The 12th YES studio album and a Big Generator of controversy over the years - second only to Tales from Topographic Oceans - with YES going in a more pop-oriented direction which caused divisions in the often Fragile working relationship of the band. Producer Trevor Horn called it quits in the middle of production, leaving Trevor Rabin and Paul DeVilliers to complete production in Los Angeles. There was Talk of Jon Anderson coming Close to the Edge of leaving again too in the ensuing Drama, but he was back on board for the YES re-Union album and tour in 1991. Big Generator features the same YES line-up as the previous 90125 album and despite the difficulties, the album was another Big Generator of revenue, climbing The Ladder of success to reach No. 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 17 on the UK album chart. Two singles were released from the album:- Love Will Find a Way and Rhythm of Love, which featured quite possibly one of the worst MTV music videos you've ever seen, so I'll spare you that by not posting it here. 

YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Tony Kaye; Trevor Rabin; Chris Squire; & Alan White

1. Rhythm of Love  (4:49)

2. Big Generator  (4:31)

3. Shoot High, Aim Low  (6:59)

4. Almost Like Love  (4:58)

5. Love Will Find a Way  (4:48)

6. Final Eyes  (6:20)

7. I'm Running  (7:34)

8. Holy Lamb  (3:15)

I enjoy the album too, but not nearly as much as the previous 90125 album, which was my introduction to YES and one of only two albums I owned on the original vinyl - the other one being Classic YES. 

I have Big Generator as part of a 5-CD YES box set, bought back in the good old days from FOPP Records (long since closed down) in Nottingham when you could still buy a 5-CD box set in the Original Albums Series for just £10. 

Those Original Album Series sets are an absolute bargain. I have bought many of these over the years. 

I think I'm Running is great, too. 

Talk is the best album with Rabin by some way; I only own 90125 and BG because they are in a Box Set.

Is Eloy's Ra from 1988 better than Yes's Big Generator though? 

Most certainly in my view; always had a soft spot for it and it holds up to repeated listens for me; it still gets played quite often whereas BG is incredibly dated and I rarely play it..  if we're talking Eloy, then 'Destination' would be my least favourite as the guitars are too harsh for their style, whilst with Rush 'Presto' is too 80's keys for me, which mars some otherwise great tracks... just my take.

Eloy's Ra feels more outdated to me than BG, with the programmed drums that are too upfront . 

Presto was a step in the right direction IMO coming after Hold Your Fire. 

I haven't listened to Destination in a very long time, I don't remember it being weak or bad, I'll give it a listen soon, to see what i think in 2024. 

90125 and BG have got 80's written all over them; they could not have been released in any other decade and neither have aged well. 

I understand what you say about Ra, but Frank was practically on his own at this point. What I would say is that with the return of the spacy sound, it was truer to the Eloy tradition than say Metromania, which has aged less well (although I do still like this quite a lot, for what it is).

I really like Rush up to Power Windows, HYF has some great tracks, but also has a touch of the BG's about it and is the last one I actually own now... I can live without anything they did post HYF tbh...

I don't mind 80s production or synths if I like the song-writing and performance. 

I love Rush's Power Windows. I think it's a great album. 

Maybe because I grew up with all sorts of 80s music. 

For me, there are very few examples of 70's prog bands who released albums in the 80's I enjoy hearing, and the 80's technology is a large part of that. Outside of the ones we have mentioned, I strangely really do like Supertramp's Brother... it's a great album.

I've seen worse, much much worse 

Big Generator, in my opinion, was a modest work. Two stars.

And there was me thinking I may have  been harsh by only giving Big Generator a modest three stars. 

Talk was the peak of Rabin-era Yes as far as I'm concerned and I think only Open Your Eyes I would rank lower than BG.

Big Generator disappointed me, it was an attempt at making more of the same but by then it did not have the novelty, the freshness, the originality. The quality of the songs is inferior imho, as well as the production. Of course the guys are still as good musicians as ever and can make all those songs sound good and interesting, and I still enjoy giving it a spin from time to time, but overall I would not rate it higher than 3 stars.

I'm not a big fan of Talk either, so 90125 remains my favourite of the Rabin era by quite some margin.

Jared wrote: musically and aesthetically, it really was the decade that taste forgot, wasn't it??

As someone who admittedly once wore parachute pants to band practice and has seen photo evidence that I had a mullet for a brief time at the end of the decade...yes, yes it was. At least from a fashion standpoint. As far as music, what was on the main stage was pretty bad. But underground it was pretty rich. The metamorphosis and hybridization of punk and metal was amazing. As well as the flowering of RIO.

BTW, the Big Generator photo is almost as bad as the GTR photo. Steve Howe's suit and perm are just painful.

90125 = Transcendent , immaculate, optimistic.

