New Yes Album Set For Sept. 12 Release

06/09/1999 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(6/9/99, 1 p.m. PDT) - A release date has been set for The Ladder, the latest album by prog-rock granddaddies Yes and their first studio effort since 1997's Open Your Eyes.

Due to hit stores on Sept. 12, The Ladder will introduce fans to a lineup that now includes singer Jon Anderson, guitarists Steve Howe and Billy Sherwood, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Igor Koroshov. The disc also marks the last project to be helmed by producer Bruce Fairbairn (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi), who died last month shortly after basic tracks for the record were completed (LAUNCH, 5/18).

The release of the new album, which is currently being mixed in the studio by the band, will be followed by a North American tour this fall.

Fans who can't wait to hear the band's new material may also want to check out Homeworld, a new PC strategy game from Sierra Studios. Though the game won't be out until this fall, a soundtrack album due this summer will include the group performing the disc's title cut, "Homeworld," which will also appear on The Ladder.

Meanwhile, it's been 25 years since original keyboardist Rick Wakeman announced that he was quitting Yes--for the first time. Though he would eventually rejoin and quit the band three more times before finally leaving for good in 1997 to reignite a solo career, Wakeman spoke fondly of his former mates in a recent interview.

"I've read some horrendous [things] that some of the lads have said about me from the last time [I quit]," Wakeman recently said. "But I just shrug it off. I mean, I love the guys dearly. I'm a fan of the band. I don't believe a lot of the things that I read...I know the guys well enough to know that, the same as all of us, we sometimes say things in the heat of the moment, and then dearly regret it, especially when we see it in print. I would like to think that I could call any of the guys at any time, and I'd like to think that they felt that they could call me at any time."

Wakeman's latest album, Return To The Centre Of The Earth, which features guest appearances by Ozzy Osbourne, Patrick Stewart, Trevor Rabin, Bonnie Tyler, and Justin Hayward, was recently released by Angel Records.

Features on Rick Wakeman and Ozzy Osbourne are available on LAUNCH.com.

-- Stephen Peters with reporting from Brian Ives in New York

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