| The Ladder | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 20 September 1999 | |||
| Recorded | February–May 1999 | |||
| Studio | Armoury, Kitsilano, Vancouver | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 60:26 | |||
| Label | Eagle | |||
| Producer | Bruce Fairbairn | |||
| Yes chronology | ||||
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The Ladder is the eighteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released in September 1999 on Eagle Records. It is their only studio album recorded with six full time members and their last with keyboardist Igor Khoroshev.
The band met with Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn in 1998 while touring their previous album Open Your Eyes (1997), who agreed to produce their next studio album at Armoury Studios in Vancouver. They spent four months producing a demo tape of new songs, which saw the group work collectively on the music for the first time in a while. The album features a variety of world instruments performed by Randy Raine-Reusch. Fairbairn died from a sudden heart attack during the final recording and mixing sessions, after which Yes dedicated The Ladder to him.
The Ladder received a warm reception from critics who saw the album as a return to creative form. It reached a peak of No. 36 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 99 on the US Billboard 200. Three singles were released: "Homeworld (The Ladder)", "Lightning Strikes", and "If Only You Knew"; the former was used in the 1999 real-time strategy PC game Homeworld. After touring the album worldwide in 1999 and 2000, Sherwood left the band.