Customer Reviews

Keys to Ascension, Vol. 2--- 2 cd set

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Keys 2 is one of the rare occasions when the classic lineup produces new music that both rocks and has the depth of nuance to be called art. Too often Yes songs of the past 20 years have veered too close to soft rock and modern jazz(aka muzak without the strings.) Perhaps these guys were just afraid of sounding like the band that was labeled as pretensious dinosaurs in the 70's. But dinosaurs aren't just old. Dinosaurs are also awesome.
For the most part, the live recordings of the old songs sound as good and often better than the original recordings. No doubt there was some serious dubbing in post production. But when you get through the 18 minutes of the new 'Mind Drive' you realize that these guys can still combine the spirituality and intensity that is inherent in the best of their work. Get it while you can.

From reports I heard, Rick Wakeman fell out of the fold, to a large degree because of this album. It was his belief that the new material could stand alone and should not need the live material to prop up sales.

I tend to agree with him. I treat this disk as a new album and have played the live tracks only sparingly. Disk Two however gets played alot. Musically it is very strong, although not perfect. It does not rival their best work such as "Close to the Edge", "Going For the One" or "Relayer" but it still is quite good. "Mind Drive" has some very strong parts but is not as cohesive a piece as I think it could have been. "Footprints" and "Children of Light" are the strongest tracks.

I hate to complain, but I do not think Jon Anderson is up to his lyrical standards on this album. Some of the phrasing is awkward and there is much use of new age cliches and childlike rhyming patterns. These rhyming patterns are most annoying in the acoustic sections of "Mind Drive". My other complaint is that "Sign Language" to me, does not work. As an improvisational piece between two exceptional players, I was expecting something much more meaningful.

On a happier note, the rhythm section is immense and powerful. Alan White and Chris Squire are certainly the stars of this album. Rumour has it that parts of "Mind Drive" were written when White and Squire were in the XYZ project with Jimmy Page. If so, I am glad they brought these musical contributions forward.

This 2nd release form the SLO live shows was put out after RICK WAKEMAN's departure, but thankfully left his recorded studio work intact. This album could have stood alone without the live tracks, and along with the studio tracks of KEYS 1, would have ushered a new era of YES classics. This album was virtually forgotten in a sense. In my area, the east coast, it was released 4 days prior to OPEN YOUR EYES, and hardly mentioned. The live songs are essentially what was ommited from the previous recording and are excellent, but it is in the new studio songs that the REBIRTH took place. Each song is wonderful, but "Mind Drive" is up there with, dare I say it, Close to the Edge or And You And I. Hopefully when Yes tours behind their next album, currently recording in Vancouver Canada, they will perform some of this live. THESE SONGS DESERVE TO BE HEARD!!!!!

I really like this album, but I can see why it didn't scream up the charts. The live stuff on here is better than on KTA I-- "Turn of the Century" and "Going for the One" are worth the price themselves, and this is the best version of "Time and a Word" ever, I think.

The studio tracks are a hodgepodge. "Mind Drive" is astonishing. It's up there with "Awaken" and "Close to the Edge" inasmuch as (1) it takes 18 minutes for Yes to get their whole point across, and (2) that 18 minutes flies by. Unlike some other long Yes songs, there is very little filler here-- it all goes together. "Footprints" is sung well, but not terribly inspiring musically. "Power" is an intriguing song, but it sounds like Yes never really figured out what they wanted it to be. "Children of Light" was better when they did it live. "Sign Language" is dross, but it's pretty, I guess.

Overall, a really cool album, but it is kind of fans-only.

I have to preface this review by stating that I am a big fan of everything that Yes has done. I think the first disk is great (except for Going For the One being a little sluggish). I believe that disk two, despite what everyone else here has said, suffers, not from compositional problems, but from Rick Wakeman's extrodinarily cheesy keyboard sounds. Don't get me wrong, I love Rick's playing throughout his entire career and this disc is the only time I have found fault with his choice of keyboard sounds, but the patches he uses sound ridiculously fake. I mean, if you want to sound like a string section, get a better patch. If however, you want to sound like a synthsized string section, go right ahead and do so. On this disc, however, Rick can't seem to make up his mind, and what we are offered is a sampling of keyboard sounds which are trite and hackneyed. In addition, everyone up to this review has praised Mind Drive as a return to form. Quite frankly, the performances on this piece sound rather uninspired. Whereas more recent material like Big Generator and The Ladder have a punch and excitement to them, MindDrive sounds to this reviewer like the band is going through the motions. As I mentioned previously, I'm a big fan of Yes in all their various incarnations, but I have to take exception to some elements of Disc 2 on this album.

