Wheel of Prog - Yes Albums Tier List (Ranking Yes Studio Albums) 

Another great episode! (With a few head-scratchers!) Here’s my personal Tier List: S - CTTE, Fragile, Yes Album, Drama, 90125 A - Relayer, GFTO, ABWH, Talk, Tales B - Tormato, Ladder, Keys, BG, Union C - Mag, FFH, TAAW, Yes D - Mirror, OYE, Quest, H&E

Seeing Talk a tier higher than Tales leaves me speechless.

This was so much fun! I'm glad I got some of my favourite underrated Yes albums and could at least put those in the correct spots 😁😁

Holy hell what a lineup! If we had Pete Pardo, Darren Lock and Nathan, we'd have the gamut of Prog RU-vidrs

Wheel Of Prog is one of my favourite shows on YT. You guys made my day. Great fun, thanks😄👍

Drama is S tier, no question. I don't care about lineup changes blah blah it is an absolute banger of an album.

Great stuff!! Loved it! Laughed my ass off.. I need to watch more of these. You guys need to do another Wheel of Prog. The 6 of you...

Also I adore you guys for including Keystudio. In my opinion by far the best material they recorded post-Drama, and a lot of people don't even know about it because the material was split between the Keys live albums

Love this!! Agree most of the way and Scot brings entertainment to all these videos!!!

Love you guys, but this is bonkers. Tales in B? (I'd have put it in S but it should at least be in A). Ladder & Talk in A? (I'd have put them in C or D). Okay, Yes is a big tent and a lot of you young'uns came on board long after the 1970s. So I can appreciate that other people hear things differently, and this was a fun video.

Brilliant episode! Thank you. My list: S: GFTO, Yes Album, Drama, 90125, TFTO A: CTTE, Fragile, Relayer, Tormato, ABWH B: Ladder, Talk, Fly From Here, Big Generator, Union C: Keys, Yes, T&W, Magnification D: Mirror, Quest, H&E, OYE

This is amazing! Thanks for sharing!

Watching this was like seeing a RU-vid video of the conversations I've been having with friends, and the ongoing conversations in my head, of the last 45 years or so. LOL. Love it

Great to see Notes on here!

Great job that was a lotta fun to watch

I absolutely love Wheel of Prog! It is such pure fun, plus it has great rewatchability value. Keep em coming!

S: Close to the Edge-Relayer-Tales-Fragile-Going for the one A:Yes Album-90125 B:Yes-Drama-Ladder-Magnification-Time and world C:Tormato-Big Generation-ABWH-Talk-Keys D:Others

Union in B is astonishing. I truly despise that album; but hey people like what they like. 😂

this is an awesome, fun format for tier lists! loved hearing the discussion between fellow prog nerds and I love how the format set everyone up for a surprise regarding which album they'd be talking about. I've subscribed and I look forward to watching more of these!

what a fun video! , make more like this!

Here is where I would place them. Yes - B Tier Time and a Word - B Tier The Yes Album - S Tier Fragile - A Tier (for those dull solo tracks) Close to the Edge - S Tier Tales From Topographic Oceans - A Tier Relayer - S Tier Going for the One - S Tier Tormato - C Tier Drama - B Tier 90125 - B Tier Big Generator - C Tier Union - C Tier Talk - A Tier Keys Studio - C Tier Open Your Eyes - D Tier The Ladder - A Tier Magnification - B Tier Fly From Here - B Tier Heaven and Earth - D Tier The Quest - D Tier Mirror to the Sky - C Tier I wouldn’t have listed ABWH.

Awaken is possibly one of the greatest prog rock tracks ever written.

I'm not the biggest fan of some of the bands included here, but I still watch the every Wheel of Prog episode. Fun times!

I love TALK

That was great to watch! Its awesome to see so many different opinions on these albums. Here is my List Below S - Close to the Edge, Fragile, Yes Album, Tales, Talk A - Relayer, Going for the One, Drama, Fly From Here, 90125 B - The Ladder, Big Generator, ABWH, Union, Keystudio C - Tormato, Magnification, Yes, Time and a Word D - Open Your Eyes, Mirror in the Sky, Heaven and Earth, The Quest

What a great show. Less drama than I thought. For The Yes Album I would have put it in A and kept 90125 in S. 90125 reinvented production for an era. Not even the earlier works did that. It feels like they should have, but they didn't. I probably would have quite a lot of rearranging of B, C & D tier (Tormato a B?! Blech!) Great show.

I loves these tier lists - it's great to hear so many different takes on these albums & hear you all having so much fun.

