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Album Details

• Artist: Yes
• Album: Union
• Label: Arista
• Year of Release: 1991
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: gwhill on 2012-11-30

To understand this album, one has to understand the history that led up to this album. Jon Anderson had left Yes a few years earlier and formed a spin off with other former Yes members using their last names (Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe) as the name of the group. The other lineup of Yes (Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Tony Kaye and Alan White) had remained together. Both groups were working on independent album when the idea was hatched to blend them both into one “super-Yes.” Union was the resulting album.

The disc is a mixed bag, really. There is some great music on the set, but it does have a bit of a “stapled together” texture as nearly complete pieces simply had things added to the mix to make them “group efforts.” Additionally, producer Jonathan Elias took a heavy hand in production, sometimes removing whole parts and adding replacements recorded by session musicians. Ultimately, Rick Wakeman was quoted as calling it “Onion” because it made him cry to hear it.

Interestingly enough, the strong and weak material is divided between the two versions of Yes. In an ironic twist Yes got their first Grammy nomination with this album, for a Steve Howe acoustic guitar solo called “Masquerade.” It’s easy to understand Wakeman’s frustration with the album. Apparently parts he recorded disappeared before the final mix. As a Yes fan, though, it was a fairly strong album. It didn’t always feel cohesive, but it felt more like “Yes” than some of their other albums. Additionally, without this album there would have been no Union tour, and that was an amazing event. The disc itself is not really essential, but it has enough highlights to make it worthwhile.

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