Friday 19 September 2014

Homeworld (The Ladder) (Yes, 1999)

When Yes released "The Ladder" album in 1999, just a few of their fans really believed they could come back to their prog roots and offer as good a CD as this one proved to be. In fact, the opening track "Homeworld (The Ladder)" was like tumbling back the years and Jon Anderson's pure voice sounded better than ever. This song is a flowing stream of great prog rock, including time changes, instrumental interplays, choral passages, intricate rythms and good melodies.

One of my Roger Dean's favourite paintings ever.

Chris Squire's bass guitar doesn't need any comment, but Igor Khoroshev's keyboards were a big surprise for me: full bodied and creative, they're never too intrusive and so far better than in the previous "Open Your Eyes" album, where he played as a session man on three tracks. Also Billy Sherwood does very well here, both on electric and acoustic guitars. It was going to be a short-lasting lineup, but this is an everlasting song, IMHO.

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