Customer Reviews

Ladder

5 star:		(129)
4 star:		(87)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

It has been a long time since I have been hardly able to play any other CD for weeks. The Ladder is certainly the best work by Yes since Talk, and among the best work they have ever done. And no, I did not start out as an 80's Yes fan. I have been a fan for 30 years. They and Renaissance have always been my favorite bands. The Ladder has some of everything for everybody: the classic epics, the sweet ballads, the hard-edged stuff, the Asian-sounding chants, and, of course, the always amazing guitar playing of Steve Howe. I think it is this variety that has brought the most criticism of this CD. Most Yes fans want EITHER Close to the Edge OR 91025 OR Anderson's solo works. Relax. Open your mind. Be versatile, like Yes has become. Then you will know why a long-time devout progrocker (me), a lyric/melody lover of Fairport Convention (my wife), and a heavy metal lover (my son) all thoroughly enjoyed the tour and can't get enough of this CD.

The Ladder is most certainly one of their most confident and natural sounding albums in quite some time. Is this a return to the days of Close To The Edge? No, this is Yes in the here and now of 1999. The core of the legendary band that has recorded some of the most amazingly powerful and uplifting rock albums of the 1970's is still here and playing some very inspired music.

It's unfair to hold a band to someting they did some 25 years ago and expect them to recapture that. New songs such as Homeworld, Face To Face, The Messenger, New Language do capture many of the wonderful qualities that the music of Yes is known for. Lightning Strikes is a atypical song for them but they play it with such a upbeat and fun spirit, that they make it a Yes song. Nine Voices is a wonderful acoustic song. If You Only Knew is a simple ballad for them but could be a hit for them on the adult contemporary charts. Overall, The Ladder is very much a Yes album. Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Igor Khoroshev & Billy Sherwood have succeeded in creating new and vibrant Yes music on the eve of the new millenium.

It is very telling that 95% of the reviews for "The Ladder" are ecstatic. This is a thrilling album & a return to form. For those confused by the last 4 Yes releases prior to "The Ladder" you MUST read Chris Welch's outstanding book on Yes "Close To The Edge", which explains it all, from 90125 to Union, the confusion-inducing Yes era.

"The Ladder" is truly brilliant. Billy Sherwood & Igor Khoroshev make this a fresh new sounding recording, although Sherwood has been with the band for a while now. The harmonies are really fantastic, Chris's bass playing is finally freed up & can actually be HEARD - so much like the Yes-Album/Fragile era, Steve Howe is all over every song with creative fills & inspiring solos & gobs of incrdible slide work - some breathtaking acoustic work also, reminding me of his acoustic work on the GTR album. Jon is in TOP form, singing soft & tough with heart & soul.

Yes is working hard to get their audience back and get back to doing what they do best - melodic exspansive music with technical flourishes i.e. "prog-rock". Even the short songs have multiple tempo and key changes.

So far faves are: Homeworld [10 mins long & for a Sci-Fi video game - how Prog can you possibly GET?] Can I?/Face To Face If Only You Knew [this is NOT AOR!] Finally [WOW! TFTO synths & guitars] The Messenger [shades of "And You & I!] New Language - best since "Mind Drive"!

If you love Yes run out & get this album.

The very first time I heard this CD I didn't care for it. Same for the second time. However, the third time I listened to this CD I suddenly found some of its charm. The fourth time... The point is that if you need to listen to a Yes CD several times before it begins to grow on you, then Yes did exactly what they were supposed to do. A Yes composition is never what you expect. That is the nature of Yes' brand of progressive rock.
There is always the temptation to compare the works of a long-established group against itself. Those who think that a group hit a particular formula that they should have kept and didn't will be disappointed. Those who think a group should continually evolve and instead seem to repeat the same formula over and over are disappointed. Thus we have the quandary of art and music. Fortunately, Yes has the ability to do what they want to do, and if their current incarnation matches your taste, then great; if not, then that's also great. "The Ladder" is one of those releases that is guaranteed to polarize Yes fans.

