The Ladder (Yes album)

This article is about the Yes album. For other uses, see Ladder (disambiguation).

Untitled

The Ladder is the sixteenth album by progressive rock band Yes and was released in 1999. The follow-up to 1997's tepidly-received Open Your Eyes, The Ladder was seen as a conscious return to the classic Yes sound, while maintaining a contemporary edge. It is the first Yes album to feature Igor Khoroshev as an official member.

Following guitarist/keyboardist Billy Sherwood's guidance of the last project, Yes decided to bring in an outside producer, Bruce Fairbairn, in order to give the music the benefit of objective ears. By the time the band had decamped to Vancouver, Canada to record The Ladder, Igor Khoroshev had become the group's official keyboardist, with Sherwood relegated to guitar duties along with Steve Howe.

Although the sessions went off successfully - with all concerned very pleased with the end results, the project ended tragically with Fairbairn's surprising and premature death in May 1999, according to Chris Squire, just before a few final vocals and mixing on The Ladder had been completed. Yes would subsequently dedicate the album to their late producer upon its September release.

Concurrently with the release of the album, Yes licensed the use of "Homeworld (The Ladder)" with the Sierra Studios PC game "Homeworld", of which a digital preview was included with The Ladder. The re-issue included in the 2006 box set Essentially Yes also includes this preview.

Hyped as a "return to form", The Ladder generally pleased most of its listeners and longtime Yes fans, performing slightly better than Open Your Eyes by reaching #36 in the UK and #99 in the US.

Track listing

All songs by Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Billy Sherwood, Chris Squire, Alan White and Igor Khoroshev. Lyrics by Jon Anderson.

1.1. Disc one.

1. "Homeworld (The Ladder)" – 9:32
2. "It Will Be a Good Day (The River)" – 4:54
3. "Lightning Strikes" – 4:35
4. "Can I?" – 1:32
   • The song references Anderson's 1971 composition "We Have Heaven" from Fragile
5. "Face to Face" – 5:02
   • The song references "Lift Me Up" from Union
6. "If Only You Knew" – 5:43
7. "To Be Alive (Hep Yadda)" – 5:07
8. "Finally" – 6:02
9. "The Messenger" – 5:13
   • A tribute to Bob Marley
10. "New Language" – 9:19
11. "Nine Voices (Longwalker)" – 3:21

1.2. Disc two.

1. "Homeworld (The Ladder)" (live) – 9:27
2. "The Messenger" (live) – 5:13
3. "All Good People" (video) – 3:34

The Ladder (Eagle EAGCD088) reached #36 in the UK. It also reached #99 in the US during a chart stay of 2 weeks.

Personnel

• Jon Anderson - lead vocals
• Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals
• Steve Howe - lead guitars, backing vocals
• Billy Sherwood - guitars, backing vocals, keyboards
• Igor Khoroshev - keyboards
• Alan White - drums

with

• Randy Raine-Reusch - various instruments[1]

Sources

• AllMusicGuide.com
• "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002