TALK

The fourteenth album by YES, with the same line up as '90125' and 'Big Generator'. Trevor Rabin again took a leading role in concept development and song writing in most of material (with close collaboration with Jon Anderson mainly). Most of the songs are nice and catchy, with a lot more accessible composition.

Trevor Rabin guitar works is really cool, both in sound exploration (he uses many sound effects) and solos. 'The Calling' has a great intro (I love the thick sound of the guitar) and riff. The end section of 'Real Love' also features great guitar solo.

'The Wall' is a nice melodic song, with a great vocal arrangement. 'Where Will You Be' has a different sound and atmosphere. This is written by Trevor Rabin as instrumental track but then include Jon Anderson voice in it. A fine track that would fit to an ABWH album.

Here are three of my favourite tracks : 'Endless Dream' - an epic 15-minute track that for me is an excellent music. This is in my opinion on how a new YES should sound; the composition has great complexity and nicely matched with the modern rock-oriented sound. There are many experimental sound in this track. The intro called 'Silent Spring' is a 2-minute short instrumental, mainly keyboard and guitar duet, with great complex rhythm. The second part 'Talk' is the main part. Started with backing vocals and Tony Kaye piano playing before the main theme and Jon Anderson lead vocal enters. There are several changes in mood and time signature that makes this track rich. The vocal harmony (or almost a choir in some phrases), as a signature element of YES, throughout this track is fascinating.

'I am Waiting' ' although has a quite simple structure, has a heart warming melody and a glorious guitar intro theme. 'State of Play' has a nice structure. From the striking guitar riff, the intro section is swiftly shifted to vocal harmony and acoustic guitar and after 2 verses, a nice chorus comes up. The guitar solo really awesome.

Among the three albums performed by the same line up, I vote for this album as their best (even it is very hard to pick between this and '90125'). This album has a strong vocal arrangement, and all songs seem to very nicely fit to Jon Anderson voice.