The Post Atlantic Records Years: 1989-2021

[soundchaser09]

This is a thread carried over from the original Yesfans.com. Over the last 30 ish years of the bands history we have had a wonderful list of no less than 12 studio releases by Yes, the same amount as in their Atlantic years:

ABWH
Union
Talk
Keys to Ascension 1
Keys to Ascension 2
Open Your Eyes
The Ladder
Magnification
Fly From Here
Heaven and Earth
From a Page
The Quest

This is remarkable for a band past their prime, a statement to their longevity, and whilst not every album on that list is great, I think this period of the bands history is worth appreciating more. Which are the albums, songs, line-ups, tours that stand out to you over the last 30 years of Yes history?

[profusion]

The Ladder stands out for me, both the album and tour. A couple songs could have been cut, perhaps, but there was a lot worthwhile on this album and tour--it was a new vision of Yes that could probably have endured and grown had the principals been able to keep it together.

I love Talk, as well, but that's such a different thing.

[Ash Armstrong]

The Ladder album and tour were marvelous, and Magnification and the Symphonic Tour were at least as good. The Union shows, of which I saw four, were also great fun, as was the 'Second Attention' of ABWH, a sort-of restoration of values after the ghastliness of the 1980s.
The 1998 Tour was my first after the Union shows, a long wait of seven years. That three-year period of recording and touring activity, between 1998 and 2001 probably represents their last great, collective, sustained activity, with everyone on board and still healthy.
None of which, of course, approaches the creative energy, ferocity and risk-taking of the 1970s, but no one should realistically have expected that.
To be honest, I doubt I could say what recording label this or that album was on after the 1970s anyway.
So, even though I've thoroughly enjoyed their activity above, none of the shows after the end of the 70s scared me like they could do back then, when the energy being generated crackled in the air, made your hair stand on end, and levitate off your seat...

[Gilly Goodness]

All the albums had there joyousness. Is that a long way to say joy? They kept trying to make uplifting, positive music and lyrics. My sweet spot was TL and M . First we had the excitement of HW video game generating publicity and then the band toured with great excitement. But Igor misbehaved. Wakeman didn't wanna return for M so they went with Groupe's orchestra to magical effect. Remember replying to my workmate about the new album. I said I was proud.

Since then they've kept pushing on. Juano has won me over. This band has legs. Productive people. For how long? I dunno. I'm still on the train. A little bit older. Up in the saloon having a quiet cognac.



ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING

[madbear]

The Ladder and Talk are both underrated. I like the Keys studio stuff too. Not much else on that list though.

[rabin105]

As controversial as it may sound I prefer the post Atlantic years then some of the Atlantic years... dont get me wrong I love all of Yes. I will gladly defend every second of Tales and point out Moraz was amazing on Relayer and Downes was great on Drama... But when left to y own devices I tend to listen to the yes I grew up with which is all post Atlantic... albums like Open Your Eyes The Ladder Fly From Here heck even the quest and of course Talk being the last album I listened to with my dad is my favorite yes album. Its about listening to the yes music I grew up with

I was 7 when Talk came out
9 when Keys 1 came out
10 when Keys 2 and Open your eyes came out
13 when the Ladder came out
14 when Magnification came out
17 when Ultimate disc 3 came out which
21 when Cira came out
25 when Fly From Here came out
28 when Heaven & Earth came out
32 for return trip
33 for From a page
35 when the quest came out


that is the yes of my youth of me growing up of the firsts I experienced.

[Yorkshire Square]

Highlights for me are:
Talk
The Ladder
Fly From Here
The Quest

but there's something in every album IMHO.

[soundchaser09]

As controversial as it may sound I prefer the post Atlantic years then some of the Atlantic years... dont get me wrong I love all of Yes. I will gladly defend every second of Tales and point out Moraz was amazing on Relayer and Downes was great on Drama... But when left to y own devices I tend to listen to the yes I grew up with which is all post Atlantic... albums like Open Your Eyes The Ladder Fly From Here heck even the quest and of course Talk being the last album I listened to with my dad is my favorite yes album. Its about listening to the yes music I grew up with

I was 7 when Talk came out
9 when Keys 1 came out
10 when Keys 2 and Open your eyes came out
13 when the Ladder came out
14 when Magnification came out
17 when Ultimate disc 3 came out which
21 when Cira came out
25 when Fly From Here came out
28 when Heaven & Earth came out
32 for return trip
33 for From a page
35 when the quest came out


that is the yes of my youth of me growing up of the firsts I experienced.

out of these records which stands out to you the most, I know you have a special connection with Talk, but other than that?

