Having seen parts of the previous release Yes – Live In Philadelphia 1979 you could say I was terrified at the thought of watching a Yes DVD. This was due to the poor quality of the previous release, not because of the band's ability. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see a good quality release this time around.

The progressive rock group Yes formed in the late ‘60s and received major success throughout the ‘70s. They have undergone many line-up changes over the years, the most notable member being Rick Wakeman. He is not present for this release and although sorely missed, most Yes fans will still be pleased with the job done by the current line-up for this title. The band here is Jon Anderson on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar, Chris Squire on bass, Alan White on drums and Tom Brislin on keyboards, the latter not being a member as such, but mentioned as the keyboards are crucial to this band's sound and he does have the rather large shoes of Rick Wakeman to fill.

This two disc set contains a concert filmed in Amsterdam in 2001, featuring the European Festival Orchestra, and includes many of their past hits along with some more recent ones. One of the common threads for this band is the length of their songs and this continues here. All are played with great enthusiasm and sound as good today as they ever did.

Track listing:

As stated earlier, the songs are very long but are still enjoyable, while the band is in good form and sound terrific. The concert also allows the viewer to select digital animation rather than concert footage in certain areas. This is indicated by an on-screen icon when it is available. The animation is very impressive and accompanies the music well. The keyboard prowess and flamboyancy of Rick Wakeman is sorely missed, but his replacement does do an able job and the fact that Rick is not there should not deter fans from checking this out.

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and 16:9 enhanced, this transfer is nice, despite a few problems. Footage is from the concert itself and also digital animation, the latter can be accessed when available via the multi angle function. There are the usual problems associated with live performances such as aliasing in some instances and a slight lack of detail. Another major problem is edge enhancement, which can be seen pretty much throughout. Colours are generally good and blacks are quite deep. There are a few compression artefacts that can cause some annoyance. Disc one is a dual layer disc and the layer change is located in the rather odd place of 86:09 which is midway during Starship Trooper and causes a major disruption. There is no layer change on disc two as it is single layer.

Audio is a choice of English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, DD 5.1 surround or DTS 5.1 surround. All are quite good, but most will find the DTS track is the track of choice. To be fair there is not a huge difference between the DTS and the DD 5.1 tracks, but the DTS did offer a slightly fuller sound. The DD 2.0 stereo track is light on in comparison to the others, but is still of decent quality. The subwoofer gets a substantial workout and there are no synch problems.

Considering this is a two disc set, it is a little light on in the extras department. There are the multi angle animations mentioned earlier, which are quite impressive, along with a music video for the song Don’t Go. This video runs for 4:30 and is probably considered a short song by this band's standards. The major extra is the featurette entitled Dreamtime which runs for 31:51. It contains numerous interviews with band members, crew and fans along with behind the scenes footage and is quite informative and entertaining.

Overall this is an enjoyable title for fans and not a bad introduction for those who want to experience the band for the first time. A good range of songs is included, covering the old and the new, and the band's enthusiasm is evident. The video and audio are both decent without being flashy and the extras are a bit light but still a worthy addition. This is definitely the better of the two Yes titles I have thus far seen on DVD.