THE LADDER

When Yes returned to the studio to record their next album, the songwriting process was much more collaborative, to great success. Their 1999 album, The Ladder, is Yes's best synthesis of their pop and prog leanings. It's a distinct-sounding album, full of influences and textures atypical of Yes's sound, including brief flashes of Latin and dance music. To further illustrate, Yes even use samples on this album.

The title track opens the album, and it's a strong three-part suite. The playing is dynamic, and once more on par with their classic efforts. Chris Squire's bass both cuts through to the front and supports Howe's lead guitar. Khoroshev's synthesizer choices are the best the band has had in nearly twenty years. (I really don't know what Wakeman was thinking in the '80s and '90s, and Rabin-era material minimized keys most of the time.)

"Lightning Strikes" is possibly the oddest song Yes have ever recorded. It opens with a sample of The Kinks' "Phenomenal Cat" before segueing into Latin guitar and then diving headfirst into dance-music-influenced synthesizers and electronic percussion. This is a real head-scratcher, but in a good way. The competing Latin and dance influences mesh shockingly well in the framework of Yes's progressive rock stylings.

In addition being Yes's weirdest album, The Ladder is also their happiest and sunniest. Most of the songs have a glowing quality about them, and Khoroshev's synthesizers are a major reason for this. "Face to Face" is another example of Yes embracing dance-y keys and fast tempos in a major key. Despite all this, they somehow managed to avoid coming off as cheesy or otherwise off-putting. Not all such experiments were completely successful, though. "Finally" feels somewhat clumsy and overblown.

"New Language" is the album's penultimate song and the best integration of this album's competing pop and prog influences. It vacillates between bouncy, happy, accessible moments and complex experiments, replete with extended solos. "New Language" is this album encapsulated in one song.

Unfortunately, this lineup of Yes would not last. Frustrated that Yes's live shows were now almost entirely their back catalog, Billy Sherwood quit Yes to pursue his own projects. Igor Khoroshev was fired from the band after being charged with sexual assault while on tour.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2019/03/24/deep-dive-yes/