Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe: An Evening of Yes Music was captured on the American Leg of the 1989 world tour and finds the band performing songs from their self titled album as well as classic songs from their days as Yes. Although Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe lost the rights to use the name of their parent group Yes, it was agreed that they could refer to their origins in Yes on tour posters and other merchandise.

The album opens with an excerpt from Benjamin Britten's 'Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." Then Jon Anderson comes out and performs solo doing "Time and a Word," "Teakbois," and "Owner of a Lonely Heart." This is followed by Steve Howe who does a solo of "The Clap and Mood for a Day," followed then again by Wakeman who performs "Gone but not Forgotten," "Catherine Parr," and "Merlin the Magician" as a solo. All three are great! I loved the way they were allowed to shine as individuals before coming back together as a whole.

Then the band came together and began with "Long Distance Runaround" and they sounded as fresh as when they recorded some of this music in the seventies. They continued with "Birthright" from the ABWH album from 1989 (as in "Themes," "Brother of Mine" and "The Meeting"). Each song better than the last!

I won't go into each of the songs other than to say that this is not only a great concert film but it is a great representation of what was Yes, perhaps not in their heyday, but certainly in a much more refreshed and revitalized form. You can see from how they play off each other they are having a lot of fun. Steve Howe is almost animated at times, bouncing around the stage.

The performances are excellent; Howe's guitar work is simply great. Wakeman's circle-around keyboards are extraordinary. Bruford's drumming explodes on the stage and Anderson's vocals are spot-on. Jeff Berlin, who replaced the ill Tony Levin for this show, was perfect as well.