Talk (©1994 Victory)

1: The Calling 2: I am Waiting 3: Real Love 4: State of Play 5: Walls 6: Where Will You Be 7: Endless Dream

Say what you will about Yes and the myriad lineups and permutations of the band, for me the quintessential era was when Trevor Rabin helmed 90125, Big Generator, and Talk (Union doesn’t count).

By the time Talk came out in 1994 radio had changed, and despite being a kick ass record it stiffed. Who knows what had happened, perhaps the confusion over who and what constituted Yes had either confused or pissed off the faithful to the point where they had written off the band. Which is a true shame, and this record featured strong collaborations between Rabin and Anderson. Trevor’s pop sense and Anderson’s distinctive vocals when applied to progressive rock were often spectacular, and on Talk they nailed just about every song out of the park. Which begs the question is a band falls in the forest is anyone listening?

The kick off track “The Calling” is one of my favourite Yes tracks ever. As is the haunting melody of “I am Waiting”. The show stopper is the nearly sixteen minute opus “Endless Dream” which is a suite in three parts “A Silent Spring”, “Talk”, and “Endless Dream”. The only song that clocks in under five minutes is the Roger Hodgson co-written song “Walls” which is another great song featuring great interplay between Trevor and Jon (yeah, we’re on a first name basis, we’re that tight).

This was called Talk for a reason, and you should listen. It is an amazing album.

Reviewed November 16, 2005