OPEN YOUR EYES

This is not an easy album. But if someone advice me to give this album the time to sink in, I will say thanks but no thanks. I did try to spin the disc time and time again to which there were no positive results. I give up.

Being the first full studio album after guitarist Steve Howe rejoined the band, this album does not meet the high expectation of dedicated fans -- well, at least me. True, there are intriguing, tasty songs such as the title track, which successfully blends the classic (1970s) and the new (1980s) Yes style, or another highlights such as "Universal Garden" and "Wonderlove". But, on the other hand, there are more weak songs than the fine one, including "No Way We Can Lose" and "Man on the Moon".

While it appears that the weak materials tend to drive out the fine, this is still far from being a disastrous effort. This is true only if we try to imagine that the fine materials are released as a different album.