Personally I will always have a soft spot for Fly From Here as it was the first new yes album since I became a fan in 2009. I didn't even think Yes would make another album after Anderson left for the last time, and to have the Drama team back- well I was delighted. That being said I still think Return Trip was unnecessary, the 2011 version is definitive to me and I love Benoit's voice on it.

[Olorin]

The years from 1991 through 2004 were a Golden Age of Yes for me. At the very beginning, I was not into them, and later I was but had trouble getting to concerts as I didn't have a car yet. But finally the stars aligned and I was seeing them as often as I could. I saw them 3 times on the Union tour and 3 times on the Open Your Eyes tour, and I also saw the Ladder, Masterworks, Symphonic, 2002, and 35th Anniversary tours. My philosophy was, they're an older band and I don't know how long they're going to be around, so if they come within 150 miles of me, I'll see them. It was a marvelous time to be a Yesfan.

After Jon got sick and left the band, the wheels sort of came off the wagon. I saw the HSW of Yes tour with Benoit, before they outright started calling themselves Yes, and it was good, though they seemed to be playing slower, and I've seen them several times with Jon Davison. The highlight of this period was the Fragile/CTTE full album show in Chicago. They were playing really well that night, and the audience was acting as though the Beatles were performing. It was a special night! But they are in their twilight years now. I may still see them, after the pandemic is over, but that turn of the century period will always remain my great Yes adventure.

[rabin105]

out of these records which stands out to you the most, I know you have a special connection with Talk, but other than that?

Personally I will always have a soft spot for Fly From Here as it was the first new yes album since I became a fan in 2009. I didn't even think Yes would make another album after Anderson left for the last time, and to have the Drama team back- well I was delighted. That being said I still think Return Trip was unnecessary, the 2011 version is definitive to me and I love Benoit's voice on it.

Sure

I could say all of them for different reasons but a few standouts and a comment

I agree on Return trip kind of honestly the drama lineup getting back together to record an album would of been cool however everyone knows my issues with the album we got but in case you were under a rock I would of preferred (and honestly I think we all would of) the Drama lineup to finish the the unreleased townhouse tunes throw on Fly From here and maybe Vermillion Sands and there ya go so the trak list would of been
1. Fly from here suite
2. Telephone Secrets (instead of The man you always want me to be)
3. Satellite (instead of don't take no for an answer and with new lyrics from horn)
4. Vermillion Sands (instead of life on film set)
5. Crossfire (instead of hour of need with new lyrics from Horn)
6. Go through This (instead of into the storm and likely this played live instead of Fly from here part 1)

with Don't take no for an Answer Aliens and a random Howe solo will say Second Initial filling up From a page to full album status.


but beyond that what stands out

Keys 1 and 2 also bring back to mind when was a kid
Open Your Eyes was a song that I to this feel is underrated.
The ladder was my first tour so of course I loved it
Magnification reminds me of High school
Circa and White's album brings back to college days
Fly From here I had a serious gf when it came out and its the album that brought me and my wife together (2 different girls btw)
Heaven & Earth though not a favorite of my wife's brings me back to being engaged and all of that
The Quest obviously holds a special place in my heart as Amanda actually like the album

[Homemade Parachute]

As controversial as it may sound I prefer the post Atlantic years then some of the Atlantic years...

Shouldn't be controversial at all, we each have our own gateways in, and things we hear based, and I think this is important, on the *order* we hear them in, and the context in which we hear them. If you got into Yes through 90125/Big Generator, as I did, you might hear different things than someone coming from The Yes Album onwards (see also Marillion, King Crimson, Genesis, who have pretty distinct eras it's easy to see new audiences coming into at any time). It's great that they picked up a lot of listeners relatively late in the game.

There's so much great material post-Atlantic, although it gets de-emphasized for a number of reasons: radio airplay, changing popular music scene, lack of record label consistency and promotion, changing lineups (the OYE band doesn't go out and promote K2A, the Magnification lineup doesn't promote The Ladder), etc etc. But one thing I think I see is an overall retreat post-Big Generator, a movement away from "looking over the horizon" to "recapturing" an earlier era or feeling. Maybe because Steve Howe seems to have pretty strong ideas about what Yes music is/should be and what audiences want to hear, we see ABWH and then K2A really look at the 70s sound, OYE feels more 90125-y than anything, FFY looking very strongly at Drama, obviously. Only Talk really stands out for me as something new, and even there it's about creating a valid hybrid of 70s and 80s Yes for the 90s, with just enough forward-looking, although totally out of its time. Which is not to say I dislike any of it, just that, unsurprisingly, a 20/30/40/50 year old band isn't looking ahead as much as a 5/10/15 year old one.

