Keys to Ascension

Keys to Ascension
Live album (double, with studio tracks) by Yes
Released	28 October 1996
Recorded	Autumn 1995 - Spring 1996
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	116:12
Label	Essential Records
Producer	Yes, Tom Fletcher
Yes chronology
Talk (1994) Keys to Ascension (1996) Keys to Ascension 2 (1997)

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Allmusic

The painting "Arches Mist", as featured in the liner notes

Keys to Ascension is a double album by the British progressive rock group Yes and was released in 1996. The last time Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Alan White had worked together on officially released studio recordings was 1978's Tormato. It is the band's fourth live album.

The first seven of the album’s nine tracks were recorded live in San Luis Obispo, California’s Fremont Theater during three nights in March 1996. The purpose of these concerts was to capture the spontaneity of a live performance under controlled conditions, similar to that of a studio. These performances were also filmed and released as a live video under the same title.

The last two tracks are studio recordings of new compositions recorded in November 1995 (with subsequent overdubs and post-production lasting into 1996). Other live recordings not released on this album were held over for release in 1997 on Keys to Ascension 2.

Note: "That, That Is" is Yes' seventh song over 18 minutes.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Siberian Khatru" (Anderson, Howe, Wakeman) – 10:16
2. "The Revealing Science of God" (Jon Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman, White) – 20:31
3. "America" (Paul Simon) – 10:28
4. "Onward" (Squire) – 5:40
   • Features a new intro "Unity" (Howe)
5. "Awaken" (Anderson, Howe) – 18:29

Disc two

1. "Roundabout" (Anderson, Howe) – 8:30
2. "Starship Trooper" (Anderson, Squire, Howe) – 13:06

   a. "Life Seeker" (Anderson)

   b. "Disillusion" (Squire)

   c. "Würm" (Howe)

3. "Be the One" (Anderson, Squire, Howe) – 9:50

   a. "The One" (Anderson, Squire)

   b. "Humankind" (Anderson, Squire)

   c. "Skates" (Howe)

4. "That, That Is" (Anderson, Howe, Squire, White) – 19:15

   a. "Togetherness" (Howe)

   b. "Crossfire" (Anderson, Squire)

   c. "The Giving Things" (Anderson, Howe)

   d. "That Is" (Anderson, Squire)

   e. "All in All" (Anderson, White)

   f. "How Did Heaven Begin?" (Anderson, Howe, White)

   g. "Agree to Agree" (Anderson, Squire)

N.B. Disc 2, tracks 3-4 are studio recordings from 1995-96.

Production

• Produced By Yes & Tom Fletcher
• Mixed By Kevin Dickey, Billy Sherwood, Tom Fletcher & Bill Smith
• Engineered By Zang Anglefire & Tom Fletcher

Chart Success

Keys to Ascension (Essential EDF CD 417) reached #48 in the UK. It also reached #99 in the US during a chart stay of 2 weeks.

Personnel

• Jon Anderson - vocals, harp, guitars
• Chris Squire - bass (piccolo bass on "Be the One"), backing vocals
• Steve Howe - guitar, backing vocals (6 string bass on "Be The One")
• Rick Wakeman - keyboards
• Alan White - drums

References

• "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002