The Ladder would be Yes's eighteenth album, released in 1999 and for many the most solid work that the band would release in the nineties.
As a curiosity here the lineup is made up of six members instead of the usual quintet, once Billy Sherwood joins the group as second guitarist along with Steve Howe, likewise Rick Wakeman would be replaced by keyboard player Igor Khoroshev as official member (Maybe the best keyboard player Yes has had since Rick Wakeman or Patrick Moraz, effective, fast, and compliant, his style being a mix between Wakeman and Kaye).
The Ladder is a magnificent effort to recover the classic sound of the band from the 70s, and is demonstrated in songs like New Language, remembering the best Yes, a nod at first to songs like Parallels, Siberian Khatru or Tempus Fugit, brilliant Hammond de Khoroshev to introduce it, quite reminiscent of Moraz on how to digitize the keys. Howe and Squire produce a frenetic rhythm, which White follows, using more resources and speed than the rest of the disc. Everything suddenly drops, and the magnificent voice of Jon Anderson enters, reaching a brilliant "in crescendo" of the instruments, commanded by Howe, again Khoroshev performs brilliant arrangements ..., this DOES sound like Yes of the best time.
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