DRAMA

1980's Drama is a criminally underrated album, and I put at #3 in my personal ranking of Yes's studio output, behind only Close to the Edge and The Yes Album. The desire of Squire, Howe, and White to write and play heavier music is immediately evident. The opening riff of "Machine Messiah" sounds like it could have been written by Black Sabbath.

Along with the relative heaviness, Horn and Downes brought some necessary levity to the band. "Does It Really Happen?" features some new wave-inflected verses and guitar lines, as well as a killer bass solo over some very 1980s synthesizers. "Into the Lens" is another fantastic synthesis of this hybrid group's influences and styles, with piano-heavy verses and dark yet soaring choruses. Even the relative awkwardness of "Run through the Light" can't drag this album down, though it is the one point that ever threatens its standing in my ranking.

The closing "Tempus Fugit" is one of Yes's best non-suites. Played at a blistering pace with harmonized vocals and more new-wave-tinged guitar during the verses, this song highlights all the strengths of this version of the band. There's plenty of speedy, technical soloing from both Howe and Downes, and Squire's bass thunders beneath it all.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2019/03/24/deep-dive-yes/