The Ladder

Performer: Yes
Engineer: Mike Plotnikoff
Producer: Bruce Fairbairn
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: This is an Enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Yes: Steve Howe (vocals, acoustic, electric & steel guitars, mandolin); Billy Sherwood (vocals, guitar); Igor Khoroshek (vocals, keyboards) Chris Squire (vocals, bass); Alan White (vocals, drums, percussion); Jon Anderson (vocals). Additional personnel: Randy Raine-Reusch (various instruments); Rhys Fulber (loops). The Marguerita Horns: Tom Colclough (alto saxophone); Tom Keenlyside (tenor saxophone, piccolo); Derry Burns (trumpet); Rod Murray (trombone); Neil Nicholson (tuba). Recorded at Armoury Studios, Vancouver, Canada from February-May 1999. This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Yes: Steve Howe (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, mandolin); Billy Sherwood (vocals, guitar); Igor Khoroshev (vocals, keyboards); Chris Squire (vocals, bass guitar); Alan White (vocals, drums, percussion); Jon Anderson (vocals). Additional personnel: Tom Keenlyside (piccolo, tenor saxophone); Tom Colclough (alto saxophone); Derry Burns (trumpet); Rod Murray (trombone); Neil Nicholson (tuba); Randy Raine-Reusch, Marguerita Horns. Yes return to classic form on THE LADDER, an album that features the kinds of chord changes, technical virtuosity, and vocal harmonies that brought the band to prominence. Bruce Fairbairn (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Cranberries), who passed away in May, 1999, made his last production job a memorable one. Billy Sherwood and Igor Khoroshev join the classic lineup of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White. "Homeworld (The Ladder)" is a 9-minute opus that changes from straight-ahead rock to a piano melody, and is reminiscent of the band's early-'70s progressive work. "Lightning Strikes" has a ska feel to it, while "Can I?" is a world music reworking of the band's own "We Have Heaven." "Face To Face" is a fantastic classic rock tune, and "If You Only Knew" is a wonderfully commercial ballad. Like the title track, "New Language" is another epic track featuring the keyboard talents of Mr. Khoroshev. Yes is a band that recently celebrated its 30th anniversary and has never stopped experimenting. THE LADDER is proof of this, with the group sounding as fresh as ever.

Mojo (Publisher) (10/99, p.99) - "...here again are Chris Squire's elastic bass, Steve Howe's skittering rock-jazz guitar and Jon Anderson's high-altitude vocals....generally the results sound pretty good....younger prog pretenders could still learn a lot from the old masters."

The longest-running prog-rock group in the business, Yes flew on the strength of Jon Anderson's high, angelic voice and the group's instrumental virtuosity. The band began in England, rising from the ashes of pop-psych outfits like Tomorrow, Bodast, and Mabel Greer's Toyshop. Extending the technical facility of psychedelia and downplaying the trippiness, it helped forge the template for progressive rock and reigned as its most popular practitioners in the '70s. Over the years, Yes has weathered personnel changes, lawsuits, and changing public tastes while holding on to its original vision.

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