UNION

I've been listening to Yes since the mid 80s, and there's no question this is not an essential masterpiece of Yes-lore. Nonetheless, it is the strongest Yes collection since Fragile and other 70s prog rock classics. Every song is great and many of them are based on Steve Howe's independent work, Turbulence, which is itself a classic in progressive tunology. Unlike the Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe (ABWH) recording published a few years earlier, these songs are more coherent and consistently good/great.

To answer the many die-hard Yes fans (above) who hate this album, it must be acknowledged that Union does not sound like the old yes or the ABWH efforts. The producer has found a new and interesting sound that is bright, crisp, and beautiful. If there's anything to criticize in Union, it is the overworked synthesizers, which are clearly not always done by Rick Wakeman. However, the quality of the songs rivals anything that Yes ever published except for Fragile and 90125, which remain their two most listenable and popular works to date.

As to the criticisms of the songs not written by original Yes members I say "poppycock"! These are excellent songs clearly written by someone else but they are great songs. I'm not sure it's fair to compare a Steve Howe/Jon Anderson composition with anything else.

Many of the old Yes albums (Tales from Topographic Oceans, YesShows, etc.) are highly overrated for the simple fact that they were released in the 70s. Union is probably my third favorite recording of all time. A lot of that other stuff is just weird experimentalism that has failed to stand the test of time.