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grantman View Drop Down
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    Posted: May 04 2019 at 13:54
This not a review,but an opinion of a truly devoted yes fan from 1977 onward i listened to every yes album included big generator but ,i am really perplexed ,when comes to this album seems like a yes record but some ways not.There are the traditional hooks ,and obscure lyrics by jon he seems to use the words like SILENT ,LIGHT and QUESTION many times ,not that i mind but on this record it,s almost like over 40 musicians played on this record ,i guess that,s why it,s called union . Now what i felt were the best songs were the opening track I would have waited forever ,dangerous,give and take lift me up,the more we live-let go a charming song.The other songs i can take or leave them . This was the first yes album ,i found unbearably long especially considering most albums by yes are usually under 50 mins, any other opinions ,i look forward to reading them,once again thank you for taking time to read. grant

Edited by grantman - May 04 2019 at 15:41
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AFlowerKingCrimson View Drop Down
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I think a lot of long time fans gave up on them after this album and never returned. The reason I say that is because this was their last album to go gold in the US(500,000 copies). No Yes album after that sold more than about 100,000 copies(in the US). That all aside I actually like it for what it is. Yes, it's a bit of a hodge podge but I think there is some good material on it despite the criticism it gets. I would take this over open your eyes any day. "I would have waited forever" is one of my favorites from it also.

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - May 06 2019 at 17:49
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I do like it. I mean, at least as much as any album after Going for the One. It's got some wonderful songs, and many other that just don't do much for me. I particularly love Shock to the System and The More we Live. I would have waited forever is great too. And perhaps it feels like there were over 40 musicians because actually they (or the record company) were supposed to have used many session musicians to complete the songs... why I just don't understand, there must have been some frictions within the members, som lack of interest, or whatever. As far as I understand, particularly with the ABWH songs. The album from the Union tour is also a very good option to get and listen to, though it has just about nothing from this studio album, it does feature the members of both line-ups together.
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Points: 30252 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2019 at 16:09
I remember playing it a lot and then just shelving it. It's actually okay but is just not essential and hardly something you are going to reach for when you own 1000+ albums. ELP's Black Moon occupies a very similar sort of place in my mind. Neither are particularly inspired but they are 'serviceable' at least. 
After Drama (which is one my favourite Yes albums) I would place it above most things they did accept Keystudio , Magnification and Talk. Yes were pretty solid with their output right up to Heaven and Earth which I don't mind at all but I'm aware was not popular at all!
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grantman View Drop Down
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Points: 732 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote grantman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2019 at 17:11
thanks richard one of the few like myself, that enjoys heaven and earth, not a bad album, not as great as drama but good.

Edited by grantman - May 06 2019 at 17:12
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Tom Ozric View Drop Down
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A decent enough album, though it’s a shame it took 117 folks to create the final product - something the core Yes members could’ve done with their hands tied behind their backs.
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I got rid of it, of course.
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A few reasonable songs, but overall a forgettable effort IMO. The live performances on the supporting tour were apparently excellent though.
Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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Tom Ozric View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

A few reasonable songs, but overall a forgettable effort IMO. The live performances on the supporting tour were apparently excellent though.
Why of course, you can’t fit dozens of musos on the stage to pull it off convincingly.
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chopper View Drop Down
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Points: 20056 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote chopper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2019 at 06:11
It's a decent album but the circumstances around its recording were not good as the producer Jonathan Elias brought in some of his mates to rerecord a lot of the guitar and keyboard parts (hence Rick Wakeman refers to the album as "Onion" because it makes him cry). There's more detail about it in last month's Prog magazine, apparently Elias blames Wakeman and Howe (the latter for being too stoned).

Edited by chopper - May 07 2019 at 06:13
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I like some of the songs on Union, I thought it had some good moments but it suffered from being the product of a fragmented band & being butchered in production. 
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grantman View Drop Down
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Being a guitar player ,i enjoyed masquerade.
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Points: 1202 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Chaser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2019 at 10:52
I always view Union as a collection of songs rather than as an album.

There are some good songs, but the album is far too long and, for an album called "union", it lacks cohesion between the different tracks.

The album title almost seems ironic.
Songs cast a light on you
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lazland View Drop Down
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It was simply a mishmash of an album, designed to bring together an Anderson dream of a unified Yes. Some of it is very good, and, ironically, I think the Yes West Rabin stuff stands out a wee bit better in the course of time.

Elias does not come out of it too well, and I have seen the interview. No matter the truth about the problems, and Howe, especially, being so stoned as to be out of it, the production is, in the main, shocking.

I still, though, love the opening track and Silent Talking is superb, although would be even better with a bit of reworking on the production front. Of the Rabin tracks, Miracle of Life is still a great listen.

This could have been an awesome album. All in all, it was and remains a disappointment.
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miamiscot View Drop Down
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Miracle Of Life is great. Man, the rest of Union sucks!!!
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Jaketejas View Drop Down
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Points: 2257 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Jaketejas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 25 2019 at 08:38
What is extremely sad is that there was the opportunity for 2 incredibly talented guitarists with different styles to work together and make something truly memorable and they didn't. It is out of the fire of conflict that truly great music is often forged. We always refer to this album as "Onion".
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Points: 624 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ProfPanglos Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 01 2019 at 12:46
Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

A few reasonable songs, but overall a forgettable effort IMO. The live performances on the supporting tour were apparently excellent though.

Yeah, I saw the Union show in Seattle, it was very very good.  It was also extremely LOUD, one of the loudest rock concerts I've ever seen.  But despite the decibel level, the sound was clear, and the performance was tight.

I haven't listened to Union for years, I should dust that one off and see how it sounds to me now.  I always sort of placed Union, Turbulence, and the ABWH album in the same basket, they all sort of reminded me of each other.
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patrickq View Drop Down
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Points: 508 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote patrickq Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 06 2019 at 04:02
Originally posted by Argo2112 Argo2112 wrote:

I like some of the songs on Union, I thought it had some good moments but it suffered from being the product of a fragmented band & being butchered in production. 


Well put.

The concert tour was pretty awesome, btw.
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Argo2112 View Drop Down
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Points: 4462 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Argo2112 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 06 2019 at 10:56
^ Yes, The tour was cool. It was nice to see all of them on stage together. 
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Originally posted by Tom Ozric Tom Ozric wrote:

Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

A few reasonable songs, but overall a forgettable effort IMO. The live performances on the supporting tour were apparently excellent though.
Why of course, you can’t fit dozens of musos on the stage to pull it off convincingly.
An odd observation after Blacksword's "apparently" comment. Anyway, all in all Union was a wash despite a few winning songs. At the time, Wakeman said he couldn't believe the quality of the additional keyboards sprinkled throughout. The supporting show I saw at The Forum in L.A. was nothing short of excellent and one of the few times I saw Bruford live.
"It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno
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