Band members:
Jon Anderson: vocals
Tony Kaye: Hammond organ
Trevor Rabin: guitar, keyboards, vocals
Chris Squire: bass, vocals
Alan White: drums, percussion
Produced by Trevor Rabin
Tracks:
1. The Calling [Rabin/Anderson/Squire] (6:52)
2. I am Waiting [Rabin/Anderson] (7:22)
3. Real Love [Rabin/Squire/Anderson] (8:42)
4. State of Play [Rabin/Anderson] (4:58)
5. Walls [Rabin/Hodgson/Anderson] (4:52)
6. Where Will You Be [Rabin/Anderson] (6:03)
7. Endless Dream [Rabin/Anderson] (15:41)
a. Silent Spring
b. Talk
c. Endless Dream
8. The Calling (special version) (8:02) only available on
initial Japanese CD and 2003(?) Spitfire CD re-release
Notes: The last album by what is known as the 'YesWest' line-up,
yet an album apart from 90125 and
Big Generator. Talk has
many of its own fans and a fair few detractors too. There are
similarities to previous Yes, some as you would expect, some maybe
more surprising, but Talk is its own album.
Yes's previous album had seen all eight members of YesWest and ABWH brought together, but Union had been an exercise in papering over the cracks. Although a successful eight-man tour followed, the possibility of an eight-man band recording never existed with Bill Bruford the first to leave. Howe reportedly proposed plans for how a septet could work, but his ideas went nowhere. The details of the machinations in this period are unclear, but at some point Victory stepped in with a record contract, but a record contract based on the YesWest line-up.
Howe was soon gone and Victory's promotional material spoke of having a sextet: Anderson, Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye and Wakeman. Wakeman remained in contact with the band and record label through the making of Talk, but contractual and other issues were never resolved and he had no role in the album. Instead, Talk was a return to the line-up of 90125 and Big Generator. However, that is perhaps only a superficial similarity.
While previous YesWest albums had been led by the partnership of Squire and Rabin, with Anderson somewhat marginalised from the composing process, the bulk of Talk was written by Rabin and Anderson, with White and Kaye wholly absent from the writing credits. (This despite a contemporary report in which White talked of writing for the album.) Rabin had been uncertain about doing another Yes album. If he was to do another album, it was to be on his terms. Victory acceded and Talk is Rabin's album. Unlike previous YesWest albums, Rabin produced Talk alone. Production on Talk pioneered digital recording technology with the whole album recorded to hard disk—something routine a few years later. Rabin was very much in control of the whole recording process, as well as singing, playing guitar, most of the keyboards and possibly recording some bass parts himself. Using the new technology, Rabin was able to edit tracks at a very fine level. The other band members showed little outward sign of being unhappy with this level of control, although Squire grumbled about some of his bass parts being re-recorded in one subsequent interview.
If within the band, Talk was dominated by Rabin, there
were pressures from outside the band. Phil Carson, head of
Victory, asked Rabin for an epic piece in the style of Yes of old.
Rabin appears to have been less than happy about writing an epic
to order, but he did and was very happy with the result. "Endless
Dream" is the longest YesWest piece released. Victory also
demanded the inclusion of "Walls", a song leftover from an earlier
Rabin/Hodgson collaboration that failed to yield any releases.
Rabin was uncertain about including the song and later regretted
the decision to do so.
Squire's marginalisation in the album's writing may have been a
symptom of larger issues. The band considered dropping him from
the tour. According to a later interview with Squire's manager at
the time, Billy Sherwood was hired for the tour as a back-up given
concerns over Squire's health: he had a heart attack around this
time. Other "health issues" have been intimated by others.
Sherwood has hinted at further discord within the band: in 2008,
he described how he was approached to replace Squire during tour planning (an irony
given Squire had previously sought to have Sherwood replace
Anderson). Sherwood says he counselled the band against dropping
Squire, but he accepted the job and learnt all the parts.
Relations were then mended and Squire joined rehearsals, with
Rabin suggesting Sherwood stay on as an extra pair of hands, which
he did. Live, Sherwood was on stage with the other five, playing
additional guitar, keys and bass.
It was long suspected that Squire was not only absent from the writing credits, but absent from some of the playing too. It appears Rabin heavily edited Squire and White's performances and some rumours suggest Rabin played some bass parts. A reliable source told me that Sherwood had also been brought in, in secret, and plays perhaps three quarters of the bass on the album and approaching half the drums too, thus explaining his choice for the live band.
The album sold better than any subsequent Yes studio release to
date, but as it sold less than the preceding releases, it was seen
as a commercial disappointment. Victory subsequently went
bankrupt.
On 24 May 2024, there was a 30th anniversary re-release of the
album on Spirit of Unicorn Music, in multiple formats, remastered
by Andy Pearce. There is a 1CD version (SOUMCD082) with the
original album, a limited edition 2LP white vinyl (SOUMLP082; the
original album on 3 sides + "The Calling (Special Version)" on
side D), and a 4CD deluxe edition box (SOUMBOX082) with bonus
studio material and a previously unreleased live show
(Canandaigua, NY, 19 Jun 1994). All versions come with new sleeve
notes by Jerry Ewing with new interviews (including with Jon
Anderson and Trevor Rabin). Box set tracks:
CD1 Original album
CD2 Talk versions
Tracks 5-7 must come from the Yes
Active CD-ROM. I presume tracks 4 and 8 do too, with
track 4 actually being the "State of Play" demo, and track 8
probably just being "Silent Spring" as on the main album. Track 1
is an extended version of "The Calling" previously included on
some versions of the album. Tracks 2 and 3 were single edits made
available at the time.
CD3 Live Canandaigua, NY 19 Jun 1994
CD4 Live Canandaigua, NY 19 Jun 1994
The live album appears to be a copy of the bootleg Endless
Dream that re-ordered the tracks somewhat. The show on the
night went: "Perpetual Change (excerpt)/The Calling", "I am
Waiting", "Rhythm of Love", "Hearts", "Real Love", "Changes",
"Heart of the Sunrise", "Cinema", "City of Love", "Make It Easy",
"Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Where will You be?", Rabin piano
solo/"And You and I", "I've Seen All Good People", "Walls",
"Endless Dream", "Roundabout". (HP, 3 May 04; revised 8 May 24)