Thank you for sticking up for Union!! (especially Geoff and Roie) I saw an interview with Jon Anderson where he said the only thing wrong with the album was the track order, and that the label would not let him arrange the album. Since hearing that, I spent dozens of hours with the album on shuffle and rearranging the tracks until I came up with this order. Opening up with a track that has both Jon and Trevor on vocals should have been a no-brainer to the "Union" concept; plus piling up the tracks that have Chris on vocals toward the front helps too. Try listening to the album in this order: 1. Miracle of Life 2. Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day 3. I Would Have Waited Forever 4. Holding On 5. Lift Me Up 6. Dangerous 7. Silent Talking 8. Evensong 9. Shock to the System 10. Masquerade 11. Saving My Heart 12. Take the Water to the Mountain 13. Angkor Wat 14. More We Live/Let Go

Notes + OpethShirt = Perfect : )

Every episode of Wheel of Prog is good times. It's like a combination of a group review and a strategy board game hahaha

Awesome, lots of fun! Personally Yes Album, Close to the Edge and Relayer are definitely S Tier, so I agree with you guys! :)

Close to the Edge, Topographic Oceans, Relayer, Fragile, Yes Album - I was a teenager dreaming of being a pro musician (obviously deluded) - THESE albums were my upbringing! Saw them live MULTIPLE times during that era & they ALWAYS put on the best live show on earth!

Close, Fragile and the Yes album are all you really need

A really fun show!!!

Some people speculate that Machine Messiah on Drama started so heavy as a jab at Jon Anderson since Steve and Chris told him in the 1979 Paris sessions that they didn’t want to play his light music. Drama then continued to be heavy as Steve and Chris wanted to rock out. Alan White was great on Drama too.

You guys need to do a live album tier!!!!

Man this episode was so freakin fun! Currently watching for a 3rd time 😅 Also Note’s channel is fantastic, 2 thumbs up gents 👍👍

Would've put all the albums in S (with one exception being on A) but if we're going by a 5 album per tier then my ranking would be: S: Talk, The Ladder, Tales from Topographic Oceans, Fly From Here, Big Generator A: 90125, Close to the Edge, Magnification, Tormato, From a Page (Yes, I am including this. Sorry, not sorry.) B: Heaven & Earth, Keystudio, Union, Going for the One, Time and a Word C: Drama, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Fragile, Relayer, Mirror to the Sky D: Yes, The Yes Album, The Quest, Open Your Eyes, Fly From Here: Return Trip.

It may take a while to Scot to recover from where Tales ended up. Breath buddy!

Awesome show! Pretty fun as always! Please so King crimson, Camel and Spock's Beard!

Your content is awesome! I am a huge fan of prog music, love the prog rock from the 70s and 90s, but im also a fan of the prog metal music from the 90s and forward. Your videos are fun not only for prog fans but also for people who don't know too much about the genre and need to feel a little motivation to enter the incredible prog world. I'm mostly a fan of your Wheels of Prog and Ultimate Lists videos, you should make them more often! Ohh and finally, you should check out Ne Obliviscaris, a prog death metal band from Australia that has been blowing my mind lately (even tho I'm not a fan of death metal music), it has some cool slow parts with a violin and piano, but also some brutal and super heavy stuff. The best thing about them is that they are all super talented and they launched an Album this year, it's called Exul. Give them a listen, you will like it, especially Vic haha. Keep going, guys!

very fun roundtable tiering the Yes albums. I'm very happy Drama ended up in S! I did my own recently, and like you guys were saying at the end, the order and Tiers will vary dramatically for many. Tales is A for me, and Union is D (like many). 90125 didn't come anywhere near an S or A. I think I put it in C reluctantly.

Guys, it was a lot of fun watching this video. It would be great if you once tried to make some kind of Wheel of Prog with Genesis or King Crimson. Or maybe a Gentle Giant? Good mood to you all! 👍

