The Ladder revisited

[Scott Bails]

Well, a pre-Yes version of "Finally" was released on Conspiracy The Unknown (2003) as a bonus track as "I could." That version, not surprisingly, sounds closer to an OYE track.

Huh. I have that, but don't remember that at all.

[jrw]

Jon sings "We Have Heaven" during "Can I?".


During the instrumental break well into "New Languages", Chris plays a variant on the bass part to "Roundabout".

Steve's part to "Nine Voices" is very similar to what he played on "Your Move". On top of that, the "diddit diddit" part from the same song also appears in the background vocals.

Those are the three I can think of off the top of my head.

On "Quartet" from ABWH, Jon quotes several old Yes songs.

[the winter tree]

Bought a copy on Amazon for $1.98 and gave it a good close listen a few days ago from start to finish. To sum it up quickly I'd say it's recorded and performed very well, but"too post UNION Jon", too "Teakbois" in many parts, and just too bland overall for my taste. I'll keep it in my collection this time but probably won't dig it out too often. I much prefer "Fly From Here". Nice artwork though...

[yamishogun]

Huh. I have that, but don't remember that at all.

The version on Amazon that I got was with that as a bonus track at the end. It bugged me at first since I liked it but seemed familiar and couldn't place it. "I could" is 4:20 whereas "Finally" is just 3:25 until extended by the ethereal part.

I like the rock/urgency of "I could" better , but it is with the OYE production.

I wonder if not included since maybe sounds too similar to "Open Your Eyes". If they would have put it on, I think it would have been my second favorite song on OYE.

[yamishogun]

Here are the lyrics.

Never say didn't contribute to the archives of PE

I could (Sherwood/Squire)
---------------------------------

When I close my eyes
I start imagining
All the dreams I have
Leave me wondering

Why is it that I have the power to see
Only in my mind what I want to be

I could face my fear
I could feel no pain
I could start the fire
I could bring the rain

I could chase my dream
I could watch it fade
I could lose it all
I could have it made

When I'm alone
Thoughts go wondering
Crazy at it seems
They don't mean a thing

There's one place that
I set my spirit free
Only in my mind
Is where I want to be

(Chorus)

Why is it when I start imagining
All the dreams I had
Leave me wondering
But when I close my eyes
I can feel so free
The questions that I ask
Are no mystery

(Chorus)

[Reginod]

Compare the chord progression of "Finally/I Could" to the one from "Loveshine" . . . . . . . they toyed around with that idea quite a bit.

[yamishogun]

Compare the chord progression of "Finally/I Could" to the one from "Loveshine" . . . . . . . they toyed around with that idea quite a bit.

Interesting.Thanks for this. I really like Loveshine and care not one bit of what others think

[Frumious B]

The only Yes records I personally rate as poor to bad are Union, Open Your Eyes and Heaven & Earth. Magnification is my post 90125 fave, but I think The Ladder is damned good. I still play it. It also has the distinction of being just about the last thing I ever listened to on cassette tape. An advance copy found its way onto eBay several months before the album dropped. Some fans pooled their money, bought it and treated some of us to cassette previews. The release I need to revisit from this period is House of Yes which has live versions of a goodly chunk of The Ladder.

[ItalProgRules]

I'm pretty sure there's a cream or an ointment for Loveshine.

[trurl]

Well... it's actually mostly mildly better than I remember.

[yamishogun]

I played the Ladder a lot in 1999 but if I ever play it now, I usually play Homeworld and New Language. I don't understand why more don't like New Language. I think overall more interesting than Homeworld.