OPEN YOUR EYES

I am one who wants to own everything of Yes, so even after having read a lot of bad reviews and having seen several 1-stars ratings I was expecting something very poor. Well, this is the surprise. We have a very pop-oriented album, but Jon's voice and Steve's guitar are probably enough to make me enjoy this music.

It's still Yes music. Not very different from Jon Anderson's solos, specially the title track, with the usual newage flavour in the lyrics. I prefer Talk and The Ladder to this album, but listening to it I'd never been pulsed to switch it off.

In terms of being progressive I don't know if we can pretend innovations from a band with about 40 years of activity at the time of this release. But let me underline the fact that the changes in the signature that are frequent also here are not properly what is called pop today.

I agree, this is not the best contribution that yes have given to the history of music, but it's not so bad. I think that the second half of Universal Garden, for example, is not so far from Going For The One.

There are many weak moments but at the end this is an average Yes album (intended as after 1980). But my opinion is that it's not only for completist. Having to suggest a Yes album to a newbie, this one together with Big Generator would be the very last choice, but if anybody who doesn't know anything of their glorious history buys this album by mistake, will find some good pop-oriented prog songs.

2.5 stars, but I'm happy to round them to three.

This is not so bad. Pop but not bad.