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Album Details

• Artist: Yes
• Album: Keys To Ascension 2
• Label: Cleopatra
• Year of Release: 1997
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: gwhill on 2013-02-18

Keys to Ascension 2 contains live tracks from the San Luis Obispo concerts, recorded March of 1996 (disc one), and five new studio songs (disc two). The lineup for the album is Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. The live tracks are well recorded, and generally good renditions, but with the exception of “Turn of the Century” they are rather redundant, as anyone who has the remainder of the official Yes catalog already has live versions of these songs. The studio tracks ,are quite good, although I do not share the enthusiasm that I have heard from many people about them. They seem to have elements of older, classic Yes, and Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe, with some other influences present to a lesser degree.

Of the live tracks, the two that stand out are the aforementioned “Turn of the Century” and “Close to the Edge.” When it comes to “Turn of the Century,” having a live version of the song, is nearly worth the price of admission for this album by itself. The guitar work really shines on this one, as does the drumming (especially towards the end). Looking at “Close to the Edge,”the intro on this performance seems a bit looser and more sonically open than the Yessongs recording. This makes the song seem somewhat fresh to me. All in all, it is one of the better portions of the live disc.

Turning attention to the studio songs, the results are somewhat mixed. The intro to “Mind Drive” is rather reminiscent of Tales From Topographic Oceans, but as it builds it breaks into new musical ground, while still maintaining a definite classic Yes feel. I really felt at first that the chorus section really didn’t fit this song, but now I have grown to see that it does. However, it still seems to mar the continuity a bit by repeatedly bringing a song that seems to be building well back down. It just seems kind of unsatisfactory from a dramatic point of view to me. There is an acoustic break which reminds me a lot of Peter Banks` style of playing, and then it breaks into a nice instrumental section, much in the vein of “Close to the Edge,” although, perhaps a bit jazzier at times. The mood of the end of the song is quite nice. I really don’t like the gospel sort of feel to the intro of “Foot Prints,” but in general, this piece has a nice groove to it. At times it seems a bit reminiscent of The Yes Album while still maintaining a fresh new sound. This contains a very nice keyboard break, followed by an interesting instrumental section, but does get a bit repetitive at times.

“Bring Me to the Power,” which in many ways has an Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe sort of feel to it, in general contains some very nice guitar work, most notably in the intro section. “Children of Light” was not very impressive when performed live, but this version is far better. It starts with a nice a cappella intro, then the instruments come in and the whole piece gradually builds, a Yes technique that I have always really liked. There is some very nice piano work in this song, and the ending segment is a very dramatic break which reminds me a bit of one of the more sedate instrumental sections of “Awaken.” “Sign Language” is a nice instrumental, again, rather in the vein of Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe, and contains some very tasteful guitar work.

Overall, this is a set worth having, if for no other reason than the studio tunes. Comparing it to the first Keys to Ascension album, though, this pales. The live material isn’t as essential and the studio songs, while there are more of them, don’t rise to the same level.

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