Keystudio

Keystudio is a compilation album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released in May 2001 by Castle Music in the United Kingdom and by Sanctuary Records in the United States. It is formed of the studio tracks previously released on live/studio albums Keys to Ascension (1996) and Keys to Ascension 2 (1997).

Keystudio
Compilation album by
Yes
Released21 May 2001
Recorded1996–1997
StudioYesworld Studios, San Luis Obispo, California and The Office, Van Nuys, California
GenreProgressive rock
Length74:21
Label
Producer
Yes chronology
House of Yes: Live from House of Blues
(2000)		 Keystudio
(2001)		 Magnification
(2001)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Overview

After 2010, the CD Keystudio became out of print, with very limited availability. After its unavailability, a replacement release was made containing everything from Keys, titled Keys to Ascension Complete.

Background

In 1994, in one of the band's many personnel changes, two long-term members left and, in the ensuing vacuum, core members Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Alan White reunited with former members Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe. There was critical and fan interest in this particular lineup of Yes due to its reputation from the heyday of the progressive era of the 1970s. As a sign of union and forward movement, the band held a series of concerts in San Luis Obispo, CA in March 1996, and also recorded a small amount of new music. In November of that year, the double CD Keys to Ascension was released, containing half of the live San Luis Obispo show, and the first new pieces by this classic-era lineup since 1979, "Be the One" and the nineteen minute "That, That Is".

In late 1996, all five re-assembled in San Luis Obispo to finalize more new music. The second part of the live shows were as yet unreleased. For the Keys followup, there was apparently the early intention to follow the same format of packaging live and studio music together, and the project was referred to as Keys to Ascension 2 even before the release of the first Keys.[2]. There was a level of internal questioning about this approach or the wisdom of again pairing live and studio tracks. Rick Wakeman, for one, felt this batch of new material so superior that it deserved its own independent identity. [3] Wakeman had a thriving career in his own right and, in an unexpected move, exited Yes again in early 1997 for a variety of reasons.[4] The reunion of the classical era lineup ended.

The double CD Keys to Ascension 2 was released on 3 November 1997. By that time, Yes had adapted to the sudden loss of Wakeman by adding multi-talent Billy Sherwood and recording what would become their next studio album, Open Your Eyes (released three weeks after Keys 2).[5] KTA2 is made up of one CD containing a mix of the rest of the San Luis Obispo shows from 1996, and a second CD of five new songs spanning forty-plus minutes, including another long-form song, Mind Drive.

Both studio tracks from Keys to Ascension and all five studio tracks from Keys 2 were brought together to form Keystudio.

Release

Keystudio was released 21 May 2001. It achieved no chart status in any nation, and as a compilation of past material, garnered little attention in the way of reviews.

Just before it was released, reviewer Henry Potts wrote, "it would be a shame if KTA2 was but an appendix to Yes history."[6] He wrote this because of the general environment in which it was released, with Rick Wakeman gone, the classic lineup and new music therefore moot, and the group moving in a completely different direction. Right after his departure, Wakeman himself worried the studio tracks (for KTA2) would get lost among the live music if they were marketed together.[3] Commenting with hindsight in 2003, guitarist Steve Howe felt this is exactly what happened with the studio music of both KTA albums[7]

Production

Songs

Steve Howe has called the KTA2 material "quite substantial." In a 2000's interview, he commented, "The Keystudio material is challenging. It's not easy picking. These aren't tunes you just strum along to while sitting on your backside. They're very much works of craft and arrangement and were well-conceived. There's a lot of mood and dynamics in there."[7] At a different time, he looked back and admired the "industrious" nature of the songwriting and creation that happened during KTA2.

In a pre-release review of two songs from KTA2, webmaster, blogger, and long-time Yes critic Henry Potts described opening song "Footprints" as a "very novel creature" that reminded him of earlier Yes. The a cappella beginning "my eyes see the coming revolution, my eyes see the glory of the world" were reminiscent of Dixie music, according to him.[6]

According to bassist Chris Squire, "Be the One" was their first song to be recorded start to finish in one take since the group's second album, almost 30 years earlier.[2]

"Mind Drive" began life in 1980 as a riff practiced by Chris Squire and Alan White along with Jimmy Page, former guitar icon of Led Zeppelin. Yes were in one of their many transitions. Led Zeppelin recently lost their drummer, so the group was on hiatus and members of both bands were considering next moves. The three played together and demo tracks were recorded (from which bootlegs have proliferated), but nothing ultimately came of the idea. If this union of two of the biggest bands of the 1970s would have occurred, the name would have been XYZ (ex-Yes & Zeppelin).[8]

"Bring Me to the Power" is the first song credited solely to Anderson/Howe since 1977's opus "Awaken".

"That, That Is" was highly anticipated by fans due to its length and because of the lineup behind it. Wakeman side-commented in an interview that Chris Squire's bass playing was better than ever on this track.[3]

"Children of the Light" is a song whose base idea goes back to 1986. On KTA2 the title is "Children of Light". It is called "Children of the Light" on Keystudio. Other minor differences include a short keyboard introduction by Rick Wakeman that was left off the KTA2 version, and a slight difference in the verses.

Track listing
All songs written by Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, White. "Children Of The Light" additionally written with Vangelis
No.TitleLength
1."Foot Prints"9:04
2."Be the One"
  • a. "The One"
  • b. "Humankind"
  • c. "Skates"
9:49
3."Mind Drive"18:34
4."Bring Me to the Power"7:20
5."Sign Language"3:26
6."That, That Is"
  • a. "Togetherness"
  • b. "Crossfire"
  • c. "The Giving Things"
  • d. "That Is"
  • e. "All in All"
  • f. "How Did Heaven Begin"
  • g. "Agree to Agree"
19:11
7."Children of the Light"
  • a. "Lightning"
  • b. "Children of Light"
  • c. "Lifeline"
6:03
Total length:74:21

Personnel
  • Jon Anderson – vocals, synth guitar (3), harp
  • Steve Howe – 6 and 12 string electric and acoustic guitars, steel and pedal steel, 5 string bass (2), vocals
  • Chris Squire – bass guitar, vocals
  • Rick Wakeman – keyboards
  • Alan White – drums, vocals
  • Billy Sherwood - producer

References
  1. Keystudio at AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  2. Tiano, Mike (1 October 1996). "Conversation With Chris Squire". Notes From The Edge. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  3. Tiano, Mike. "Conversation With Rick Wakeman" Notes From The Edge. 1997. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. Wakeman, April 1997. RWCC newsletter archive.
  5. Welch, Chris (2003). Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84772-132-7, 978-1-84772-132-7. pp. 244–245.
  6. Potts, Henry. "Mind Drive"/"Footprints", 5 October 1997. Pre-release review originally posted to alt.music.yes and rec.music.progressive, now archived through Potts' blog-site. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  7. Prasad, Anil. "Steve Howe. Small Acts of Kindness." Music Without Borders Innerviews. 2003. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  8. Welch, Chris (2003). Close To The Edge: The Story of Yes. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84772-132-7, 978-1-84772-132-7. pp. 202–203.

Further reading
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