UNION

A record company executives dream (not the one that includes piles of cash, the blood of a tortured artist, and several donkeys) this album was marketed as the uniting of the two versions of Yes at the time, Anderson Bruford Wakeman & Howe and Yes-West, the Trevor Rabin led group. ABWH had been in the studio recording their second album, and the other Yes was in the process of trying to regroup, when this "union" was established.

The big mistake was bringing in Jon Anderson's friend Jonathan Elias as the producer. Just listen to his only preceding non-soundtrack album, "Requiem for the Americas: Songs from the Lost World", to hear what a mess he can make of things (Charlie Sheen? Really?). Elias thought he knewn better than these talented prog musicians, and cut out most of Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman's parts, replacing them with blandness played by his own hired hacks. The result is an album that rivals the worst in the Yes catalogue, "Talk" and "Open Your Eyes".

There are a few minor good moments. Silent Talking, based on a piece from one of Howe's solo albums, could have been a great song, but it gets ruined about halfway through, by digressing into a lame arena rock chorus. The More We Live - Let Go is pretty good as well (not surprisingly, this was produced by Eddie Offard). A few other moments here and there make me listen for a bit, with an indication that the music might get better. It doesn't.

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