‘Lost’ YES Album, ‘Talk,’ Gets 30th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
by Best Classic Bands Staff
In 1994, progressive rock legends YES, released their 14th studio album, Talk. The title, the group’s 14th studio LP and often referred to as the great “lost” YES album, has received a Deluxe Edition to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The collection, on 4-CDs and 2-LPs, arrived on June 7, 2024, via Spirit of Unicorn Music. The expanded CD box set, featuring bonus studio material and a previously unreleased live show from New York and more, is available in the U.S. here. It was released in the U.K. on May 24 where it is available here. A 2-LP set, on limited edition white vinyl, is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
The Deluxe Edition includes a new interview with the principal players. The album cover retains Peter Max’s unique Yes logo. Watch the official trailer below.
From the March 2024 announcement: After the stellar success of their album 90125 and the slightly troubled birth of its follow-up Big Generator in 1987, which reached the top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic, YES splintered once more. There was talk of getting a new singer; Supertramp’s Roger Hodgson was one name bandied around, as were Kansas singer Steve Walsh, Billy Sherwood of World Trade and even “C’est La Vie” singer Robbie Nevil.
YES eventually “reformed” for 1991’s Union album and tour, which saw eight members reunite. From those eight, a new YES emerged: Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Alan White and Rick Wakeman. Due to managerial reasons, Wakeman could not participate, so re-enter founding YES member Tony Kaye on keyboards once more and the 90125 lineup was back together. YES also had a new label, Victory Records, headed up by the former Atlantic Records executive Phil Carson, who had personally bankrolled the Cinema/90125 sessions.
The music and lyrics for Talk were written mainly by Rabin and Anderson, and Anderson is adamant that it is his favorite album from the Rabin era of YES. “It was just a beautiful time for me and Trev,” he says. “It was a very harmonious experience for me.”
Talk was also one of the first albums to be recorded and edited entirely digitally, without using traditional audio tape. It was a groundbreaking move at the time, but the technology, as advanced as it was, was not without its problems. In January 1994, Northridge, California, in the San Fernando Valley was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale, and production had to be halted as the early Apple Mac computers they were working on were being affected by the tremors. To put the technology into context now, in its unedited form, Talk took up 34GB of memory, which today could be transferred via a flash drive in seconds.
Talk, released on March 21, 1994, was preceded by the opening track, the uplifting “The Calling,” which started to make inroads on U.S. radio and was followed by “Walls,” which was co-written by Roger Hodgson, from his time working with Rabin in 1990. However, Victory Music went bankrupt shortly after the album’s release, and Talk was left to wither and die. It peaked at just #20 in the U.K. and #33 in the U.S., the band’s worst showing since their first charting album decades earlier.
Nevertheless, YES kicked off a tour that June and played 77 shows in the U.S., Canada, South America and Japan. Sadly, the tour never got to Europe or the band’s homeland, which is a source of regret to both Rabin and Anderson. “My regret is I wish there was a live album,” says Rabin. “I wish we recorded some shows properly, it’s just a board mix….but you can feel the energy from it.”
Talk could be described as the great “lost” YES album and is probably the most cohesive of the Rabin-era YES albums in sound, and the one closest to the classic YES sound of the 70s, exemplified by the stunning fifteen-minute album closer “Endless Dream.” “When I listen to ‘Endless Dream’ it’s such a great piece of music,” says Anderson. “It’s one of the great YES pieces of music that not many people know. It’s beautiful.”
Anderson is touring in 2024. Tickets are available here and here.
The rest of YES’ extensive catalog is available here.
YES Talk 30th Anniversary 4-CD Deluxe Edition Track Listing
CD1
Original Album
The Calling
I Am Waiting
Real Love
State Of Play
Walls
Where Will You Be
Endless Dream
a) Silent Spring (Instrumental)
b) Talk
c) Endless Dream
CD2
Talk Versions
The Calling (Special Version)
The Calling (Single Edit)
The Calling (Radio Edit)
Untitled – Trevor Rabin Instrumental
Endless Dream (Demo)
Where Will You Be (Instrumental)
Walls (Instrumental)
Endless Dream (Excerpt) (Instrumental)
CD3
Live Canandaigua, New York, June 19, 1994
I Am Waiting*
The Calling*
Rhythm Of Love*
Hearts*
Real Love*
Changes*
Heart Of The Sunrise
Roundabout
CD4
Live Canandaigua, New York, June 19, 1994
Cinema*
City Of Love*
Make It Easy*
Owner Of A Lonely Heart*
Trevor Rabin Piano Solo/And You And I*
I’ve Seen All Good People*
Walls*
Endless Dream*
*Previously unreleased
Related: Anderson and Rabin briefly reunited as a touring trio with Wakeman, beginning in 2016
2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationMay need to revisit this one. My recollection of it is that “The Calling” is really great, classic sounding Yes, and the rest of it was kind of…eh, okay. But I’ll add that the only time I saw them play was when they toured for this album, and it was a great show.
a great album, sales wise it didn’t do too well, to me it’s a minor classic, just bought the special edition & some reviews were poor here is 1 “All talk and little action”. Very well produced, all in all an enjoyable record.