Chris Squire, Yes’ guiding light, made a conscious effort to limit his writing involvement in 1994’s Talk. He wanted the interaction between Trevor Rabin and Jon Anderson to be unencumbered.
In fact, Talk is the first – and, so far, the only – album when the two really collaborate, as Anderson had limited creative involvement is 90125 and Big Generator, and practically no involvement in the so-called Yes-West compositions on Union.
“Real Love” is the only track on Talk where a majority of the music was crafted by Squire, but unlike his other writing credit for the song “The Calling,” this is saddled with Big Generator-style production bombast. That makes the almost-nine-minute song bloated, instead of epic.
Meanwhile, lyrics like these don’t help move “Real Love” beyond simply O.K.:
“Get the fire, as the flame it burns,
Get the wind as it slowly turns.
Get the earth…
Get the sky…Far away, in the depths of Hawking’s mind
To the animal, primalistic grind,
You bring me reason, a simple fact of life.
(Bring me reason …)
You don’t say you’re sorry…Call this real love
Activates this mission
To be on the same timeline.
Call this free love
Get a ticket on the master plan.
On the freedom climb.”
This is not to say that “Real Love” doesn’t have some great Yes parts. Jon Anderson continues to deliver vocals which are among his best. As with the prior Talk song “I Am Waiting,” Anderson reaches deep for the rock swagger that he seldom gets to display while using his unique timbre.
Tony Kaye provides touches of Hammond and teases with the piano to provide a link to Yes’ storied past. Chris Squire’s bass is more prominent in the mix – which is good – yet his bass parts are uncharacteristically restrained, which is not good. Rabin also teases at the guitar, offering string-bending chords which sound like Steve Howe’s steel guitar, sort of. Alan White, however, is playing a straight rock beat with little hint of the innovation he contributed on Yes albums like Relayer or even Going For the One.
In the end, “Real Love” seems like nine minutes of well-played but uninspired AOR. It’s not quite up to the standards of the world’s greatest progressive rock band.
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