For what it's worth, and it's probably not worth very much, here's my own tier list, following the same layout you guys have S Tier: 1- Relayer; 2- Close To The Edge; 3- Tales from Topographic Oceans; 4- The Yes Album; 5- Fragile A Tier: 1- Drama; 2- 90125; 3- Magnification; 4- Self Titled; 5- Time And A Word B Tier: 1- Fly From Here; 2- The Ladder; 3- Going For The One; 4- Keystudio; 5- Tormato C Tier: 1- Talk; 2- Big Generator; 3- Mirror To The Sky; 4- ABWH D Tier: 1- The Quest; 2- Heaven and Earth; 3- Union; 4- Open Your Eyes I think my most controversial picks are probably having the two early albums in A tier, having Going For The One in B tier and possibly Drama as the top of my A Tier, although that's far less controversial than it was about 5 years ago when I was first getting into Yes. I should probably explain: I based this partially off of the overall quality of the album, but also how much I return to listen to them. There's so much music out there I'm not listening to Yes all the time, they come in and out of my rotation. However, all of the albums in S Tier and A Tier have some songs that are, in some way, in my rotation on a regular-ish basis. I almost never find myself wanting to go back to Going For The One or most of its tracks on a regular basis. I adore Awaken, but it's not something I can just put on, same for a lot of the epics, although my mileage varies quite heavily there. None of the other songs are ones I particularly care about either way, especially Wonderous Stories which is one of my least favourite 70s Yes tracks, and would probably be my absolute least favourite if it wasn't for some of the stuff on Tormato (Looking at you Circus of Heaven). The title track is fine, Turn of the Century is a type of song they've done far better in other works and one that I'd hardly care to listen to regularly, and Parallels is fun but not particularly something I come back to, it's a B-Side from Fish Out of Water (which is incidentally one of my all time favourite albums and would fit quite comfortably in S Tier if it was released as a full Yes album). In comparison to this, whilst they can sometimes be a little skew-whiff and goofy sounding, I love a lot of the tracks from Yes' early period with Banks, especially their covers. No Opportunity is something I can put on fairly regularly and just jam to when I'm walking to the shop, for instance. It's some of their most accessible work that has this unpolished edge to it, in comparison to the far more polished works they would do. And I like unpolished quite a bit, so that's right up my street if I'm in the mood for it. The originals can be hit or miss, I think Time and a Word has better overall original tracks, but Self Titled has some very interesting ones (Beyond and Before, Harold Land, Sweetness, Survival). I return to them far more than I find myself returning to most of the tracks off of Going For The One. That being said, different smokes for different folks, anyone who takes a tier list as anything but subjective and a bit of fun is probably a massive bore.

Great show! My rankings: S - CTTE, Fragile, Yes Album, Tales, 90125 A - GFTO, Relayer, Drama, Big Generator, Union

Come on! Their debut album is 100% underrated! It's at least an A!

YES is a band I still have yet to really dive into, but I’ve been prepping! I’m stoked to now own 4 of your top 5. I think I’m in a great place to get started. 👍🏻👍🏻 Fun episode, guys. Thanks!!

Talk = number one

I very much enjoy these shows however, I always refrain from using the words "best" and "worst". This is all subject. As all art is. These are all the members "preferences". There simply isn't a "best" or "worst". Not in my mind anyway.

54:01 YES SCOTT THANK YOUU!!!!

It's be way cool if every member of the panel had sign cards that indicate if they agree or disagree with whoever places the album. It could be a 👍 or 👎or 👌

Crazy tiers. Cool show.

Fun stuff. Of course i don't agree with all placings, but very fun talk, guys.

And God save the King!!!

Man, I understand how the system works, but that Tales placement is still criminal. I can even understand overrating Talk, but Tales not in S is insane

I have never listened to Magnification and I agree with Notes, this (so far anyway) is an awesome album. I am a sucker for strings though so when I heard that it was the first one I really wanted to explore after watching this video.

This was fun to watch until the very end. In what demented universe does Tales from Topographic Oceans ranked #11? Talk was ranked higher? I haven’t been this upset with a contest since November 2016.

Rodger Dean also did the artwork for badger which was Tony Kay's band and one of Dean's best covers 22:09 ❤

Notes!

14:13 THANK YOU! I listened and loved this album before the internet or before being exposed to any Yes "experts". Sorry, I just love it. I'm not going back in time to correct myself.

S row is perfect for me though I would have put Drama up higher in that row, but probably not the popular opinion. The rest are pretty good.

My top 5 and many will hate me for this but I don’t care. Trevor Rabin is a god in my eyes. 1: Talk 2: Big Generator 3: Close To The Edge 4: 90125 5: The Yes Album

I'm outraged by Tales placement. Next to Close to the Edge it is my fave of their catalog. But I guess different strokes...

Switch Going For The One and Fragile and I'm happy. These Wheel of Prog episodes are so entertaining, thanks!!

I would switch Going for the One (5 excellent tracks) with Fragile (bad solo filler). Fly From Here should be higher (real nice blend of prog/pop sound) and The Ladder lower (too much reggae). Aside from these, not a bad Tier List… very amusing to hear you guys thrash it out!

Tormato came out during what I refer to as The Curse of 1978. The year that also saw crap like Love Beach, Giant For a Day, Octave, And Then There Were Three.

