1991 Yes – Union

Union is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 30 April 1991 by Arista Records. Production began in 1990 following the amalgamation of two bands featuring current and previous members of Yes at the time: Yes, formed of Chris Squire, Trevor Rabin, Tony Kaye, and Alan White; and Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH), formed of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford. The album is a collection of tracks written by each group separately; the eight members do not all play together. Production was met with differences from the beginning, including the merger of ABWH and Yes, the group’s internal relations, and Anderson and producer Jonathan Elias’s decision to have session musicians play parts already put down by Wakeman and Howe.

On 2 July 1991, Union was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 copies.

In 1992, “Masquerade” received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Howe described the nomination for his track as “pure justice”, following the difficulties in making the album.

Yes released three singles from Union in 1991. “Lift Me Up” was the lead single, released in April 1991. It became one of the band’s most successful singles, spending six weeks at number one from its third week on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, later known as the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was number one from the week of 4 May to 8 June 1991. It reached a peak of eighty-six on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The second single, “Saving My Heart”, released in July 1991, reached a high of number nine on the Album Rock Tracks chart a month later. “I Would Have Waited Forever” was the final single released.