TALK

Having been a Yes fan for quite some time now, and having exhausted much of their classic discography, I was due for a major disappointment from them. The only era I had not yet sought out was the Trevor Rabin era. However, I've had slight familiarity with scattered songs from 90125, BIG GENERATOR, and UNION, all of them being shallow or annoying. I had not heard anything from TALK before buying, and I have been told that TALK is the best Rabin-era Yes album. I took a chance.

To say I felt duped would be too insulting, so let me say that TALK is one of the most deceiving albums I have purchased. We're not in prog territory here; we're in the lame 90's pop arena. Even if I've heard later Yes albums chronologically, this batch of tunes contains the worst Jon Anderson vocals I've ever heard. The backing vocals aren't cringeworthy, but follow the corniest patterns. Being more of a pop record, the instruments are all subdued save for ''Silent Spring'' and a couple of solos in ''The Calling''; I sometimes wonder if Tony Kaye acutally played on the album because he's only credited with playing the Hammond organ, and that instrument only shows up in patches.

The most insulting thing about TALK is that most songs are hideously longer than they need to be. I will always be waiting for ''I Am Waiting'' and ''Real Love'' to go somewhere, but neither do; just two sterile pop songs with prog lengths. Most of the rest, save the epic, fall into banal, forgettable pop. ''Endless Dream'' had a chance to save the album from doom; it's length alone made you think of the Yes of old, and on ''Silent Spring'', the band is finally able to cut loose and lay out a full frontal assault on your ears. Even the main ''Endless Dream'' starts off nicely with a quiet piano section. However, by minute two, we're in overly dressed AOR territory with the most sterile sound Yes has ever embraced. ''Endless Dream'' slowly de-generates itself over the elongated fifteen minutes it's given.

Yes let me down here. It sounds as if they're trying to look hip and cool to the 90's youngsters by catering to their musical style. Unfortunately, it sounds so awkward coming from a band that gave us tracks like ''Perpetual Change''. It's like if your grandmother started speaking in texting lingo to impress you. It just doesn't work. Unless AOR is your thing, stay away.

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