"The Calling" is a song by the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

band Yes, from their 1994 album ''

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

''. It was a rock radio hit for the band, reaching number 3 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in M ...

chart.

Background

In 1992, eight current and former members of Yes toured to support their 1991 album ''

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''U ...

''. Following the completion of the tour, guitarist

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to l ...

, keyboardist

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

and drummer

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

left the band, leaving the five members who had performed as Yes during the 1980s: singer

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

, guitarist

Trevor Rabin Trevor Charles Rabin (; born ) is a South African rock musician and composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and producing with a va ...

, bassist

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having ...

, drummer Alan White and keyboardist Tony Kaye. "The Calling" was written by Rabin, Anderson and Squire, with Rabin producing. As with the other tracks on ''Talk'', "The Calling" was recorded and mixed digitally, rather than on tape as was done with previous Yes recordings. The song has been described as featuring a modern sound, with heavy focus on Rabin's guitars, and a three-part vocal harmony featuring Anderson, Rabin and Squire. According to Anderson, the song's lyrics were inspired by the concept of "local history", the current three-thousand year window of history, outside of which mankind has little visibility or understanding.

Chart performance

"The Calling" was a number-three Mainstream Rock hit for the band in 1994, their last (as of 2021) top-ten hit on that chart. Yes had two subsequent Mainstream Rock hits: 1994's "

Walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure * Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States *Walls, Mississippi, United States * Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...

" (also from ''Talk'') and 1997's " Open Your Eyes" from the album of the same name. "The Calling" has appeared on several Yes compilations. The 2002 boxed set '' In a Word: Yes (1969–)'' included the album-length version, and the 2003 greatest hits package '' The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection'' included the single edit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calling (Yes Song) 1994 singles Yes (band) songs Songs written by Trevor Rabin Songs written by Jon Anderson Songs written by Chris Squire 1994 songs