Title - Talk (30th Anniversary Edition)
Artist - Yes
For those unaware, originally released in 1994, Talk was the 14th studio album by progressive legends Yes - and the last to feature guitarist Trevor Rabin and keyboard player Tony Kaye.
A ground-breaking project, ‘Talk’ was one of the very first albums to be recorded and edited entirely digitally, without using traditional audio tape.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Spirit of Unicorn Music re-issue this masterpiece of progressive rock with extensive sleeve notes written by Jerry Ewing, editor of PROG magazine who spoke exclusively to Trevor Rabin and Jon Anderson about their recollections of writing and recording this classic.
All format versions are fully remastered by renowned engineer Andy Pearce. Highly sought after among fans, original versions of the vinyl release exchange hands for over £100.
The album has been “out of print” for some considerable time and is much sought after by fans and collectors.
1. The Calling
2. I Am Waiting
3. Real Love
4. State Of Play
5. Walls
6. Where Will You Be
7. Endless Dream
8. Silent Spring (Instrumental)
9. Talk
10 Endless Dream
In truth, Talk is a Yes album even Yes fans are hard-pressed to defend (and Lord, did they try at the time). It was made by a line-up of the band they called YesWest, because apparently South Africa is West. This was the era that inspired the Dead Milkmen to write a song about them. That said, I actually like it!
So yes, this is still an AOR-heavy album, but it does have a few things going for it. First off, the production on here is surprisingly tight. The music feels large and everything sounds pretty decent. I would have liked to have heard the keys higher in the mix, but that could also be largely do to the fact that Tony Kaye doesn’t really get many changes to shine on here.
The other thing this album has is a number of pretty gosh-dang good songs. In particular, the three opening tracks and the 15-minute closer, Endless Dream. While things like The Calling, are more just good-quality AOR tunes, it’s the closer that might make fans of Yes perk up. While it certainly isn’t recapturing the prog magic from yesteryear, it does actually offer up some quality neo-prog in ways that are captured more strongly on The Ladder.
So, if the album Fly From Here was the last time we would get that classic Yes magic on an album, Talk is the last start-to-finish album from Yes that comes across as a strong overall experience. You get bits and pieces of brilliance on The Ladder, Magnification, etc, but nothing as good as what Talk offers.
Official Purchase Link
www.yesworld.com