THE LADDER

The Ladder shows Yes reverting back to writing music that is progressive at its core. Some of the poppy elements from the '80s albums are somehow still present even though this album was released just before 2000. Though the music here is much more progressive than on recent releases, and the songwriting is much stronger, it doesn't seem to work all that well. Lots of ambition went into this album, and that seems obvious when listening to it, but this album seriously lacks any memorable melodies or stand out tracks. I think "The Ladder" is the best track on this album, and I recall it being a minor hit for progressive rock fans though I can't see why.

This is another album in the Yes catalog that is easy to skip over without feeling bad.