Keystudio [Import]

Yes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Castle Music UK
• ASIN: B00005AFQC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,920 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Foot Prints

2. Be the One

3. Mind Drive

4. Bring Me to the Power

5. Sign Language

6. That, That Is: Togetherness/Crossfire/The Giving Things/That Is/All in

7. Children of the Light: Lightning/Children of Light/Lifeline [#]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On Second Thought...., July 25, 2002

By 

o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Keystudio (Audio CD)

I wasn't quite sure what was going on when this was announced, but I'm very glad I picked this up. You'll remember the 2 CDs of a few years back, "Keys to Ascenscion 1 & 2". It seems that the record company they were with at the time did not have confidence in the integrity of the material Yes had written and so split, with no inherent sense of cohesion, a very fine live performance at San Louis Obispo of very classic material with the new compositions. Back then, I didn't get it. Still don't. Essentially, they knackered both the show, which is well worth having as a record of Yes near the end of its rope, and a studio record that is quite good and which very much clears the ground so that "Magnification" might be possible.
Now, I suppose, they have second thoughts. I'm rather glad they did. Listening to the poorly named "Keystudio" as a whole, it hangs together remarkably well. I really and truly think this is a very fine Yes album, and makes a strong case for the notion that Wakeman is not entirely irrelevant. The songs are well crafted, sequenced far better than they were on the Keys disc, and there really is an internal cohesion to lyrical and musical themes. This disc represents a lot of what Yes was uniquely good at- music on a classically grand scale, with extraordinarily optimistic themes, and brilliantly executed changes.
Howe, Squire and White absolutely shine throughout. Anderson is in great choirboy voice and apart from some minimal chipmunking synthesizer work early on, Wakeman turns in as fine a performance as he ever has since his glory days with Yes. But this is not a regurgitation of past ideas. Much of what is on offer here presages "Magnification", and so, this disc has significant historical value to Yes fans.
"Sign Language" would have been a far more appropriate name, especially as it is also the title for Howe's exquisite showcase number. All the same, perhaps now, the same company will put SLO back together. That was a brilliant essay of their past catalogue at a time when Anderson was clearly dismayed at how they had lost their audience. If you pick up the current DVD of Yes with the Netherlands Symphony, there is much discussion on Anderson's part that at the conclusion of the last decade he just could see no more reason for going on. Thank God they persevered. What would follow this Disc would be the best Cd of the past 20 years for them.
This was a very strong record that was originally butchered by a lack of confidence. You'll be amazed at how good it is.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now that I'm stuck with both "Keys To Ascencion" releases..., January 11, 2005

By 

R. L. MILLER (FT LAUDERDALE FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keystudio (Audio CD)

...they go and release the new stuff without the live filler, the way I would have preferred it. Let's face it, gang--any bona fide Yes fan has a lot of live versions of classic songs in his collection in the "Yessongs" and "Yesshows" releases, and "House Of Yes" was later to add to that. But come on already--you buy those releases and other live albums because they're just that--live albums. The two "Keys" releases had enough original material between them to be a REAL new Yes album, and it was a low blow to make us buy it twice. This album makes it possible for future buyers of the music to buy it ONCE. If it wasn't for the fact that you can't unring a bell, the real title of this should be "Keys To Ascension"--period. If you haven't already stuffed your collection with the other two in the impulsive haste that proved my undoing, THIS is the real one--grab it!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More of the same!, August 12, 2001

By 

A. Lesley (Conway, S.C. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keystudio (Audio CD)

If you already own Keys To Ascension and Keys To Ascension II, then you have all these songs. The only difference is that "Children of Light" is now opened with approx. 1 minute of Rick Wakeman on keys, and while I'm a big Wakeman fan, there is nothing substantial here. I'm giving this cd 5 stars because the music featured is truly excellent Yes music. It features two tracks that are around 20 minutes long, and one of those songs, "Mind Drive", is probably the definitive Yes track for the 1990's. It features a Squire/White bass/drums line from their XYZ days and Wakeman's keyboard work is great. Overall, a Yes fan would probably preferred to have this album released back then instead of having the studio tracks split between the two Keys volumes, but it's too late for good ideas now. Anyway, Yes completists and Wakeman fanatics must have it, so buy it.