TORMATO

It was always going to be hard for Yes to top Going For The One, and they most certainly failed in that respect here, but this is by no means a bad album. Being in GFTO's shadow was always hard, and after that people had expected a return to CTTE's epic stylings (the likes of which had nearly happened in the brilliant Awaken), but what you find from this album is different - they are leaning towards a poppier sound, but they still retain their prog and their rock elements.

The opener, Future Times/Rejoice, is a great start to the album, being one of the album's stronger numbers, with Jon's voice sounding as good as ever and Rick's keyboards still up to the task. However, it does grow tiresome after a while. Afterwards comes Don't Kill The Whale, which is a great track, with a brilliant keyboard solo from Rick and some great guitar work from Steve Howe. On this album, though, one thing is lacking - Chris Squire's bass isn't that noticeable throughout, and if you compare it to the follow-up album, Drama, the bass almost isn't there. I also didn't like that Rick used almost the same keyboard sound in every song, meaning that the songs did get quite tiresome. Don't get me wrong, the keyboard work is still brilliant, but more variety would've been nice. Alan White, though, is as good as ever. After Arriving UFO, thing start to fall apart - you have the weak Circus of Heaven and the unremarkable Onward. On the Silent Wings of Freedom is a nice little number, but still not up to the standard of the first half of the album. Release, Release is probably my favourite track here, along with the beautiful Madrigal.

This isn't up to the standard of the previous offering Going For The One, but that standard is incredibly high. This is by no means a terrible album, but I just feel they could've done better - it is not one of their worst (in fact, my least favourite is probably Relayer), but it's no where near up there with the classics.