DRAMA

After the disaster that was named "Tormato," two vital Yes members had left the band in 1979, recruiting Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn to take the place of Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson, who helped structure the overall sound of Yes over the years, but they had left, only to come back in 1983 to release their biggest pop hit ever. Some people might dismiss it because of Jon not singing on the album, but it sounds very much the other Yes songs from the early-mid 1970's Yes. There are very few lemons that are in the album, but most of it is a masterpiece, with some of the best songs in the Yes catolouge.

"Machine Messiah" is the best song on the album. It's a mini-epic on the Yes scale but this is definatly an excellent ten minute song. It's very heavy metal-type of sound that they are going for here, with some of the best riffs that Steve Howe has ever put out, and some of the fastest playing by Chris Squire that I have ever heard. Geoff plays some good keyboards here, adding some very nice texture with the synthesizers. Trevor is actually a very good singer, and he does some very nice harmonies with Chris and Steve, and it honestly sounds like the original Yes, even though Trevor barely has the above-tenor voice of Jon. "White Car" is way too short for my taste, and a little too poppy, though not bad. Sometimes I skip because I'm not in the mood for it sometimes, but it sounds very good with some nice acoustic guitar. The vocals on this track are terribly excellent from the sounds of it. The lyrics are nice too. "Does it Really Happen?" is time for one of the best bassists to show off. Chris has some nice distorted riff that he plays for the opening and in most of the song. The keyboards are also extremely excellent on this song, and the guitar just works perfectly with it, Steve is just playing some really nice chords throughout. The vocals are nice, though not so much of the Yes sounds, or Jon in a few octaves lower I would describe it. "Into the Lens" is another mini-epic type of track, more on the length of other releases of "Roundabout" "South Side of the Sky" or "Perpetual Change" though its excellent. The guitar is excellent throughout the whole song, as is the charming and strong basslines. The piano is nice and soft, excellent. Trevor does some nice vocals, but I don't like the lyrics for this song too much. Alan White, the drummer, does some excellent beats here, and it just makes me feel really good when I hear him play this track. "Run throught the Light" is okay, decent lyrics, and some nice keyboards and guitar, but the vocals are slightly annoying on this track, to me at least. Its a nice ballad type of song, very 1980's and more of the power ballands that we would hear in the mid-1980s. It kinds of sounds like Chris is playing a fretless bass here, but I am not sure. "Tempus Fugit" is an excellent closer to an excellent album. It features some of the best by Alan White, crazy and rhythmic drumming, and some of the craziest basslines ever by Chris. It sounds alot like Rush, but Geddy Lee using more pedals on his bass. Its an excellent track with great vocals.

This is an awesome album, I enjoy it. Its a much more Yes-like album than Tormato, actually, its that good. You have to get it for a few choice songs, but you just have to listen to it and love it for what it is, a reinvented Yes.