THE LADDER

This is a good album. Usually fans demand their prog heros to keep the level of their music high no matter what. Well, wake up, this album was made by prog veterans 30 years after their first album and it still has great songs! "Homeworld" is a 10 minute song with all the ingredients a prog fan loves, and IMO one of the best songs Yes gave us after GFTO. "If only you knew" is a good ballad with a gentle Steve Howe, "The messenger" has some structure changes, "New language" (the other long song in the record) starts with a good instrumental part and "Nine voices" (an acoustic ballad) is refreshing. "Finally" is a good rocker with some structure changes. The rest of the album is pop. Skip those and enjoy the other half! Two years later they were gonna give us Magnification, another good album with the same problem (some poppy songs). Yes still rules.