Personally, I miss that 1980's era a bit!!  The music wasn't fantastic, but our boys were young and pumped up!  

Look how happy Squire looks in this photo!  RIP Chris....

Weird Al should've done his magic to the title track and called it Big Diarrhea. Wait no... Weird Al never really went for bathroom humor much. He probably would have gone nerdy and called it Big Calculator.

Of the "minor" albums, so to speak, Big Generator is one of the best, and it seems to me that it is generally underrated. It's not the progressive symphonic style of their glorious era, but "Shoot High Aim Love", "Final Eyes" and "Holy Lamb" are excellent songs. For me it is a good album.

There are actually two things going on at the same time in this song. One reflected in the vocals by Jon Anderson and the other with the vocals by Trevor Rabin.

Andersons part refers to a war in Nicaragua, with reference to Bluefields, a port that was invaded by US marines in 1912.

Rabins part refers to lovers in a car in the same place at some future date.

Sort of a "make love, not war" sentiment.

In my opinion the best explanation of the lyrics is in the song itself.

"Who says there's gotta be a reason?

Who says there's gotta be an answer?" 

My first post on the forum, so hello, glad to be here. I was searching Trevor Rabin and this post came up first.

Big Generator. I don't consider this a YES album beyond the name and beyond the support the name provided the album. But I do consider it a really great record and the production really furthered my interest in Trevor Rabin as a composer and producer.

Welcome to the PA forums - the Big Generator of debate in The Endless River of Time. 

Thank you!

Funny thing about the title:

If you watch the 9012Live concert video, the filmmakers incorporate some "pseudo-found-footage" from what seems to be a mid-1960s color-TV show (whether it's authentic or re-created, I've never been sure) that serves as connecting links between the songs. At both the beginning and end of the film, some of the characters are discussing "the sound of big generators". This video was released in early 1985, 2-1/2 years before the Big Generator album came out.

The big mystery is: did the band already have the "Big Generator" song/concept ready for their next album and decided to include a little foreshadowing in the video? Or, did they see the footage and become inspired to come up with a song/album title called "Big Generator"? Or (least likely of all), is it all just a COINCIDENCE??? 

It's more than a good album imo. I prefer it over 90125 even though 90125 might be more consistent. BG seems to go places that 90125 didn't want to (or couldn't) go. Those songs are great but I would also add the rhythm of love (maybe one of the most unlike Yes things they ever did), I'm Running and the title track.

I like the bit at the end where Hitler says "I may as well start listening to Marillion." 

Hitler may not like it, but Big Generator is still a good album by the standards of the time. After all, we can't expect YES to have come up with a classic 1970's album in the middle of the 1980's when prog was generally going in a more pop-oriented direction, or as the Germans would say, "Mann kann nicht auf zwei Hochzeiten gleichzeitig tanzen", meaning one can't dance at two weddings at the same time, which, roughly translated into English means "You can't have your cake and eat it." - although Boris Johnson may disagree. 

While I'm a fan of 90125, I can listen to Big Generator but I don't love it. I totally dislike the title track and only Shoot High saves it, IMO. 

What can I say? Hitler is a jerk. 

1) The original computer-graphics album cover for the LP was green and purple. For the CD, the cover was entirely different graphics with a yellow and pink color scheme.

2) I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that "Side 2" was originally intended to be a side-long, 22-minute suite. Since it was 1987, the record company immediately vetoed that idea, and insisted the band complete  the four movements, which became the four "Side 2" songs. The running order was supposed to be "Holy Lamb", "I'm Running", "Love Will Find a Way", and "Final Eyes", with brief, connecting links between the movements, sort of like Abbey Road's Side 2. The record company also demanded that "Love Will Find a Way" open the side because it was the album's first single. The band capitulated, and the suite idea was abandoned.

Wow! What a wonderful insight.  I plan to make a Big Generator CD, according to your specifications... Holy Lamb", "I'm Running", "Love Will Find a Way", and "Final Eyes"  with a wink

90125 had it's good moments including the pop oriented title track. But I listened to this album again, and for me, this hasn't gone down well. There is no single standout track and it feels like it belonged to the 80s for some reason. I am not sure if it's my least favorite Yes albums or not considering Open Your Eyes was even more cheesy.

There are 3 stand out songs for me (Shoot High Aim Low, I'm Running, Final Eyes) and I'll mention a 4th one that some enjoy more than me (Holy Lamb). 

The 80's in general was the story of steady decline. I reckon that post seventies everyone assumed progressive rock was dead but had no idea what should be put in its place. This must have been confusing to a lot of those guys who were in those bands and certainly Yes were no different. The 90's was bery much 'we want our rock back' Best band of the 80's? Iron Maiden no contest. They were actually listenable 

Trevor Rabin mentions it in Tim Morse's book Yes: In Their Own Words.