Music is such a personal thing to many of us, and we can be very critical of our favorite groups. In this case the CD cover states that the CD "features" the talents of eight members of yes. The reality is that not all eight members are very prominent and they do not all appear simultaneously. So the statement that the album "features" the talents of Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Tony Kay, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White is misleading because some of these artists make what I would consider guest appearances on this CD rather than being "featured." Okay, now that I have established the reason for all the criticism and have talked about it, let's talk about the music.

This music is the kind of complex, interesting music that Yes has been known for making. While I have a lot of Yes's music from many different eras, the consistency is bumpy and the amount of creativity varies substantially. However, when it all comes together the results are excellent.

This CD opens with two rockers, "I Would Have Waited Forever" and "Shock to the System," that have a flavor of the over-the-top music of "90125." The music is enthusiastic and up-beat and well harmonized. There may be a touch of bombast in these two songs, but these two songs are exceeded in the bombast department by the fourth track, "Lift Me Up," and the seventh track, "Miracle of Life." I enjoy all four of these songs with my favorite being "Lift Me Up," which is the most bombastic song on this CD.

"Masquerade," the third track, is a Steve Howe acoustic guitar solo that is beautiful, and it is too short. You may make an argument that Steve Howe could have developed the piece further, but at what point has a theme been exploited without being overlong? I suspect that given that the original CD was only 65 minutes long that had Steve wanted or needed more time he would have been given more time.

"Without Hope You Can Start the Day" also has some more wonderfully bombastic moments and is very enthusiastic and again reminds me of "90125." "Saving My Heart" is a bit more pop-flavored and is also a good song. The harmony is sumptuous and enthusiastic.

I enjoy the introduction to "Silent Talking." The keyboards provide a wonderful flavor that I wish had been explored in more depth. I think this is one of the tracks where Rick Wakeman shines, though I wish he would have been allowed to cut lose with the keyboards. Lyrically the song is not strong, but the words and their sounds were chosen to match the music.

The next two songs actually match each other in sequence well. "The More We Live - Let Go" and "Angkor Wat" have a similar flavor musically. Both songs are beautiful, the kind of music that Yes can make when they are being creative. While the former song does end prior to the start of the following song, the tempos and styles are so related that it sounds as though there was a natural transition from one to the next. A unique feature of "Angkor Wat" is the Cambodian poetry spoken by Pauline Cheng. This song is also heavily reminiscent of some of the more experimental music made in the very early days of Yes; a treasure.

"Dangerous" is an acceptable song. It is one of the most pure rockers on the album versus being full of bombast. However, while it is a good listen, for Yes the song is a bit of a throw-away. While there are some musically interesting elements, this song is not one of my favorites on this album. "Holding On" is another fast-paced song, and I like it, but it just seems to me to be less than inspired than many other songs on this CD.

"Evensong" feels as though it would have belonged better in company with "The More We Live" and "Angkor Wat," along with "Take the Water to the Mountain." These four songs could have formed the core of a separate Yes album altogether, one which would have been unique and had a theme all its own. What could have been, and what will never be. "Evensong" is a way too short instrumental that ends up being the introduction to "Take the Water to the Mountain."

"Take the Water to the Mountain" I really like, another of my favorite songs. The song begins slow and quiet, with simple lyrics. As the song progresses instruments are added, and the song slowly speeds up. Jon Anderson increases the volume and at two minutes into the song the tempo and vocals break out before finishing quietly, closing out the album.

It is easy to be critical of this album, which I believe was originally planned to be two separate albums that were combined. However, there are few perfect Yes albums. This album has some wonderfully unique and excellent music, and is my favorite Yes album from the 90s. Certain tracks on this CD are among the best tracks ever performed by Yes. I consider this album one of the best ever created by Yes, with such a broad range of elements that every Yes fan should find songs they like.

Despite the fact that I have thousands and thousands of CDs, this is the first review I've ever written. I've always figured that every album is destined to be liked by some and disliked by others, so what's the point of adding my two cents to one side or the other? Well, I finally decided to weigh in on "Union" after reading on a Yes fan site that the album is almost universally maligned among Yes enthusiasts. I was so appalled, I felt I had to say something.

I agree wholeheartedly with other reviewers who feel that most of the negative comments seem to come from Yes "historians" who are more concerned about the circumstances of the album's creation than the music itself. Is this a true "Union" of the two most notable incarnations of Yes? Not really. Do the band members themselves feel this album is one of their better works, and do they have fond memories of putting it together? Apparently not. But so what??? What in the world does that have to do with the quality of the songs or the album as a whole?

The simple fact is, this is an excellent album, with few weak tracks and no flat-out bad ones. I'm not going to go into a track-by-track analysis, but suffice it to say that "Union" is a strong '80s-'90s era Yes album with well-integrated touches of '70s era Yes styles. Trevor Rabin's influence is considerable (which IMHO is not a bad thing at all) but blends well with the "classic Yes" sound. If you like "90125," "Big Generator," and ABWH, you'll almost certainly like "Union." If you think Yes put out nothing but junk from 1980 through 1994, then feel free to lump this album in with the rest. It is not "Fragile." It is not "Close To The Edge." If that's what some listeners were expecting, then they were just asking for disappointment from the get-go.

