TALK

Just like most people I made myself acquainted with the mighty Yes by discovering and exploring the early albums. I started with "Fragile", moved on to "Close to the edge" and from there I devoured every album they made between 1969 and 1980. Loving them all (apart from "Tormato" which I still find a bit hard to digest), despite or because of their differences, I was hooked. I came to avoid the albums after "Drama", feeling sick when hearing the things they put out on "90125" and "Big generator". While they performed immaculate on a musical level, the material in itself seemed devoid of the spirit and heart of the Yes I loved and adored. I never ventured further than that. There was no Eldorado to be found, however much jungle I was plowing through. The treasures had already been found.

As the years progress one's taste and interest in music and bands transform and alter the (by some given point) current state of affairs. "Union" wasn't the biggest thing since powdered milk, I think most people agree with me, but then the band found something of a renewed spirit on "Talk" from 1994. I was hesitant, reluctant and doubtful whether or not they actually had been able to record anything worth listening to. The simple answer is, yes they managed.

Don't get me wrong. This is the Yes (albeit with a different lineup) that went down Poppy Road ande never seemed to look back. The album is full of pop elements but, and there is a big but, they also looked back to the glory days to the times where they created some of the most wonderfully complex progressive rock ever to reach anyones ears. Considering that "Talk" was released 25 years after their first album and that the musical landscape had changed radically, and so also their own musical outlook, this is a in parts glorious return to form. And while a lot of the material is very, very pop I find so much to cherish on this album.

The first track that really stuck with me, even after a first listen, was "Real love" which is such a great song. The wondrous story (!) about this song is that it holds a section of unexpected heaviness. I have rarely heard them play in such a heavy mode. It really blew me away. The other great track, and the best of the lot, is the three part "Endless dream". It's not another "Close to the edge" or (one of my personal favorites) "Awaken" but it's really, really good and signals something that I really do appreciate, a slight return to the epic song writing of the past. There are other tracks aswell but these are my favorites on the album.

The cover, I must add, leaves a lot to wish for. There is absolutely nothing there to cherish. I mean "Union" had at least a great cover. This is just awful. It looks like commercial for some hip 90's shoes, or something. The other thing that is sort of regrettable is that most of the song titles are, if not daft, totally lacking the fantastic, mindboggling titles of the past. I mean, judging only by the title, I would rather listen to "The revealing science of God" than "I am waiting" or "Real love". But then again, this is the mid 90's. Only "Endless dream" gives me the urge to explore. All songs do however have a real quality to them, poppy-fied or not, and offers the listener a slice of really good (not extremely complex though) progressive rock the way it sounded back in the decade prior to the new millenium. Genesis went down the same path.

My advise to anyone reading this is that try this one out for size. It might just change the way you feel about Yes post-1980. It's bloody darn good for an album made long after the initial heyday of prog.