The nine selections on this CD have a wide range of variation. The songs that are more along the lines of classic Yes are "Homeworld (The Ladder)", "Finally", "It Will Be a Good Day (The River)", "The Messenger", "New Language" and "Nine Voices (Longwalker)".

Each of these songs is worthy of being a Yes progressive rock song. There are clearly some pop influences, but each is recognizably Yes. "It Will Be a Good Day (The River)" sounds similar to some of the music from "Union". "The Messenger" starts with a very blues-sounding bass guitar. The lyrics are Jon Anderson's typical new age mysticism (what would a Yes album be without such songs!). The song reminds me of "Talk" and "Union", and perhaps "90125". A classic Yes-style composition.

"New Language" starts as a rocking composition, fast-paced, a throwback to early Yes. While there are periodic pop influences, the progressive shows through in multiple locations. Very heavy reliance on guitars throughout, punctuated by a firm drum beat, and add keyboards for spice. A very solid Yes song.

"Nine Voices" is another Yes song in the tradition of Yes songs. This song can remind one of "Your Move" and, perhaps, just a touch, of "Wondrous Stories". The harmonies are classic Yes, as are the beautifully orchestrated instruments. One of the better songs on this CD.

The other selections are a varied brew. "Lightning Strikes" starts strangely, but the song then turns into a pop song (I'm not kidding). While the song is not the strongly progressive for which we love Yes so much, as pop songs go, it is good. Remember that "90125" also had pop songs as well, which also worked just as well.

"Can I?" I love. If you remember Eddie Murphy singing on the train in "Trading Places", you'll get a flavor of this song. It's got a bit of African or perhaps reggae flavor to it. "Face to Face" starts sounding like typical Yes progressive rock, and then changes to a pop love song. Again, a good song, just not what you would expect from Yes.

"To Be Alive (Hep Yadda)" again reminds me a bit of Union, perhaps with more pop than Eastern influences. However, as the song progresses, it become pure repetitive pop. I must admit that while I'm a big fan of Yes, this song stretches my liking of Yes to the limit. This song may appeal to fans of modern pop or bubble gum, but is likely to annoy long-time Yes fans.

This album, which brings together so many of the classic members of Yes, is good, but uneven in spots. If I could take an electronic knife and excise some of the cuts, I think the album would have been more coherent and more in the tradition of classic progressive Yes. However, Yes gets to choose their own music, and this is what they chose. A worthy addition to any Yes collection, but with the exception of a few cuts, not among their best.

During the last years, Yes have released the brilliant, very Yes'ish »Keys To Ascension« albums, followed by the semi-commercial »Open Your Eyes« album. So, putting the band's newest release »The Ladder« into my CD player, I did not know what to expect. The opening song »Homeworld (The Ladder)« - which is also the album's longest track - is promising, though. The well-known and unique Yes sound, yet with something new to it. Something kind of modern, a little more rock'ish. But still unmistakably Yes.

Although Trevor Rabin left Yes many years ago, several of the songs on the album makes you think he is back. Perhaps because he influenced the band towards more commercial, more catchy, more simple music. And as »The Ladder« is somewhere in between commercial and classic-Yes, his influence still stands.

However, songs like »Lightning Strikes« and »Can I?« make you think about some of lead singer Jon Anderson's solo album stuff.

As it is with most Yes albums, this one gains points the more you listen to it. For the Yes fan, »The Ladder« will not be a classic in 10 or 20 years. But so far, it is the band's most successful attempt to create more popular music, without really compromising what the Yes fan knows the band for.

»Homeworld (The Ladder)« remains the album's clearly best song. My other two favourites are the two last tracks, »New Language« which like »Homeworld (The Ladder)« plays over more than nine minutes, and »Nine Voices (Longwalker)«.