If you want the sound of '70s Yes, then by all means, listen to '70s Yes and close your mind to the rest. If band politics affect your opinions of the music...well, to each his own I suppose. But if the music is what's important to you, and you enjoy both "old" and "new" Yes, as I do, then I suspect you'll find "Union" to be a welcome addition to the formidable Yes canon. It is a true union of the best of both Yes worlds, in the only way that matters: musically.

For those who are unfamiliar with the origins of this album, Union sprung from two different sources - the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe lineup that released the self-titled debut on Arista records and the "Yes West" lineup consisting of Anderson, Rabin, Squire, Kaye and White most famous for "Owner of a Lonely Heart." If you're expecting all eight of these folks on each track, you're going to be a bit disappointed.

Prior to the release of Union both camps had been plugging away at new albums. When Anderson was approached to rejoin Rabin, Squire, Kaye and White, it became logical that all the material each faction had been working on form one release. Squire was also asked to lend his signature backing vocals to the ABWH session work. What Union yields is a good but less than cohesive collection of songs.

Highlights of the ABWH material include the anthem, "I Would Have Waited Forever" and the groove-drive "Shock To The System." Less effective, however, are "Dangerous" (which clearly sounds as though it was radically altered by producers prior to release) and "Without Hope You Cannot Start The Day."

From the "Yes West" camp, effective tracks such as "Lift Me Up" and "Miracle of Life" sum up what the Rabin years were all about although there are some weak points such as "Saving My Heart," a prime example of Rabin driving the pop element a bit too hard.

All-in-all, Union is not nearly as bad as it's made out to be. It's a good snapshot of Yes' evolution during the early 90's and a predictor of things to come. Yes would to on to release Talk with the "Yes West" lineup prior to reforming with the more classic lineup of Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman and White.

Now I am a fairly new Yes fan, but I am becoming a Big one. This album was the first of their's I bought, and I am incredibly lucky I did. The first song grabs you when you play it for the first time, and you stay with it until the end.

The first song, I Would Have Waited Forever, is an instant grabber, and is full of cool guitar sequences and the keyboard backup is wonderful. Shock to the System is the next song, and one of my favorites. More wonderful Guitar from Steve Howe on this one as well as from Masquerade, which is like Bron AY Aur from Led Zeppelin's Physical Grafatti Album. Only Guitar, it simply is a show-off of what Steve can do on an acustic guitar. It really is Beautiful. The next song, however, is one of my top five favorite songs. Lift Me Up includes everything that all amazing songs have. A very catchy and sweet introduction to a slow begining, which increases in both speed and volume as the song goes on, with a great beat and very elegant lyrics added. The Guitar throughout shows why Steve Howe is on the top 100 list, and his solo here is as good, if not better, than anything that Jimmy Page or David Gilmour could do. Now I could go through all of the songs, but I will just mention the next two. Without Hope You Cannot Start The Day is like a two-part song, and may not be perfect in the begining, but the end is soo worth it. Saving My Heart is the next track, and will go on many playlists I make. When you hear this song for the first time, you thought you have heard it a million times before, and is just one of those songs that can touch you in a way that isn't explainable. You just know this song is good from the second you hear it.

These tracks make this one of the best rock albums, and are complimented by the next songs, which I don't think I need to get into. You should get the idea by now as to how wonderful and addicting this album is. I have played this in my car for about two weeks straight, and neither me or anyone who rides in my car are tired of it yet, and that's saying something! I highly reccomend this album to anyone who even remotly likes Classic rock!

I have always been surprised by the backlash against this album as, for me, this is one of the most consistently good albums the group has produced in its long history. I can understand that bringing in session musicians is deemed to be cheating but it doesn't detract from the quality of the music.

Quite honestly I couldn't stand the mid-eighties Americanised, commercialised pop pap Yes produced, so 'Union' came as a huge relief. There is a fine mix of blistering rock ('I Would have Waited Forever', 'Shock to the System', 'Lift Me Up', 'Dangerous', 'Holding On'), beautiful ballads ('Without Hope', 'Miracle of Life', 'Silent Talking', 'The More We Live') and delightfully mad Andersonesque ('Angkor Watt'). The musical arrangements and intricacies are well up to standard and Jon's lyrics are rather more accessible than Yes albums of the 1970s. The guitar work throughout is just stunning. Sadly, though, Rick Wakeman's keyboard skills seem to have been placed on the backburner - not surprised he doesn't like it!

I enjoyed Steve Howe's solo "Masquerade" but it really should have been a lot longer and allowed to develop.

The album isn't perfect. Although I like "I Would Have Waited Forever" and "Shock to the System", they are a tad bombastic for my tastes. The final three cuts on the album don't add up to much and there are one or two real stinkers: the sickly-sweet "Saving My Heart" and the over-the-top "Dangerous". Perhaps the other problem is that the track order could have been better arranged.

However ten of the fifteen cuts represent some superb Yes and in the eight years since I bought this album, it's never spent more than a month away from my CD player!

Fave tracks: "Lift Me Up", "Without Hope", "Miracle of Life", "Silent Talking", "The More We Live", "Angkor Watt", "Holding On". (Oddly the latter seems to be almost universally disliked!)