BIG GENERATOR

Whereas 90125 offered an intriguing mixture of commercial touches and brushes with Yes's earlier spirit (with Trevor Rabin and Jon Anderson serving capably as advocates for the new and old approaches respectively), Big Generator finds the delicate balancing act on the verge of breaking down. The songs are a bit too sprawling and have a few too many quirky New Age moments and intriguing twists to really be straight-ahead commercial all the way through, even if individual moments within the songs may be simpler and more straightforward, and none of those more commercial moments really have much of a shot of being a new Owner of a Lonely Heart.

If you disliked 90125, Big Generator's not going to win you over. If you thought 90125 was very interesting, you'll probably think the same of this, but might need to give it more of a chance since there's nothing on the level of Owner of a Lonely Heart to grab hold of you quickly.