Talk in Bloomington, MN

After
Yes
returned to the
90125
lineup of
Jon Anderson
,
Trevor Rabin
Chris Squire
Tony Kaye
, and
Alan White
, they recorded
Talk
, the first new
album since the debacle of
Union
. There's a new label (yet again) and a new logo (a colorfully blobby thing by
Peter Max
). The nice thing is that there's a new attitude powering the band, and a few surprises hidden away in the songs. This is definitely
, and a
with a history, but there's no sense of either trying to overcome the past or re-create it. Everything's nicely blended in, in fact, giving the album a great deal of muscle. There are moments on this album strongly reminiscent of
music all the way back to the first album -- particularly "I Am Waiting." That
sticks entirely to Hammond organ helps immensely with that impression, and that
is singing better than he had in years also fits into that.
This album is fun and extremely well done, it does a good job of balancing the urge for a bit of bum-shaking with instrumental pyrotechnics, and it sounds as though everyone had a good time making it. It also has some really nifty songs that stick in the mind, from the opening "The Calling" to the closing 16-minute "Endless Dream." ~ Steven McDonald