Concerning the different versions of the album: The poster included in the »European Strictly Limited Edition« is a good example why the items included in good ol' vinyl editions cannot be used in CD's just like that. The format is simply too small. Another edition, the »Enhanced Compact Disc«, contains a demo of »Homeworld«... which turns out to be a computer game with battling spaceships, a screensaver which has nothing to do with Yes, and a short interview with (not Yes but) Jon Anderson about (not Yes but) the song used for the game. The game is not even included! In my opinion, buyers are cheated by the labels on these CD's. Instead, the buyer should get the whole lot in one »World Strictly Unlimited Compact Disc Edition Enhanced With Purely Relevant And Interesting Yes Stuff«...!

I don't know if anyone will see this being so far down the line of reviews but here goes. I wish to respond to a couple of points in other reviews. Jon Anderson's 'spacey' lyrics. If you are going to complain about such lyrics don't praise CTTE or TFTO or even the YES album. Jon is simply progressing along a spiritual path and for me that is what YES music is all about. The other point I'd like to address is that too many people expect another CTTE or TFTO. They have done that. I have written poetry and song lyrics and such since H.S. and know the desire and the actually need to do something that you haven't done before while keeping true to yourself. For me this C.D. is a return to form in that, after some wandering down some different paths, YES has rediscovered their destination. All of these guys are spiritual in one way or another and that spirit vision is what makes YES YES! I have grown since I was a young teenager and first heard TFTO on the local late night radio show. That music propelled me towards my own spiritual 'Awaken'ing and still provides me joy when I listen to it. BUT I have grown, so has YES. They will NEVER make CTTE or TFTO or GFTO again. They are not the same musicians or human beings they were then. Neither should we be, those who grew up with them through the seventies. YES is a spiritual band that helped create Progreesive Rock. Don't condemn the spirit, revel in it by allowing your own to grow. The Ladder is an amazing C.D. in that regard. Put Switch The Ladder back in time to Fragile and the people complaining would probably be saying the same sort of things about Fragile today that they say about The Ladder. Yes is about a feeling in the music that comes through the technique and musicainship. If you want pure technique go listen to jazz and other such forms of music. If you are a true to the core YES fan that understands what this group in all it's incarnations has done, you will love this C.D. Only change is permanent but within all change is the unchanging center of what we are. It is there in this YES effort and it touches that unchanging place in me. To Be Alive is one of my favorite tracks on the C.D. So I will quote some of the lyrics here to close, 'There's the sound that keeps you trying/There's the sound that makes you smile/There's a sound in every corner/Of the world that we survive.

That sound is in this effort from the band clearer than it has been for years. If that is what you seek from their music, you will not be disappointed.

Peace to all on the journeys you wander.

Jaroth

A couple of months back I saw the Yes Masterworks tour and was so impressed by the masterful playing and the stage presence of Anderson, Squire, and Co. that I decided to purchase my first new Yes CD since the mindless Big Generator.

I want to preface by saying that I grew up listening to Yes music and consider myself a huge fan of this talented and inspiring group. Unfortunately, IMHO, nearly everything Yes has produced since Drama (and possibly 90125) has been a disappointing let down--their live performances excepted.

And in keeping with this sad pattern, The Ladder proves no better than its predecessors.

Homeworld starts favorably and has some good moments. Unfortunately it quickly descends into mindless pop simplicity and ends awash in Jon Anderson New Age silliness.

Between the leading track and the next to last track, Yes indulge in the kind of pop music absurdity and imbecility that I'd expect from Night Ranger or Air Supply! And in the process, they manage to defile some of their classic material--Anderson's moronic reworking of We Have Heaven titled Can I? It's as if he's asking, "Can I write and play music as creatively as before?" I think not!

There are few bright and too many uninspired moments in tracks 2 through 9. Track 10, titled New Language, spares this from being a completely futile effort. It's the only track where Squire's premier bass playing makes any sort of impact and the music retains some of its prog rock grandeur and creativity. It's far from Starship Trooper or Awaken, but it's at least palatable.

The final track starts out with an accoustic arrangement that sounds eerily close to the beginning of I've Seen All Good People. It's not a bad song but its wishy-washy New Ageness makes a second listening undesirable.

