Yes: The Ladder

Stairway to nowhere

Prog rock thrives on the epic tradition that Yes helped create. But 8:26 into The Ladder, the epic ends.

The first eight minutes of "Homeworld" show Yes in classic form. Steve Howe's virtuoso finger-picking builds until Chris Squire's bass brings in the battle. A guitar solo, an organ romp, and then the electricity fades into an acoustic guitar. Yes is firmly in character. Then Jon Anderson—whose voice, in a cruel irony, is the strongest it has been in years—sings over a generic progression that "truth is a simple place/as I will always need you inside my heart." This overwhelming, mediocrity signals the beginning of the end.

"It Will Be a Good Day" confirms the suspicion. Solid engineering and musicianship can't redeemsappiness, primarily because there is never any surprise or catharsis.

"Lightning Strikes" opens with a distant, would-be-mystical flute jam, and Howe maintains the feel with a signature acoustic riff. But the echo applied to Anderson's voice is harsh and badly timed, and Squire and drummer Alan White push too hard, like an anxious imitation of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, destroying both the edge of the 7/8 groove and the uniqueness of the song.

The rest of the album sticks to formula. Anderson sings blandly spiritual lyrics (why are musicians so much better before they find religion?) over music deadened by Igor Khoroshev's keyboards. "It doesn't get much better than this," Anderson wails on "To Be Alive." That's a shame.

The Ladder might be a keeper (if you've already bought it)—"The Messenger" flashes black to earlier epics, and "Nine Voices (Longwalker)," references "I've Seen All Good People." Evaluated on its own then, The Ladder leads nowhere. The Yes catalog, however, tells a great story, and this album makes a comfortable epilogue. (Beyond)

—Stuart Rosenberg

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