Despite GFTO being yet to receive a good remix (something a lot of fans crave in the wake of the excellent SW remixes of earlier classic albums), I think there is an interesting sonic signature to GFTO that Awaken, especially, benefits from: very airy, and very...live-sounding. I saw the Union tour when it came round and still remember the awe I felt as Awaken unfolded. It really was a powerful live number. Yet, I've always felt a little underwhelmed by the sound/delivery of filmed versions of Awaken - either they had the powerful performance but appalling sound/visuals (such as the Glasgow Apollo tapes currently doing the rounds - def worth a watch tho!), or great visuals but lacking the scale/power of the original album mix - particularly with Howe's increasingly thin/clean Steinberger 12-string sound (now reduced to sounding like a broken banjo in later classic lineup videos, and even more so in the latest iteration of Yes). Also, sadly, White lost a lot of his pep some years ago, and Downes simply has to fudge the fiery/on-point playing of his predecessor. Then you have that peaky singer! So any hope of an Awaken performance of yore has long gone. So, here's an edit, using mostly the beautifully cinematic Montreux footage, peppered with Birmingham footage (where Howe/Wakeman are tight with the original album playing), and even some Hippodrome footage (containing some nice shots of the individual original members (albeit older) at key points in the song). I've put a little twist at the end that lends it an ethereal feel, which felt in keeping with the song's intentions. It's not perfect, and needs a little fixing here and there (namely Squire going from white top to black outfit in a single shot, which looks kinda silly, but the second shot of him is great and shows his bass stack), and then there's the organ solo where Wakeman plays everything differently, so I had to fudge a lot of that. Hope you enjoy it.
