Wiki
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Release Date
2004
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Length
11 tracks
The Ladder is the sixteenth album by progressive rock band Yes and was released in 1999. The follow-up to 1997's tepidly-received Open Your Eyes, The Ladder was seen as a conscious return to the classic Yes sound, while maintaining a contemporary edge. It is the first Yes album to feature Igor Khoroshev as an official member.
Following guitarist/keyboardist Billy Sherwood's guidance of the last project, Yes decided to bring in an outside producer, Bruce Fairbairn, in order to give the music the benefit of objective ears. By the time the band had decamped to Vancouver, Canada to record The Ladder, Igor Khoroshev had become the group's official keyboardist, with Sherwood relegated to guitar duties along with Steve Howe.
Although the sessions went off successfully - with all concerned very pleased with the end results, the project ended tragically with Fairbairn's surprising and premature death in May 1999, according to Chris Squire, just before a few final vocals and mixing on The Ladder had been completed. Yes would subsequently dedicate the album to their late producer upon its September release.
Concurrently with the release of the album, Yes licensed the use of "Homeworld (The Ladder)" with the Sierra Studios PC game "Homeworld", of which a digital preview was included with The Ladder. The re-issue included in the 2006 box set Essentially Yes also includes this preview.
Hyped as a "return to form", The Ladder generally pleased most of its listeners and longtime Yes fans, performing slightly better than Open Your Eyes by reaching #36 in the UK and #99 in the US.
Track listing
All songs by Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Billy Sherwood, Chris Squire, Alan White and Igor Khoroshev. Lyrics by Jon Anderson.
"Homeworld (The Ladder)" – 9:32
"It Will Be a Good Day (The River)" – 4:54
"Lightning Strikes" – 4:35
"Can I?" – 1:32
The song references Anderson's 1971 composition "We Have Heaven" from Fragile
"Face to Face" – 5:02
The song references "Lift Me Up" from Union
"If Only You Knew" – 5:43
"To Be Alive (Hep Yadda)" – 5:07
"Finally" – 6:02
"The Messenger" – 5:13
A tribute to Bob Marley
"New Language" – 9:19
"Nine Voices (Longwalker)" – 3:21
The Ladder (Eagle EAGCD088) reached #36 in the UK. It also reached #99 in the US during a chart stay of 2 weeks.
Personnel
Jon Anderson - lead vocals
Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals
Steve Howe - lead guitars, backing vocals
Billy Sherwood - guitars, backing vocals, keyboards
Igor Khoroshev - keyboards
Alan White - drums
with
Randy Raine-Reusch - various instruments
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