KEYS TO ASCENSION 2

YES had two releases coming out at nearly the same time, Open Your Eyes and Keys To Ascension II. I looked at them both and decided to buy OYE, which was less expensive and was filled with entirely new songs.

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Anyhow, about three years later I was in Best Buy and the YES bug hit me again. After looking through what they had, I saw that the only CD they had with new material that I'd not heard was KTA II, so I bought it, not expecting much at all. Boy was I surprised.

This is a 5 star album. It's a masterpiece. This is the YES that I've been missing since Going For The One.

I'm not going to say much about the live tracks. Let's just say that they've chosen to feature some of the best songs that they've ever done on the live part and they are well done. I'm not that fond of Going For The One, but a live version of Turn Of The Century more than makes up for having to listen to it again. And it's nice to see Time And A Word dusted off.

But what makes this album are the studio tracks. Gosh they are good!!! Minid Drive may not be equal to Close To The Edge or Awaken, but it can compete with any of the other 20 mega epics YES has released. Footpriints and Bring Me To The Power are both brilliant. Children Of The Light isn't quite brilliant, but it's still way above average. Sign Language (a completely instrumental track) is a nice, just above average track.

Do you hear that? Everything on the studio side is above average for one of the strongest prog bands ever! How can this not be a masterpiece?

God, I hope they play Footprints live before they finally disband.

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