UNION

This album should really be filed under ‘Various Artists’ instead of as a Yes studio album. All Yes fans know the history, so there’s no use pretending this is anything remotely approaching the ‘reunion’ of the classic and seminal seventies lineup of the band.

One really has three options for reviewing this album (aside from ignoring it altogether). First, it can be considered as a proper Yes album, in which case it would get low marks indeed for the heavy use of outside musicians and the fact that none of the tracks features the entire lineup of Yes alumni who supported it with a worldwide tour from 1991 through 1992. A second approach is to view this as a collaboration of sorts involving various Yes members, some previously written and/or recorded music that could be attributed to various Yes members, and a whole host of meddling producers and record executives. That’s probably the most appropriate synopsis. And the third option is to consider this record solely on the basis of the quality of music on it, regardless of who actually recorded what (and when). That would be the most objective choice, but as a hardcore Yes fan that’s not really an option for me.

Truth be told I actually like some of the songs here. At least Jon Anderson sings on every track, and although he doesn’t seem to be very inspired or his usual regal and spiritual self most of the time, he can still carry a tune like few others in the business. And the guitar work is superb everywhere on the album, but here’s where things start to break down since except for I Would Have Waited Forever and Silent Talking one cannot be certain the man playing is Steve Howe and not stand-in guitarist Jimmy Haun.

Rick Wakeman has famously referred to this album as “Onion” because he has said listening to it made him cry, and because he claims to not have been able to even figure out where his keyboard parts actually made it onto the final product. And as far as I know Tony Levin and Billy Sherwood played bass on the entire album, not Chris Squire.

The only song I can bring myself to listen to is the Anderson/Wakeman-penned “Angkor Wat”, not because it’s all that great, but because at least it sounds like the Yes I grew up with and not the one Jonathan Elias created behind a mixing board and in a record label boardroom.

Otherwise I can’t hold a grudge or judge anyone who finds this to be a palatable, or even good album. It probably is that. But it takes more than the band’s logo on a Roger Dean cover to make a true Yes album, and in this case neither of those things should have been attached to the project. Two stars because a lot of fans (myself included) have collected this one, even though that probably only encourages record label types to continue this sort of behavior. Shame on both of us.

peace