Classic Artists: Yes is a music DVD only in the very loosest sense of the word. It doesn’t, in fact, include a complete performance of so much as one single song from the prog-rock giants (unless you count lip-synching music videos, which I certainly hope you don’t).

Rather, it’s a David Frost-ish documentary of Yes, a three-hour plus film interpolating live performance snippets with clips of interviews with most (if not all) of the major figures from the band’s colorful and complicated 40-year history.

Yes is a group that surely merits such treatment, both on account of their tenure and impact, and because of the sheer sweep and melodrama of the tale of this ever-evolving band. And this is a suitably impressive package.

The first of this set’s two DVDs features the entire 204-minute main program, which is a treat for any serious fan -- and let’s face it, who else is going to be interested in this package? The interview footage is taken from new and exclusive interviews with not just the current “Classic” lineup of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White and Rick Wakeman, but also founding members Bill Bruford and Peter Banks, Drama cohorts Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, Fragile and Close To The Edge co-producer Eddie Offord, roadie-cum-internationally renowned staging director Michael Tait, logo creator, album cover artist and stage designer Roger Dean, prog-rock contemporary Keith Emerson and a sprinkling of other band associates. Holding things together and serving as de facto narrator is music journalist and Yes biographer Chris Welch, whose affection for and insight into the band and its music helps guide the long twisting path traveled by this film.

While there aren’t any startling revelations -- this is band whose story has been chronicled in considerable detail already in myriad different forms and forums -- there are of course moments where the personalities involved shine through. Anderson notes that one of the elements that has always divided the band internally is the simple fact that they weren’t mates from the same town; they came from different parts of England and different socio-economic backgrounds, all drawn together by the promise of making interesting music with unusual people.

Squire -- the only member to be in every lineup the band has ever rolled out -- naturally has something positive to say about almost every turn in the road, though he is a bit rueful about his role as “personnel director,” i.e. the guy tasked with informing people they’re about to become ex-members, and then recruiting fresh blood to replace them.

Howe comes off perhaps the best, his passion for and belief in Yes music shining through his every utterance, but his predecessor Banks later tells a story about backstage goings-on surrounding the Union tour that suggests Howe is less secure than he should be about his status as the group’s best-loved guitarist.

The latter story comes to light on the second disc, which includes generous helpings of additional interview footage that was trimmed out of the main feature, plus unseen 1996 rehearsal footage, an extensive photo and memorabilia gallery, and three full-length music videos. The surplus interview footage is at its most interesting when the man on camera is one of the group’s more colorful members such as the witty Wakeman or the mercurial Banks.

Classic Artists: Yes is a solid pickup for any Yes fan, with moments of familiar pleasure mixed with intriguing perspectives and shadings from the principals involved in one of the longest-running sagas in rock.

Rating: B

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