YES is one of those bands where EVERY album is a hot take😆😅

Onion (Union) not being in the bottom is a crime against all the other albums. it's so bad.

Great episode! It would be interesting if you did wheels on Mike Oldfield and Alan Parsons Project. Those are to great discographies! Thank you for an awesome channel! =D

38:51 How can anyone not like the title track From "Going for the One" especially a Britt! Howe's pedal steel is amazing. Love the lyrics and structure. Turnstile to one!

S - CTTE, TFTO, Relayer, Fragile, Yes Album, Drama... Great episode! 'YES', the greatest band in music history!🤩

Please do King Crimson. Then please do Gentle Giant.

I saw YES on their Union tour at Wembley Arena in 1991. It was the only time I've seen the band. I've seen Wakeman several times, and Anderson & Wakeman as well, but Yes? There's no other lineup that could top that one for me. The album...meh...I was a huge fan of the AWBH album, love it to this day. Whether people call it Yes or not, I don't care, I just love the album. The version of Yes that's touring now? A tribute band, their own tribute band, a bit like Queen + Adam Lambert. x

Yes, no debate that Relayer is tier S. It is THE Yes album and THE prog album besides Close to the edge.

Amazing A Tier, no notes! The debut album is way underrated. It's such a gem of late 60's pop rock

The stand out cock up is where Tales is placed. I have it at 4. I feel for u Scott

Oh my Going For The One is an S.

I was really surprised to see all of you hating on Open Your Eyes. The entire first half of that record is brilliant. the title track, Universal Garden, Man in the Moon... effin Fortune Seller! You guys ain't listening right. :P

This is what I would have done: S - TYA, Fragile, CTTE, TFTO, Relayer A - Ladder, GFTO, FFH, Drama, Talk B - ABWH, Union, MTTS, Tormato, TAAW C - 90125, H&E, Magnification, Quest D - Yes, OYE, Keystudio, BG

53 yr old Yes fan here. To the panelists who rate Magnification above Big Generator: Sorry I’m not sorry, you’re mistaken. Listen again. I just don’t get it. Listen again. Yes, I know it’s subjective, but come on.

Yes 1969-1983 awesome Yes 1987-2023 meh That's that simple. Yes, even Tormato is better than all the 1987-2023 albums.

90125 is a S Tier album - no doubt

The British dude loves Big Generator that much....lol

Talk is where it should be

I totally agree with Union being underrated!!

90125 is absolutely brilliant!!

Brilliant Video. Although you forgot to add the EP/Album 'From a Page'.

"Drama" is S but "Awaken" is A, "90125" is A but "Tales" is B... Oh my God, what have we done...

Tormato That album has a soft spot in my heart. It was the first album that was released when I was becoming a fan. I was already familiar with CTTE, Fragile and the Yes Album. But those albums were released way before I was even aware of Yes. I was 15 and Tormato was the latest release. I loved the cover, l loved the music, hell I even loved the way it smelled. A misunderstood album. It’s certainly head and shoulders above something like Open Your Eyes. Is it their best album? Absolutely not! That honour goes to Close to the Edge. 🤘😳🤘

Next: Arjen Lucassen albums? Including solo, Ayreon, Star One, Guilt Machine and Gentle Storm. That would include ~17 albums.

Once again, I'm strangely satisfied with the Wheel of Prog tier list. S tier was spot on. I was rooting for Big Generator to stay in B tier. "I'm Running" is so off the rails... in a good way. One thing I really like about the Rabin era is the band's vocal harmonies are done very well.

Once you do a Genesis, Marillion or Flower Kings one, I want in.

Will you guys do queen?, I'd love to see it

Can you guys do a Zappa ('66-94') studio or a Tull? Please!!

I”m a metal guy too but sacrilegious to move 90125 down to the A tier. Other than that amazing episode. I would have moved Fly From Here up a tier. The Drama lineup is amazing.

As I commented in another video, Big Generator was my introduction to Yes at age 7 (I'm 33 right now), and it has stayed with me ever since. I loved Union since I first listened to it and my favorite song from that album is Holding On. It has a very interesting bassline but I like it as a whole. Btw, I'm sure there's no consensus on the final tierlist. Too many good options to rank them properly.

Jeez when people say nostalgia about the year 2000 I shake my head. 30 years late to the party. But at least they turned up.

Great show, never really checked out Yes, because of this show im going to check out your top 10, always liked Owner of a lonely heart, thats where i will start, by the way when i heard Ice bridge i was blown away, but the album was trashed, so i never bothered.

Scot I feel your pain .

Come on, guys. "The Quest" was the best thing they had done in years! A return to form, and it sounds great.