YES: 'Big Generator' - is it really that bad? 

Ironically, this is the album that got me into Yes - I worked backwards (and forwards) from there and enjoyed seeing them live on three tours along the way. I really like the album, but I was coming at it as a blank canvas with absolutely zero prog bias or expectations.

Shoot High Aim Low, Final Eyes, and Holy Lamb are 3 of my Yes favorites from any era , all in all this was a good follow-up to 90125, some outstanding songs and vocals from Anderson. I will take 70's Yes as my favorite period but so enjoy their 80's output a good bit.

Rabin only gave the band a face lift. They still wrote and played amazing Prog. I've been a Yes fan since 1970. And love Rabin's playing and writing. The TALK album is the best of the 3 they did with Trevor 🎶🎶🎸 Everything after Magnification Sucked .

I'm a lifelong Yes fan, starting with "Fragile". "Big Generator" is an AMAZING and BRILLIANT album. Hard stop. No more needs to be said.

I've always considered it essentially a double album companion to 90125 really. Both good examples of 80s YES.

Shoot High, Aim Low might be my favorite YES song.

I’m Running is one of their best songs of all time - very progressive. When it gets to the part “ See through science Part of a back door A door made up of doors To an endless time To a new world I was like.. dang, this is like one of the best moments of a small set of 5th Dimension songs - just outstanding “out of the box” expansion of the melodic structure - transcendent,.. has to be Jon Anderson writing that bit. And Chris’s bass is so “Chris”. Absolutely love the song !

For me it's in the top 5, after Close to the Edge, the Yes Album & Relayer. "I'm Running": how it pivots from the dark vibe to the tropical jaunt is wonderfully bizarre, and when the snare is going but the kick drops out, it feels like lift-off. "Almost Like Love": may seem out of place for Yes, but not Jon Anderson in the whole of his career, and he does this one with gusto. The spiral section in "Big Generator". "Shoot High". Rabin is referred to as the pop guy, but he's really the rock guy. Yes with Rabin was one of the few places in the 80's to find moments of hard rock played by a smart band instead of hair metal/butt rock.

I compare this album to Rush’s Power Windows which I love both.Very 80’s even down to their fashion sense.And this coming from myself growing up with all their previous albums.I still listen to both albums today.Tales of Topograhic Oceans or Hemispheres they are not but I remember thinking that both bands were moving forward with technology and trimming their epic songs into more concise ,accessible tunes.

This was my introduction to Yes. As a child this was the background music when I was playing Lego. Shoot High is still a favourite

Definitely not my favourite Yes album, but I kinda like the strong 80's vibe, mainly thanks to the production (choice of keyboard sounds, use of reverbs). Here's a brief list of what I like on BG: Big Generator - I love these quieter sections ("Such a strange pre-occupation"), there's something ethereal and magical about them, Shoot High Aim Low - great song with many subtle details in the arrangement such as the arpeggio that joins in at 2'33''. The only thing I miss is that the song doesn't develop into a big climax towards the end, Almost Like Love - there's a charming, catchy vocal line at 3'51'' ("The way the first one out discovers") that I always liked, Love Will Find a Way - the opening riff is just awesome! I was always curious how would this track turn out if Rush guys took it to the workshop :) Final Eyes - love the tasty synth stabs at 1'51'' and so on, but my absolute favourite part is outro (6'00'') - pity it is so short, I'm Running - the slower parts (like in 0'43'' - 2'51”) are among my favourite Yes moments ever, there's some mystery and aniticpation to it and I get chills whenever I hear "I'm Running" line, but when these hectic, cartoonish parts come in I'm always like WTF ;)

I love this album. Just as I loved Rush's Power Windows when it came out. Great songs with magnificent crystal clear digital production that completely suited the arrangements. Still love that sound to this day.

I have a soft spot for this album because the first time I saw Yes was on this tour. I've probably listened to it three times in the last 20 years. I'll dust it off and give it another go.

Big Generator is a great album. Lots of hits on it.

