, England in May 2014 during the 'Three Album' tour featuring the current Yes lineup of Squire-Howe-White-Downes-Davison. This Bluray release covers only part of the show, namely just the songs from the 'Going For The One' album and 'The Yes Album' with no encore or extras. By comparison to "Tsongas", the presentation comes across as somewhat low key. Disappointingly there is no surround sound mix and the 2.0 stereo mix isn't as clean as the band's previous live effort "In The Present". Nevertheless the good quality Bluray picture makes this a decent audio visual document from recent Yes tours. The closing performance of 'Perpetual Change' is commendably spirited and the inclusion of the rarely played 'A Venture' and 'Parallels' provide added interest.