This Day in Music History:Yes/Union (04/30)

Union is the thirteenth studio album by British progressive rock band Yes, released on this date in 1991. It was so called because it brought together the previous Yes album's lineup (Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Trevor Rabin, Alan White, Tony Kaye) and the then ex-Yes members group ABWH.

Front Cover by Roger Dean

After Big Generator in 1987, Jon Anderson teamed up with ex-Yes men Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford. The result was Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, released in 1989 and supported by a successful tour. Because of the separate existence of Yes (part of the band's name still being owned by Chris Squire), this alternate incarnation were forced to use their surnames as the band's name after Squire threatened legal action. Meanwhile, Yes began composing and recording material for their follow-up, while ABWH did the same in April 1990.

Bowing to record company pressure to resurrect the Yes banner, Squire and Anderson came up with the idea of merging both projects, which resulted in the 1991 album Union. The result was a mix match of songs from all over the place.

• "Masquerade" was a solo piece Howe had recorded some time before, included at the last minute when the record company requested a solo guitar piece from him. It earned the album a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. 
• "The More We Live" was the product of a new writing partnership between Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood, who had briefly been considered as replacement for Jon Anderson in the Rabin-led version of Yes. 
• "Lift Me Up", "Saving My Heart" and "Miracle of Life" were largely demos. Rabin had been planning to record them properly and was taken by surprise that they were used as they were, with vocals from Anderson added. 
• "Evensong" was a version of Bruford and session bassist Tony Levin's duet from the ABWH tour. 
• The ABWH project attempted a second, follow-up album that never materialized, and, from the long set of demos called Dialogue, the only surviving piece to make it onto Union was "Take the Water to the Mountain". 
• Both the main riff of "I Would Have Waited Forever" and the 9/4 riff in "Silent Talking" can be heard on Steve Howe's solo album Turbulence, released about the same time.
• "Lift Me Up", became Yes' biggest hit on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart, reaching the top spot and remaining there for six weeks in early 1991.

Although the supporting world tour was a commercial and critical success, praised by fans and band as one of Yes' best, the album was not as well-received, resulting in sales figures equivalent to those of the ABWH album (half a million copies worldwide). Union would turn out to be Yes' last studio album to have significant sales, though it did not match the popularity of 1987's Big Generator.

Wakeman, Bruford and Howe would depart the sprawling line-up in 1992, returning Yes to its 1983-1988 line-up. Union would be the final Yes album with Bill Bruford, and would be the last album with Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman until their return in 1996.

Rick Wakeman (good ole RW!) calls this album "onion", because he says he wants to cry every time he listens to it.

Roger Dean painting "Tsunami" used on the back cover

I have covered this album in more in depth posts here (Side One) and here (Side Two)

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