Progressive Rock
Yes reach vinyl at last with the studio tracks from both “Keys to Ascension” albums: Spirit of Unicorn Music and Cherry Red gather them on 29 January 2027 as a gatefold double vinyl, a limited blue double vinyl and a CD. It is the first time these recordings have appeared on vinyl. Either double sells for £31.99 and the CD for £12.99.
The set gathers the seven studio tracks from the two original “Keys to Ascension” albums, from 1996 and 1997, which mixed new studio material with a concert split across the pair: “Foot Prints”, “Be the One”, “Mind Drive”, “Bring Me to the Power”, “Sign Language”, “That, That Is” and “Children of the Light”. They were cut in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1996 and 1997, the stretch when the reunited band also played three shows there in March 1996.
The label presents it as the last time the classic line-up went into a studio together: Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White and Rick Wakeman, all five of them, for seven songs. There has been no session by the five since, and now there can’t be: Squire died in 2015, White in 2022. The edition carries new artwork by Roger Dean and Mike Inns and new liner notes, and the catalogue numbers are SOUM2LP579 for the black double and SOUM2LPK579 for the blue.
Text by Guillem Cardós