UNION

Union is definitly something odd in the Yes discography. Kind of a frankenstein project ajusting pieces where they did not fit and so on. The combination of two different line ups under the same title is indeed strange (Jon Anderson being the only real ´union´ between the two). At the time I refused to hear this record at all and simpy forgot about it for years. This very idea seemed to be the last nail in the coffin of prog´s best band ever. I was too fed up with the group´s 80´s output to even bother listening.

It all changed when my brother in law travelled back to USA and gave me a bunch of his CDs before leaving town: Union happened to be among them. When I put it on I found that the music inside was not that bad. In fact it sounded better then a lot of their latest works. I discover it was more pleasant if I decided to forget who´s playing in what track and listen to it as a whole (union?). Well, even if they still have not much to say (the lyrics are quite silly, but I can live with that), I liked the final result. At least the playing is great and the songwriting is good (sometimes very good). Of course you can´t compare this CD to their classic stuff of the 70´s (Tormato included, you radicals!), but it is still purely Yes. And the cover is beautiful.

All in all, a decent record. Simpler songs, but they work. Since I had no expectations at all, it was a nice surprise. Those guys are really fantastic, even under strange circunstances. 3 stars.