In 1995, guitarist Trevor Rabin and keyboardist Tony Kaye left the group which marked the return of former members Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman, thus reuniting them with vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, and drummer Alan White, a line-up that had last performed in 1979.

Keys to Ascension features half of the live set from the 1996 shows and two new studio tracks which marked a return to Yes writing longform pieces.

Yes supported the album with a media tour which included live performances at record stores and television and radio appearances, and a same-titled home video of the concerts.

[1] The tour was met with crowds smaller than previous tours, and the album was a commercial disappointment among the ever changing music scene, with grunge and rock groups Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana taking mainstream interest, leaving Yes in what band biographer Chris Welch wrote, "In danger of slipping back into an obscurity more dark and profound than at any time in their history".

[2] They suffered a setback when, in May 1995, Rabin felt he had done all he could artistically within the group and decided to leave after 13 years to become a film composer, with Kaye following suit to pursue other projects.

Brewer and Castle agreed to the idea on the condition that the album featured the band's "classic" line-up from the 1970s, which included guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

[3] The pair had left in 1992 after the band's Union Tour and continued with their solo projects, but were interested to return and met with Anderson in Los Angeles for several days to discuss the situation.

[7] The group agreed to release the album with the aim of letting the public know that the five had reunited,[8] and Anderson wished to explore the music that the line-up had recorded in the 1970s and take Yes "into the 21st century".

[12] In addition to the new studio-produced songs, the band agreed to hold two shows at the city's Fremont Theater on 5 and 6 March 1996 and have them recorded and released with the new tracks.

[15] This marked the first live performance of "Onward" from Tormato (1978) in the band's history and "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" from Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) since 1974.

[16] Wakeman, who is known for his overall distaste for Tales from Topographic Oceans, was happy to play "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" as it was the track out of the album's four that he was most interested to perform.

[4] He oversaw the mixing process as he and the producers wished for an end product that he was happy with, as he was unable to attend the sessions for the previous two Yes-related albums he had played on.