Yes-Talk(1999)(Beyond Music)
Track Listing
1. Homeworld(The Ladder)(9:33)
2. It Will Be A Good Day(The River)(4:53)
3. Lightening Strikes (4:34)
4. Can I? (1:32)
5. Face To Face (5:03)
6. I Only You Knew (5:42)
7. To Be Alive(Hep Yadda)(5:07)
8. Finally (6:01)
9. The Messenger (5:13)
10. New Language (9:19)
11. Nine Voices (Longwalker)(3:20)
Total Time: 60:17
Personnel
Jon Anderson-vocals
Chris Squire-bass/harmonica/vocals
Billy Sherwood-guitars/keyboards/vocals
Alan White-drums/vocals
Steve Howe-guitars/mandolin/banjo/steel/vocals
Igor Khoroshev-keyboards/vocals
After listening to The Ladder three times over the last day and a half it was very challenging to be focused after the first listen and painful on the third. In this time period I also put my ears to Talk(1994), Open Your Eyes(1997), Magnification(2001), and Keystudio(2001) last week. By far, Keystudio was a pleasure, a compilation of studio tracks taken from Keys To Ascension volume 1 and 2. Magnification sees the band accompanied with a symphony orchestra. Not bad. Talk and Open Your Eyes, are...well...
1. Homeworld(The Ladder): One of the few highlights on the album IMO. Almost has the classic Yes sound though it falls short. Steve Howe's guitar really stands out on this track, as he seems to shine more than any other member on this project. Good keys and melodies. The closing is fantastic. Well done.
2. It will Be A Good Day(The River): Jon Anderson revisiting the Trevon Rabin 80's era prog pop.
3. Lightning Strikes: An upbeat tune that doesn't seem like Yes at all. The whistling in the middle of the song is very annoying. They must of been in the Carribean when they wrote this song. Maybe Bob Marley came and visited Jon Anderson in the middle of the night. Techno prog and reggae don't work.
4.Can I?: What?
5. Face To Face: Chris Squire's bass line really stands out for me on this track with Howe's guitar work. Another Anderson quirky upbeat lyrical pomp.
6. If Only You Knew: Another Silly Love Song.
7. To Be Alive(Hep Yadda): Howe's mandolin is the show here. More pop and forgettable. "It doesn't get much better than this..." Gawd, I hope so.
8. Finally: Another AOR/pop '80's flashback. The last half of the song isn't bad. Again Howe is the show with some nice acoustic passages. The keys are background and very seldom take a lead in this song as is with the rest of the album as well. Where's Wakeman?
9. The Messenger: Starts out very well with Howe's bluesy guitar but again developes into more AOR prog pop. The keys and Howe's guitars manage to keep the song listenable.
10. New Langauge: The intro hit me with shades of Going For The One. My second favourite track from the album. The keys shine through, finally on this track. But over the nine minutes it's hard to stayed focused and there is parts that disconnect me with sudden dead air time. Confusing.
11. Nine Voices(Longwalker): Ahhh,...it's finally over.
A very inconsistent album. If you're into pompous proggy pop and wanting to listen to a bad rehash of the early '80's Yes(90125 and Big Generator) this is for you. More techno than the fore mentioned. It's not for me. Two stars for the only two good tracks on the album. One star for Howe's guitars and one star for the great Roger Dean cover. If you want to hear any new material from Yes in the 90's I'd recommend Keystudio.
4/10
j/k
