The initial three songs on Yes’ ‘Open Your Eyes’ find the world’s greatest progressive rock band at the top of their game.

Billy Sherwood always had a knack for melding traditional Yes elements with a contemporary sound. Same here.

‘Open Your Eyes’ is on my Top 5 list of favorite Yes albums, even if it had the misfortune of being one of their lowest-charting studio LPs.

A rare instrumental, “Sign Language” closes out arguably the best Yes album to that point since 1983’s ‘90125.’

Producer Billy Sherwood again shows his talent at blending the Yes tradition with a contemporary feel.

If ‘Keys to Ascension 2’ remains Rick Wakeman’s final Yes studio album, then this was a fine way to leave the band.

The fact that Yes’ ‘Keys to Ascension 2’ wasn’t a hit is more due to the changing music environment that the material.

“Mind Drive” was a deliberate attempt to recapture the epic feel of Yes’ main-sequence albums – and it worked brilliantly.

“Be the One” was a strong start to what should have been the opening song for a new Yes studio album.

The final song on 1994’s ‘Talk’ became a ’90s-style progressive epic, creating a lasting legacy for the Trevor Rabin era of Yes.