After Yes completed their all-hands-on-deck Union tour in 1992, record label mogul Phil Carson approached guitarist Trevor Rabin about recording a new Yes album for his Victory label. Carson wanted to capture what was considered the band’s most commercially successful lineup — keyboardist Tony Kaye, singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White, and Rabin. But for what would be the band’s 14th studio album (and the last to feature either Kaye or Rabin), the guitarist wanted writing songs with Jon Anderson, who hadn’t participated in recent songwriting sessions with the band. Talk, the album that came from the collaboration, has now been expanded to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
What we have in this set are four CDs and a white-colored vinyl LP (depending on the version you opt for). One CD features the original album and a second CD is filled with four versions of “The Calling” (which yielded some airplay on US radio), plus additional demos and instrumentals. The last two CDs comprise a live show recorded on June 19, 1994, in Canandaigua, New York. The 17 songs include several from Talk alongside chestnuts like “Heart Of The Sunrise,” I’ve Seen All Good People,” and “Owner Of A Lonely Heart.” This collection represents a great time capsule of what Yes was all about in the early 90s.
For me, it’s the live material that makes this set. I was and am still not so taken with Talk. The songs stretch on far too long, and tunes like “I Am Waiting” sound more like a Rabin solo track with Anderson singing on top it. The three-suite, 15-minute “Endless Dream” is really where we get any real feel of a Yes track at all. It should be noted, however, that drummer Alan White is brilliant throughout this record. Snapping into quick switching time signatures and playing as hard as I have ever heard him, White is a force of nature on Talk.
Though it may not rank as the strongest Yes album to be celebrating, this 30th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set Edition of Talk is an essential must-have for Yes completists and diehards. It most definitely speaks to Trevor Rabin’s massive contributions to a band swimming against the prog rock tide in the latter part of the 20th century. That may explain why Yes, in its various forms, is still an ongoing institution.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
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