The concept behind the album is flawed: one live disc, one disc in the studio. The live songs have obviously been "enhanced" in the studio, especially the vocals, so they sound lifeless and do not recreate the magic of this reunion in a small theatre in California. As for the studio songs, only "Mind Drive" is really interesting. The rest sounds like a collection of progressive rock clichés. There's little coherence in the songs, the band just pastes together different bits and pieces hoping that in the end, some form of song will emerge. Maybe this type of material will please nostalgic fans of prog-rock but to me it sounds more like a band trying too much to copy what they were doing in their golden age. There's nothing "progressive" about that material, this formula has been done before, and with a lot more success, on albums like "Close to the Edge" and "Fragile". As a reunion of the "classic" Yes lineup, it's a disappointment.

The song writing and the overall quality of the studio tracks on this recording were a pleasant surprise. This is the best example of the attempt of 90s Yes to combine their progressive rock legacy with contemporary sounds. 'Mind Drive' could possibly be the best extended piece the band has written since 'Awaken' on 'Going for the One'. Although 'Mind Drive' in some places exhibits weaker moments compositionally; overall it is a strong piece; in places it is awesome. The other shorter pieces on the album mostly hold their own quite well.

The album is supplemented by live versions of some of the best of there 70s material. Since the release of this album, a compilation of the Key I & II studio tracks has been released.

Yes fans will have been salivating indeed at the prospect in 1996 that not only would there be a quadruple (yes, that's quadruple) CD set released the following year, but also that it would feature the 'Classic' Yes line-up of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White and the returning prodigal son Rick Wakeman. This second volume features one whole disc of pieces from several California gigs in March 1996 (compared to one and a half in the first volume). Immediately looking at the track listing one can tell that the Yes boys new exactly which tracks to perform to entice people into buying the record - 'I've Seen All Good People', 'Close To The Edge' and 'And You And I' are indubitably some of their greatest works. However there is a great problem that one finds with disc 1 as a live Yes album, a problem not quite so evident with Volume 1 of Keys To Ascension. The problem is as follows: Yes' studio output 1970-77 was nothing short of stunning - their albums were exquisitely crafted by virtuosic musicians at the top of their game; Thusly when these pieces are performed on stage - here, about 30 years after they were originally recorded - any changes to the arrangements of these familiar tunes often sounds like sacrilege and one feels the sort of frustration one would experience watching a dogged tribute band (probably called 'Yeah' or something) trying their hardest with one of your most beloved Yes pieces that you wore out on your vinyl copy listening to it over and over at Poly in 1972 . . . What I'm getting at here is that the slightly slower pace of 'Close To The Edge' and the tweaked ending and different keyboard sound in 'I've Seen All Good People' jar somewhat on this record and make you yearn for the originals. I KNOW it sounds awful picky, but then I am a Yes fan and just maybe it is continued listening to their (I'm not afraid to use the words again) exquisitely crafted 70s LPs that have made me so. On the other hand 'And You And I' sounds as majestic as it ever did and 'Time And A Word' benefits hugely from Wakeman's involvement on piano. Of the other two tracks - 'Going For The One' and 'Turn Of The Century' - the former is something of a formulaic rocker anyway and I've never felt the latter works particularly well as a live track despite Howe's always excellent introduction. As a matter of fact, 'Turn Of The Century' and 'And You And I' are probably the only two tracks on which Steve really excels on this recording. On other occasions here he does have a tendency to sound as if he is a little out of practice or, worse, bored. This brings us to the studio disc which houses five tracks of varying lengths. It is hard to deny that the opening of disc 2 is reasonably positive. 'Mind Drive' hints at former glories and is at worst interesting and at best very good throughout it's 18 and a half minute length. The other four tracks only occasionally hold one's attention throughout the duration and little deserves to be said of them except that they are mere shadows of the sort of material these chaps were recording in the 70s. The atmospheric Wakeman/Howe penned second part of 'Children Of The Light', 'Lifeline' is engaging but unfortunately the album closer 'Sign Language' also written by Rick and Steve ends up sounding like Tangerine Dream when they had had long since gone off the boil. All in all then, this collection is frustrating yet oddly compelling - neither a disaster nor a triumph. This won't be one of your favourite Yes records but you will dig it out occasionally, listen to the live disc, sing along and then put on disc 2 in the hope that, 'Mind Drive' apart, it sounds better than it did last time you played it - unfortunately it probably won't.

Most comments tell you that these 2 records aren't worth their money because half of it is filled with old songs. But consider that these old songs are now in a new digital jacket and you have a couple of songs you couldn't find on a live record.But the second half is Yes like they should be. A musical evolution into the ninetees. Listen to Mind drive and feel the shivers on your spine, or every other of the 5 songs. Brilliant in their complexity, typical the music you may expect from Yes. Shame that they didn't continue this style on their next album; Open your Eyes.

The live tracks sound better than ever. The new music is outstanding. YES FANS, DON'T MISS BOTH I & II!