It's a shame that Yes have fallen into the same pit of lack of creativity and inspiration where so many great rock groups of yesterday (ELP and Page & Plant (aka Led Zeppelin) to name two of the most noticeable)now reside.

I know I'm going to catch heat from some of you diehards out there, but I believe that being a fan means speaking out when your favorite rock band consistently puts out below par material. Yes is much better than that.

The best album from this ageless band of pioneers of progressive-rock. Simply stunning. Finely crafted songs, with power depth and emotion, which get stronger with every listen. From the walking, suspended bass-line and classic (yet stunningly innovative) prog-rock chords from "Homeworld" to the delicate refrain from "Longwalker" this is one seriously wondrous story.... Not only do the guys play and sing as well as they ever have done, but the production (from one of the masters) is flawless - every note, every nuance, every harmony is displayed beautifully. Have no fear of seeing a new name in the line up: Igor's key-work has a prog-classical awareness that is rare - and complements the musical powerhouse of Jon, Steve, Alan, Chris and Billy perfectly. The whole thing has a "first-album" freshness to it which not even a brand-new band can match.... - up-and-coming bands listen in and take notes from a band that's done it all, and can still deliver the goods!

This release sucks! I have loved this band forever, there is simply no better band in the world as far as talent and progressive roots. UNTIL NOW! I hate to say it. I still believe Steve Howe and Chris Squire are the best there is, but they are wasting thier time with this crap. Ever since 'pop metal hungry' Trevor Rabin joined this band they lost thier edge, and thier musical souls are even now still in limbo. Although Trevor is gone, they still cannot find thier way back to what made them the musical geniuses they became. YES has always been a Keyboard and guitar centric band. Although Steve has his moments in this release, it is a forced effort and not nearly up to his standards or potential. Lipstick on a pig, if you will. The Keyboards are ridiculous and so substandard for this band that I think it contributes to a release that is barely worth the flush. The moron who wrote the claim on the 'front cover sticker' of this release should be shot. "a Return to close to the Edge and Fragile", yeah right! This is not only NOT a retun, but insults the band and the listeners who are so desperate for such a return. That statement is an outright lie. There is NOTHING in this release that is reminiscent of these great works. This guy probably never even 'listened' to Fragile or Close to the Edge, and should return to writing reviews for mentally challenged children listening to ABBA. Do I sound a bit angy?....I AM! YES is obviously struggling to reach airplay and maintain some musical respect of musicians and older fans, but this effort hardly moves into the latter's direction. I never thought I would ever live to see the day I became critical of anything YES does, but this release is a pure and simple piece of *** on a YES scale. I would expect something like this from bands just starting out looking for AOR potential. My Suggestions? --Lose Igor (this horribly lame keyboard player), and find someone with Wakeman, Moraz, or even Downes potential, and return to your roots to win back the fan favor that has got to be in a state of exodus worse than the titantic. I know the potential is there, I simply cannot understand why they would want to release this crap! DONT BOTHER WASTING YOUR MONEY! -----------------A Disenchanted Boston Musician

YES is one of the giants of progressive rock world and their music had been unfathomable to ordinary music fans until 1983 when they made pop-oriented huge hit albums "90125" and its follow-up BIG GENERATOR which won the heart of ordinary music fans. But both albums seemed to have failed to pull us what they truly are.

This album serves us as a joinder to their deep-seated rock kingdom. It still has the remnant of Big Generator such as LIGHTEING STRIKES which has hit potential and equally radio-friendly IF ONLY YOU KNEW. But the rest is truly dynamic, a lot aggressive than the aforementioned 80s albums. The opener HOMEWORLD is 9-minute grandiose uplifting opus. CAN I? the interlude between LIGHTENING STRIKES and FACE TO FACE is truly fine instrumental. FACE TO FACE is catchy dynamic rock song somewhat like BOSTON or STYX classics.

Verdict: Kind to 90125 and Big Generator appreciators. Very commercial one. A bit of progressive style involved.
Rating: 89 out of 100
Recommended: for BIG GENERATOR and 90125 appreciators.