THE LADDER

The appeal of THE LADDER wore off rather easily, much faster than I had anticipated. It's as if I bought THE LADDER and subsequently walked right under another one. We have two nine minute things here, and they may lead one to believe that Yes may have returned to their old style back in the early 70's. The sound produced here is far from classic Yes with the two longer songs being teases to prog fans, much like the epic on TALK.

I'll admit that ''Homeworld'' is the best epic here, one that could faintly harken back to Yes of old even with that over-produced 90's Yes sound. ''New Languages'' isn't horrible, but plagued with cringeworthy AOR choruses and ideas that sound ''borrowed'' from THE YES ALBUM. Pop music pretty much dominates the rest of the material; the reggae-esque ''The Messenger'' is the best here although also noticeable is the short ''Can I?'' with its world music thingys. Parts of ''Lightning Strikes'' sound laughable, and the whole song sounds like a kids tune in 7/8 time (which would scare the kids more than anything). Everything else need not be mentioned.

If the poppier Yes doesn't offend you, then this album should not be difficult to digest as it gets a little proggy in spots. Those looking for a more classic Yes should skip ahead to MAGNIFICATION or get a classic Yes album; THE LADDER is not classic Yes.