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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Yes-Yes Years (1991)

Yes-Yes Years (1991) (NTSC)

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Released 17-Feb-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music None
Rating Rated E
Year Of Production 1991
Running Time 134:54
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (72:36) Cast & Crew
Start Up Programme
Region Coding 4 Directed By Michael McNamara
Studio
Distributor
ATCO Video
Warner Vision
Starring Jon Anderson
Steve Howe
Rick Wakeman
Chris Squire
Tony Kaye
Alan White
Trevor Rabin
Bill Bruford
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $34.95 Music Yes


Video (NTSC) Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    This is a fairly significant documentary (I would hesitate to use the word "rockumentary") of progressive rock group Yes.

    Yes was founded in 1968 and amazingly still exists as a band today, with their most recent album - Magnification - released in 2001. The band line up has changed dramatically over the years (interestingly, the only band member to have played in all the albums is Chris Squire), with some band members having left and returned more than once.

    This documentary was filmed in 1991, to coincide with the reunion of most of the key members (and ex-members) of the band into a composite "mega" group consisting of:

    This mega-group did a very successful world tour, featuring three-hour concerts that showcased material from various incarnations of the band, and an accompanying album called Union.

    The documentary, over two hours long, captures the band during rehearsals for the 'Union' tour (in colour, filmed at the Pensacola Civic Center, Florida), as well as individual interviews with band members (for some reason filmed in black-and-white).

    As you would expect from a documentary over two hours long, we get to hear in-depth discussions about various band members joining and leaving and re-joining, excerpts from various music videos, the making of various albums, and insights into many of the band's individuals. The documentary even covers former band members not present in the reunion tours, such as Patrick Moraz and Trevor Horn, and solo albums released by various band members.

    The material in this documentary would no doubt be of great interest to fans. Even those with only a passing acquiantance with the band will find the feature watchable.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Track Listing

1. I've seen all good people
2. Roundabout
3. Yours is no disgrace
4. Close to the edge
5. Going for the one
6. Owner of a lonely heart
7. Heart of the sunrise
8. Leave it
9. Tempus fugit
10. Siberian khatru

Transfer Quality

Video

    We get a transfer presumably straight off the analogue master video tape, resplendent in full frame and NTSC glory.

    Given the age of the documentary, I was surprised at how good it still looks. The interview footage is reasonably clear, even the material shot in "black and white" (for "artistic" reasons, perhaps?) and I did not notice any pixelization at all. I also did not notice significant compression artefacts, which was slightly surprising given the length of the documentary.

    Colour saturation was acceptable and detail levels slightly above average (for what must presumably be an interlaced analogue video source).

    The historical footage is of course more variable in quality, and generally suffers from numerous analogue video artefacts such as microphony, over-saturation, over-modulation, low-level video noise etc.

    There are English subtitle tracks, which I engaged. These are quite good, and only very occasionally simplified the dialogue. They also did a good job spelling people's names etc., which can be a challenge when you are the poor person trying to decipher what is being said.

    This is a single sided dual layered disc (RSDL). The layer change occurs at the end of Chapter 37 around 72:36 and is well placed, as it occurs during a natural pause in between scenes.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Surprisingly, we get an English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s) audio track, so obviously the DVD authors are quite particular about Yes fans getting the best possible audio fidelity for the documentary (or maybe it's because the authoring was done from the master used for the Laserdisc edition and the authoring team didn't want to waste time re-encoding the audio).

    Again, considering that the original probably came from an analogue video tape, the quality of the audio track is surprisingly good. Dialogue was crystal clear, and there were no issues with audio synchronization.

    Again, the historical footage results in audio quality that varies from mediocre to acceptable.

    Since this is a 2.0 audio track, there is no surround channel or subwoofer usage.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    There are no extras on this disc. There isn't even a main menu, as such, only a set of scene selection menus.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This title does not seem to be easily available in Region 1, but I don't suppose it to be vastly different from the R4.

Summary

    Yes Years is the definitive "rockumentary" of progressive rock band Yes, or at least definitive as of 1991. Of interest to Yes fans and rock historians.

    The video transfer quality is acceptable.

    The audio transfer quality is better than average.

    There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Christine Tham (read my biography)
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DVD-RP82, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL-VW11HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (254cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE (upgraded)
SpeakersFront and surrounds: B&W CDM7NT, front centre: B&W CDMCNT, surround backs: B&W DM601S2, subwoofer: B&W ASW2500

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