Keys to Ascension 2

Keys to Ascension 2
Live album (double, with studio tracks) by Yes
Released	November 3, 1997
Recorded	March - November 1996
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	101:51
Label	Essential Records
Producer	Yes and Billy Sherwood
Yes chronology
Keys to Ascension (1996) Keys to Ascension 2 (1997) Open Your Eyes (1997)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Keys to Ascension 2 is a double album by the British progressive rock group Yes and was released in 1997. It is the successor to the critically acclaimed Keys to Ascension 2-CD set from 1996. It is the band's sixteenth studio album and fifth live album.

Like the first seven tracks on the previous album, the first six tracks on Keys to Ascension 2 were recorded live in San Luis Obispo, California in March 1996. The second disc features studio recordings made in November 1996. Rick Wakeman wanted these studio tracks to be released with Jon Anderson's working title Know, with the disc of live tracks thrown in as a bonus. Wakeman's preference was not honoured and by the time Keys to Ascension 2 was released, he was no longer in the band. [1]

Keys to Ascension 2 features cover art by Roger Dean on an outer sleeve that fits around the package. On the sleeve, the image's predominant colour is magenta, but the booklet features the painting in its original blue colouration.

Note: "Mind Drive" would be Yes' eighth and last song over 18 minutes until "Fly from Here" in 2011. "Mind Drive" first appeared as an instrumental demo in 1981 for Squire's short-lived XYZ project.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "I've Seen All Good People" (Anderson, Squire) – 7:15

   a. "Your Move" (Anderson)

   b. "All Good People" (Squire)

2. "Going for the One" (Anderson) – 4:59
3. "Time and a Word" (Anderson, David Foster) – 6:23
4. "Close to the Edge" (Anderson, Howe) – 19:41

   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
6. "And You and I" (Jon Anderson; themes by Bruford, Howe, Squire) – 10:50

   i. "Cord of Life"

   ii. "Eclipse" (Anderson, Bruford, Howe)

   iii. "The Preacher the Teacher"

   iv. "Apocalypse"

Disc two

1. "Mind Drive" (Anderson, Squire, White, Howe, Wakeman) – 18:37
2. "Foot Prints" (Anderson, Squire, Howe, White) – 9:07
3. "Bring Me to the Power" (Anderson, Howe) – 7:23
4. "Children of Light" – 6:03

   a. "Children of Light" (Anderson, Vangelis, Squire)

   b. "Lifeline" (Wakeman, Howe)

5. "Sign Language" (Howe, Wakeman) – 3:28

N.B. The studio tracks from this album and Keys to Ascension are available on Keystudio.

Keys to Ascension 2 (Essential EDF CD 457) reached #62 in the UK.

Personnel

• Jon Anderson - lead vocals
• Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals
• Steve Howe - guitars, backing vocals
• Rick Wakeman - keyboards
• Alan White - drums

• Produced By Billy Sherwood & Yes
• Engineered By Tom Fletcher & Billy Sherwood
• Mixed By Billy Sherwood
• Mastered By Joe Gastwirt

Miscellanea

• "Mind Drive" was originally a concept that the band XYZ, which featured Chris Squire, Alan White and Jimmy Page, wrote and demoed in 1981.

• "Children of Light" was originally written by Jon and Vangelis in 1986 as "Distant Thunder". "Distant Thunder" was later demoed by Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe during the recording of their self-titled album. The lyrics to "Distant Thunder" ended up in Yes' Union tourbook. In 1994, Jon Anderson performed the song on the Tommy Vance show. During a Mother's Day concert in 1996, Jon Anderson performed "Children of Light" and said he hoped it would appear on a Yes album, which it did.

• "Lightning", Rick Wakeman's introduction to "Children Of Light", was mixed out before the album's release. "Lightning" was restored to the track on the 2001 compilation Keystudio. The "Distant as the distant thunder..." introduction, as heard on Keys to Ascension 2, was mixed out on the Keystudio version.

References

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