90125

I'll admit I wasn't to thrilled with this line-up of musicians when it first came out with a new guitarist and no Rick Wakeman. But I was happy to see Anderson, White and Squire back together. It was also cool seeing Tony Kaye back in the fold even though he hardly contributed. As everyone should know by now, this wasn't supposed to be a new Yes album but when Jon Anderson came in to sing lead vocals that all changed. People who give this album bad reviews I think are a bit unfair. In the 80's, prog was DEAD as dead can possibly get. 1983 was filled to the brim with crappy machine-made music. Break dancing was all the rage and Madonna and Michael Jackson were dominating the airwaves. If you wanted to have any relevancy and a record deal of any sort in those days, you needed to have a more accessible sound. I think Yes did a fine job of not sounding like a typical arena-rock band and crafting an original sounding album with some prog flourishes that was accessible. It became a big surprise hit. It is not a prog album I will admit, but you can't deny that the musicianship is still well above average. Great vocals and fun songs throughout.