Keys to Ascension 2

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Keys to Ascension 2
Studio album by Yes

Publication
(s)

November 3, 1997

Label (s) CMC / Essential Records

Format (s)

2 CD

Genre (s)

Progressive rock

Title (number)

11

running time

1:41:51

occupation

production

Yes and Billy Sherwood

chronology
Keys to Ascension
(1996) 		Keys to Ascension 2 Open Your Eyes
(1997)

Keys to Ascension 2 is a live / studio album released in 1997 by the progressive rock band Yes . It is the successor to the album Keys to Ascension , which was released in a similar formatand, like this one, contains live recordings of concerts in March 1996 and new studio recordings.

Emergence

The concerts in San Luis Obispo

On March 4th, 5th and 6th, 1996, the "classical" Yes cast (Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, White), reformed for the first time since 1979, played in the small Freemont Theater, an Art Deco cinema in San Luis Obispo , played three reunion concerts. Many songs were performed that had not been presented live for years. The live tracks on CD 1 are from these concerts.

Since only three concerts were played, from which one could put together recordings for a live album, it was considered necessary to correct errors afterwards in the studio. That happened in the course of 1996 and 1997. After guitarist Steve Howe had to be responsible for the mixing of the predecessor Keys to Ascension alone, Billy Sherwood , a musician who has been working in the band since around 1990 , was asked to do this on the follow-up album to take over.

Studio tracks

Some ideas for the new studio tracks go back to autumn / winter 1995 when some Yes musicians met in different constellations in California to write new music for the first Keys to Ascension project. Other song ideas are even older: Mind Drive , the piece that dominates as Longtrack Keys to Ascension 2 , goes back to a rhythmic idea of ​​drummer Alan White from the 1980s, when he and Squire briefly with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page rehearsed together under the name XYZ (for e X - Y es - & - Z eppelin). The driving 14/8 rhythm at the beginning of the main part comes from White. Squire contributed more music. A song by Jon Anderson then became part of Mind Drive during the sessions in California . Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman, who were not involved in the songwriting to any great extent, later recorded their contributions in the studio.

Children of Light goes back to an idea by Jon Anderson in the 1970s. He and keyboardist Vangelis had already planned it several times for Jon & Vangelis albums, and the piece should also appear on Yes and ABWH albums. Steve Howe contributed two more pieces, on which White and Squire then collaborated. Wakeman gave an introduction to Children of Light called Lightning , but it was deleted. It was only heard when the Keys material was re-released under the name Keysstudio (2001).

The recordings for Keys to Ascension 2 began shortly after the completion of the promotion for Keys to Ascension in November 1996. In only about five weeks the 45 minutes of music were created, which were later published on the second CD of the album. The new tracks were mixed as well as the live material by Billy Sherwood.

Initially it was planned to release the new studio material as a separate album under the title Know . Since a purely studio album, given the disappointing sales of the previous studio album Talk, seemed too risky for the small record company CMC due to the necessary advertising expenditure, it was decided to publish the rest of the songs recorded in San Luis Obispo together with the new material. This resulted in the name Keys to Ascension 2 due to the identical concept .

Difficulties with management and record company

For the summer of 1997 a tour with the Keys-to-Ascension material under the name Know had been planned. However, due to poor pre-sales (since CMC had barely advertised the Keys albums, few fans knew that Yes were active again) and because the tour dates had not been discussed with Rick Wakeman, who was planning a solo tour at the time the tour canceled completely. Because of this chaotic management (Wakeman had wisely not signed the contract with Left Bank Management), but also because some of his musical contributions had been deleted afterwards, Rick Wakeman left the band. He also had other ideas about a tour: while he was envisioning a tour through large halls, the other musicians wanted to play concerts in smaller clubs, as a tour through large halls represented too great a financial risk in view of the poor sales of the last Yes albums would have. The option of touring together with Emerson, Lake and Palmer was rejected by all involved.

