Yes’ “Finally” starts in an unremarkable way, but like many of the songs on 1999’s The Ladder, it is full of a combination of elements that demand repeated listening.
The uptempo backing of Alan White would have been at home on a Trevor Rabin-era Yes album, but Chris Squire’s bass is high in the mix, and Jon Anderson provides a raw lead vocal. Equally present is the rhythm guitar parts of Billy Sherwood, which compliment the rousing lead guitar work of Steve Howe.
Engineer and mixer Mike Plotnikoff does an admirable job capturing the many active elements in “Finally,” without crowding the mix. The result is a rocking, yet seemingly straight-forward AOR song.
When the first bridge comes in, things get even more interesting, as Igor Khoroshev contributes intricate Hammond-like sounds and string synthesizer parts, then Steve Howe delivers a mid-song solo which recalls, well, Trevor Rabin. That said, the musical interlude, with its layered synthesizer section, could have been edited out of the song: It almost feels tacked on to give “Finally” some progressive credibility. Yet, without it at the end, Steve Howe’s solo would have been left on the cutting room floor.
“Finally” may not rank as a Yes classic, but the song does represent the band’s continued progress forward.
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