Yes - The Ladder (1999)

Year: September 20, 1999 (CD Oct 20, 1999)
Label: Beyond Records (US), 63985-78046-2
Style: Art Rock, Symphonic Rock, Progressive Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 60:22
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 443 Mb

Oh... Yes,Yes,Yes again and again!!! Long live for this band! The name of the next album is Magnification,but the magnification begin from here,again and again!It is very pleasant for someone simple person like me when see that five big persons (or six) repair their mistake! And Yes made it perfectly! After the absolute failure Talk and the problems with the sound tuning and some other circumstances in Open Your Eyes Yes are here again! The Ladder is the first album with crystal and synchronic sound and mystical perfection in songwriting since Drama and the first in typical classic Yes sound since Going for the One.I exclude Union,because it is different and its beauty shine in other way!I think that a returning to the top is harder than reaching it for first time. And that's the importance of The Ladder and the greatness of Yes. There are many band,but there aren't others like Yes. The Ladder contains one of the most famous and one of the best Yes' songs - Homeworld (The Ladder). All of the other songs are very good,without anything weak. The Ladder is album that makes you happy,satisfied and pleased from life.It turns you free and positive. Appropriate for everyday use and for all moods.A must recording for every little progressive rock fan!
(progarchives.com/album.asp?id=1848) Review by poslednijat_colobar. October 6, 2008. ****
The appeal of THE LADDER wore off rather easily, much faster than I had anticipated. It's as if I bought THE LADDER and subsequently walked right under another one. We have two nine minute things here, and they may lead one to believe that Yes may have returned to their old style back in the early 70's. The sound produced here is far from classic Yes with the two longer songs being teases to prog fans, much like the epic on TALK.
I'll admit that ''Homeworld'' is the best epic here, one that could faintly harken back to Yes of old even with that over-produced 90's Yes sound. ''New Languages'' isn't horrible, but plagued with cringeworthy AOR choruses and ideas that sound ''borrowed'' from THE YES ALBUM. Pop music pretty much dominates the rest of the material; the reggae-esque ''The Messenger'' is the best here although also noticeable is the short ''Can I?'' with its world music thingys. Parts of ''Lightning Strikes'' sound laughable, and the whole song sounds like a kids tune in 7/8 time (which would scare the kids more than anything). Everything else need not be mentioned.
If the poppier Yes doesn't offend you, then this album should not be difficult to digest as it gets a little proggy in spots. Those looking for a more classic Yes should skip ahead to MAGNIFICATION or get a classic Yes album; THE LADDER is not classic Yes.
(progarchives.com/album.asp?id=1848) Review by Sinusoid. January 16, 2009. **

01. Homeworld (The Ladder) (09:34)
02. It Will Be A Good Day (The River) (04:53)
03. Lightning Strikes (04:35)
04. Can I? (01:32)
05. Face to Face (05:03)
06. If Only You Knew (05:43)
07. To Be Alive (Hep Yadda) (05:07)
08. Finally (06:01)
09. The Messenger (05:13)
10. New Language (09:19)
11. Nine Voices (Longwalker) (03:20)

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Yes - Open Your Eyes [Japanese Ed.] (1997)

Year: November 24, 1997 (CD December 17, 1997)
Label: Victor Records (Japan), VICP-60215
Style: Art Rock, Symphonic Rock, Progressive Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 78:19
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 540 Mb

Following the 1996 revival of the 1970s "classic" line-up of Yes, the band's relationship with management had broken down and keyboardist Rick Wakeman had once again left the band. While various other members dispersed, guitarist, keyboardist, and producer Billy Sherwood (a long-time Yes associate and contributor) began developing new songs with band bassist and de facto leader Chris Squire to prevent the band from losing momentum and fully splitting. Yes' new management company suggested adding a couple of songs originally written for Squire and Sherwood's other band Conspiracy to help build up material for a new Yes studio album. With the writing and production sessions dominated by Squire and Sherwood, and with singer Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White only involved later in the process, the writing and creative input of the latter three members was limited.
Open Your Eyes received mixed reviews from music critics and became one of the band's lowest selling albums, reaching number 151 on the US Billboard 200 and failing to enter the UK Albums Chart. Its lead single, "Open Your Eyes", reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart which was followed by a second, "New State of Mind". A limited edition with a surround sound mix was also released. Yes supported the album with a 12-month world tour from October 1997 that coincided with their thirtieth anniversary. The band were joined by Russian keyboardist Igor Khoroshev, who had played on the album as a guest musician and who became a full-time member at the tour's conclusion.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Your_Eyes_(Yes_album))

01. New State Of Mind (06:00)
02. Open Your Eyes (05:13)
03. Universal Garden (06:16)
04. No Way We Can Lose (04:56)
05. Fortune Seller (05:01)
06. Man In The Moon (04:40)
07. Wonderlove (06:07)
08. From The Balcony (02:42)
09. Love Shine (04:38)
10. Somehow.....Someday (04:46)
11. Open Your Eyes (Radio Edit) (Bonus) (04:10)
12. The Solution (23:46)

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Yes - Union [Japanese Ed.] (1991)

Year: April 30, 1991 (CD Jul 21, 1991)
Label: Arista Records (Japan), BVCA-116
Style: Symphonic Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 69:55
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 512 Mb

Charts: CAN #15, US #15, JPN #11, GER #15, NLD #17, SWE #32, SWI #16, UK #7. US: Gold.
While Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire and Alan White was working on a follow-up to Big Generator, Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe was working on a follow-up to their latest album (that was released under the name ‘Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe’, since the Squire/White/Rabin camp owned the rights to the name ‘Yes’ at the time).
The idea that came about was that of a Union between these two versions of Yes. And what a great idea it was! It features eight people! The material is a mix between the two camps and this seems to have spurred them all to write better songs. Great rock songs like Shock To The System, Lift Me Up and Miracle Of Life, great pop melodies like I Would Have Waited Forever and Saving My Heart, instrumentals like the beautiful Steve Howe solo piece Masquerade.
The most surprising for me are the Trevor Rabin songs. I did not like those Yes albums that Rabin worked on before very much, but here even Rabin’s songs are great. Especially Lift Me Up, which rocks harder than anything from 90125 or Big Generator. Rabin also does a lot of vocals which gives the album more strengh and diversity than usual.
The tracks Angkor Wat, Dangerous (Look In The Light Of What You’re Searching For), Holding On, Evensong and Take The Water To The Mountain are perhaps not too interesting in their own right. But since the running time is so long it is ok. The closing track Give & Take, on the other hand, is again a great song, tying the album together in a nice way.
It is really strange that so many tend to dislike this album so much. I agree that it has some weak moments and it probably could have been better if they recorded it more as a unit instead of sending tapes to each other around the globe. However, Union is a very good and very underrated album (much, much better than 90125 and Big Generator and almost as good as the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album) and a must for all serious Yes fans!
(classicrockreview.wordpress.com/2021/08/25/yes-union-1991-2/) Review by SouthSideoftheSky.

01. I Would Have Waited Forever (06:33)
02. Shock To The System (05:09)
03. Masquerade (02:17)
04. Lift Me Up (06:30)
05. Without Hope You Cannot Start The Day (05:18)
06. Saving My Heart (04:41)
07. Miracle Of Life (07:30)
08. Silent Talking (04:01)
09. The More We Live - Let Go (04:53)
10. Angkor Wat (05:23)
11. Dangerous (Look In The Light Of What You're Searching For) (03:38)
12. Holding On (05:24)
13. Evensong (00:51)
14. Take The Water To The Mountain (03:12)
15. Give And Take (04:28)

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