Due to the poor sales of Keys to Ascension , which CMC had attributed to the fact that Yes had not gone on tour to promote the album, the record company stopped the release of Keys to Ascension 2 , which was planned for March 3, 1997 . Then the band changed the record company again. Her new company, Eagle / Beyond, did not want Yes to tour without a new album because she feared half empty halls. She therefore urged the band to release a new studio album as soon as possible. Since Yes had no new material, an album in the making of the Squire / Sherwood project Conspiracy was quickly converted into a Yes album. When Eagle / Beyond announced the release of this album under the name Open Your Eyes for spring 1998 and an accompanying tour for October, CMC decided to release Keys to Ascension 2 after all in order to benefit from the competitor's marketing. Although Eagle / Beyond brought the release of Open Your Eyes forward to November 24, 1997, putting the band under enormous pressure of time, Keys to Ascension 2 was released three weeks before the competing product, on November 3, 1997.

Track list

CD 1 (live)

  1. I've Seen All Good People - 7:15 am (recorded March 6, 1996)
    • I. Your Move (Anderson)
    • II. All Good People (Squire)
  2. Going for the One (Anderson) - 4:59 (recorded on March 5, 1996)
  3. Time and a Word (Anderson / Foster) - 6:23 (recorded on March 5, 1996)
  4. Close to the Edge (Anderson / Howe) - 19:41 (recorded March 6, 1996)
    • I. The Solid Time of Change
    • II. Total Mass Retain
    • III. I get up, I get down
    • IV. Seasons of Man
  5. Turn of the Century (Anderson / Howe / White) - 7:55 (recorded on March 5, 1996)
  6. And You And I (Anderson; Themes by Bruford / Howe / Squire) - 10:50 (recorded March 5, 1996)
    • I. Cord of Life
    • II. Eclipse (Anderson / Bruford / Howe)
    • III. The preacher the teacher
    • IV. Apocalypse

CD 2 (studio)

  1. Mind Drive (Anderson / Squire / White / Howe / Wakeman) - 18:37
  2. Foot Prints (Anderson / Squire / White / Howe) - 9:07
  3. Bring Me to the Power (Anderson / Howe) - 7:23
  4. Children of Light - 6:03
    • I. Children of Light (Anderson / Vangelis / Squire)
    • II. Lifeline (Wakeman / Howe)
  5. Sign Language (Howe / Wakeman) - 3:28

Remarks:

  • The song order of the live material does not match that of the song order actually played.
  • Mind Drive goes back to a song idea that was played in 1981 by the band XYZ , (Chris Squire, Alan White and Jimmy Page) and became known as instrumental # 1 . A similar rhythm pattern was heard in the drum duet played by Bill Bruford and Alan White on the 'Union' tour (1991-1992).
  • Children of Light was already recorded for the album Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe , but was not released at the time. Anderson had already written it in the late 1970s. In the 1980s it had been planned for a Jon & Vangelis album, but it hadn't materialized. The song only appeared on Keys to Ascension 2 . Rick Wakeman's intro Lightning was deleted shortly before release and only restored when the song was re-released on Keysstudio (2001). Instead, the introduction that the song has here is missing.

Cover

The cover for Keys to Ascension 2 was designed by fantasy artist Roger Dean , who was responsible for many of the classic Yes album covers back in the 1970s. The double album is in a magenta slipcase; the actual album cover is dominated by the color blue.

The two covers show a landscape similar to that of the Keys to Ascension album, islands connected by natural bridges.

Chart placements

Keys to Ascension 2 (Essential EDF CD 457) reached number 62 in the English charts.

occupation

live

The live tracks (all songs on CD 1 and songs 1 and 2 on CD2) were recorded during three concerts in San Luis Obispo (March 4th, 5th and 6th, 1996).

On the Open Your Eyes tour, which started on October 17, 1997, two weeks before the release of Keys to Ascension 2 and comprised 147 concerts up to October 14, 1998, only Children Of Light were played from the Keys to Ascension albums . Yes mainly focused on the promotion of their new album Open Your Eyes .

  • Mind Drive was played as part of a medley on the 35th Anniversary Tour 2004 and can be heard on Songs From Tsongas
  • Foot Prints was also played on the 2004 35th Anniversary Tour as part of the same medley and can be heard on Songs From Tsongas
  • Children Of Light was played on the 1997/98 Open Your Eyes tour; a live version can only be heard on The Mother's Day Concert , a live album by Jon Anderson

Keys to Ascension 1 and 2

On March 9, 1998, CMC subsequently released Keys to Ascension 1 and 2 as a 4-CD box. However, only the 4 CDs already published were put together in a package. The original order of the concert setlist was not restored.

Sources and web links