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As teenagers growing up in 1970s New Hampshire, my buddies and I spent hours together, boating/driving in and around Lake Winnepesaukee. Mountains, like the far-off Belknaps or the nearby Ossipees, seemed to come out of the sky, often reflected in the lake’s surface. We partied, socialized, and cruised aimlessly. We listened to a lot of Yes.
Fragile, at first. That album had the masterpieces “Roundabout” and “Long Distance Runaround.” Later came the live Yessongs and Close to the Edge. Songs from these albums made the perfect, progressive rock soundtrack to our youthful indiscretions. We were dazzled by Rick Wakeman’s keyboards, Steve Howe’s guitar, and high-voiced singer Jon Anderson, whose voice gave an otherworldly quality to his lyrics.
I grew up, my friends moved away, then I moved away. I lost track of Yes, who kept making albums—right up to the new millennium. So here’s a new DVD set to explain it all: how they created all that great music in the seventies and what happened after. All the band members above are interviewed, along with bassist Chris Squire, drummers Bill Bruford and Alan White, and other assorted members, managers, and producers.
The first disc in the set is all interviews, one running into another nonstop for three-plus hours, covering the band from their formation in 1968 to a myriad of personnel and musical changes to what they’re all doing now. A second DVD contains a few videos, interviews left off the first disc, some unseen rehearsal footage, and photos of Yes memorabilia.
Their music is unusual, complex, and imaginative. Was it hard to make? Indeed, says the group, painfully so. Jon Anderson seems to have held the most sway; as chief lyricist, most of his ideas made it to vinyl. Some members who felt slighted or ignored left the band, only to come back a year or several later.
Those interviewed do provide answers to some nagging questions. After the band’s early success, they stretched themselves almost to the breaking point for the two-disc opus, Tales of Topographic Oceans. I spent many hours back then, listening and trying to make sense of it—without success. Rick Wakeman, thirty years later, explains. “We padded it. We had too much material for one LP and not enough for two.”
And how did they get that unique, completely different sound for their eighties comeback song, “Owner of a Lonely Heart”? Drummer Alan White reports that the producer altered his drum kit and tightened the snare to match that of Stewart Copeland’s (of The Police).
Although I found the interviews enlightening, some of them went on a bit long. They run together without dividers, which is unusual for a documentary of this kind. A title, such as “Rick Leaves Again,” would have been helpful to break up the vast body of material into manageable sections.
Some of the band’s music plays softly behind the speaking voices, but, except for the opening and closing credits, you don’t really get to hear it. I found that frustrating, since I hadn’t heard many of the songs in years, and I wanted to. Getting away from the talking heads for a song or some concert footage now and then would have helped.
Overall, though, I liked the DVDs, and I’ll most likely watch them again. And I’ll definitely pull out those old albums, the ones I grew up on by the lake, and listen again to my youth.
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