[michelforest]

I'm pretty sure I wrote something on the subject on the old Forum, but anyway...

To me there are only a handful of albums that I still bother listening to: The Ladder (maybe), Magnification (ok) and Fly From Here (ok). (And even on the three albums I mentioned, there are big flaws) Union is an abomination. I know some people really like Talk, but I could never get into that one, it sounds like a Rabin solo album to me. I never bother with KTA 1 and 2 and OYE. The albums with Davison are simply unlistenable. Overall, I find that Yes as a studio band was spent after the rather disappointing Big Generator. Sure, there are some good songs here and there. But compared to the masterpieces Yes recorded between 1971 and 1980, the albums of 1989-2021 are far, far inferior. That's no big deal, in a way. Most bands have the same kind of career. There aren't many bands that can sustain a level of creativity like Yes did between The Yes Album and Drama.

[Chrisklenox]

As controversial as it may sound I prefer the post Atlantic years then some of the Atlantic years... dont get me wrong I love all of Yes. I will gladly defend every second of Tales and point out Moraz was amazing on Relayer and Downes was great on Drama... But when left to y own devices I tend to listen to the yes I grew up with which is all post Atlantic... albums like Open Your Eyes The Ladder Fly From Here heck even the quest and of course Talk being the last album I listened to with my dad is my favorite yes album. Its about listening to the yes music I grew up with

I was 7 when Talk came out
9 when Keys 1 came out
10 when Keys 2 and Open your eyes came out
13 when the Ladder came out
14 when Magnification came out
17 when Ultimate disc 3 came out which
21 when Cira came out
25 when Fly From Here came out
28 when Heaven & Earth came out
32 for return trip
33 for From a page
35 when the quest came out


that is the yes of my youth of me growing up of the firsts I experienced.

I can relate to that. Maybe it’s a generational thing. I am 36, and got into Yes around 12 or 13. The Ladder was my first new Yes album, and by the time it came out I was getting pretty familiar with the 70’s and 80’s stuff. The Ladder hooked with me instantly, and from there I caught up on the other 90’s albums.

Anyway, when I really think about it, these days I DO listen to Union through The Quest a lot more than the Atlantic years stuff. I don’t have an objective reason for it, as I enjoy all eras. Could be the growing up with it thing like you mentioned. I do also think that the band actually did take as many artistic risks in the 90’s as they did in the 70’s. Every album from 1991 through today is almost wildly different from the other albums of the same period. They are all islands stylisticly speaking, whereas the 70’s “fit” together with each other to a greater degree. Same for the 80’s albums. That’s kind of why I consider Yes to be truly progressive. They continue to make albums that expand the definition of what the band is. Even The Quest doesn’t really have a sibling album.

[rabin105]

I can relate to that. Maybe it’s a generational thing. I am 36, and got into Yes around 12 or 13. The Ladder was my first new Yes album, and by the time it came out I was getting pretty familiar with the 70’s and 80’s stuff. The Ladder hooked with me instantly, and from there I caught up on the other 90’s albums.

Anyway, when I really think about it, these days I DO listen to Union through The Quest a lot more than the Atlantic years stuff. I don’t have an objective reason for it, as I enjoy all eras. Could be the growing up with it thing like you mentioned. I do also think that the band actually did take as many artistic risks in the 90’s as they did in the 70’s. Every album from 1991 through today is almost wildly different from the other albums of the same period. They are all islands stylisticly speaking, whereas the 70’s “fit” together with each other to a greater degree. Same for the 80’s albums. That’s kind of why I consider Yes to be truly progressive. They continue to make albums that expand the definition of what the band is. Even The Quest doesn’t really have a sibling album.

THANK you I usually think I am the only one... Don't get me wrong I listen to the 70's stuff plenty but when I want to get nostalgic I listen to albums like Open Your Eyes Talk etc

[Chrisklenox]

THANK you I usually think I am the only one... Don't get me wrong I listen to the 70's stuff plenty but when I want to get nostalgic I listen to albums like Open Your Eyes Talk etc

I think some of us in this age range are in a unique position. I had a picture of Billy taped on my guitar case in Jr. High. Gave me hope that if a young guy like him could be in Yes, maybe one day I could be too… oh well… gonna go play Ocarina of Time and spin The Ladder and cry now. Haha