This may not be the greatest Yes album but it was released at the absolute perfect time. I was a mud logger working the midnight to noon shift at a geothermal well being drilled near the Salton Sea in California. The album came out after I was sitting the well for a couple of months or more. I bought a cassette tape of it (the first and only pre-recorded tape I ever bought since it was the only means I had to play it) right before drilling at the well was abandoned at a depth >12,000’ because it was a duster (dry - no production). They didn’t drill that night but I had been up monitoring equipment (besides logging rock cuttings we also monitored everything on the rig). About 9AM I was told to tear down the equipment and move it to another rig that was setting up nearby. I called in my relief and together we worked throughout the day tearing down the many cables and sensors from that rig and set it up at the other. We got it all mostly set up and calibrated at the new location when I began a new midnight to noon shift at the next location, which began drilling soon after. Listening to that brand new Yes tape over and over again during all those hours got me through it. Shoot High Aim Low is my favorite on that album.

There are a lot of "exclusivists" in the prog community who are totally full of it.Only a complete moron can say that this was a bad album, this was actually a masterpiece, a perfect combination of pop and progressive. "Love Will find A Way" has no soul ??? The follow-up to this one was Trevor Rabin's solo Can't Look Away in 1989, another masterpiece...

Is it really that bad? I can’t imagine anyone hearing the incredible production, songwriting, and interplay between Rabin and Squire on this album and thinking it’s a “bad” record. No, it isn’t Close to the Edge or Relayer, but that in no way diminishes the potency of the fantastic songs on this record. And Rabin’s guitar tone is god tier. I loved it when it came out and I still do to this day.

I really like this album! In fact, you might say is my go-to Yes album, over some later uninspired releases. It is funny how music is somehow tied to almost every period of my life. This record, Love Will Find A Way, in particular, will always remind me of my cousins 15th birthday party, and her boyfriend at the time!! He was quite a character! During the party, he made sure that the whole album, and later, the aforementioned song, be played continuously throughout the celebration! Although, I appreciate it was played through a High End system, I often ask myself, how many times did we heard that song?!? Sure, it sounded astoundingly good, but it really messed my head afterwards 😂!

I really enjoyed this album. I had just entered College at the time. I had only had the 90125 album prior to Big Generator, so I had nothing to judge it on. Plus I was still at the end of my teen years and more open minded to newer music than older fans who grew up with 70s Yes generally would have been. Unlike 90125, I wouldn't rank it as one of their very best albums, but that said, I enjoyed every song on it. My favorite was "I'm Running". Big Generator was the first Yes tour I attended, and I attended every tour that included Jon Anderson since except the Talk tour. At the Big Generator tour something happened. The band played "Heart of the Sunrise", and I was immediately blown away. Easily my favorite song they played, and I never heard it before. It's still my favorite Yes tune. Tony Kay & Trevor Rabin did a great job covering this song. I immediately bought the "Classic Yes" album after the show. Turns out I discover decades later, Tony Kaye actually was originally playing on the song when it was written. Maybe Rick Wakeman covered him for some of the parts?? Tony left & Rick stepped in during this period. Regardless, I really enjoyed both of their versions on this song. And generally speaking, Tony Kaye covered Rick's parts a lot better than Rick covered Tony's parts, as amazing as Wakeman is. I had largely grown up on "Prog rock meets AOR". Bands like Styx, Foreigner, Kansas, Genesis, ELO, Asia, etc. This era of Yes wasn't a far stretch from that, and largely followed in the footsteps of bands like Styx who originally started the trend of blending these styles together.

I remember when 90125 first came out, I only knew “OoaLH”. Then I heard “Roundabout”, which made me fall head-over-heels for Yes. I then revisited 90125 having fully immersed myself into Fragile, and I similarly fell hard for 90125. This had to have been in 8th grade for me. I then bought Yessongs (both the double-cassette and the VHS), 9012Live (rented the VHS 9012Live and bought the 9012Live The Solos on cassette). I had a copy of The Yes Album. So by the time Big Generator came out, I was already a big fan. I bought BG on the day it came out, already having loved the first single, “Love Will Find A Way”. And… I was bummed. I guess having accustomed myself to the great albums preceding it, I felt let down that certain songs on BG just didn’t grab me by the throat the same way that the songs on 90125 were able to. It’s as if they hadn’t left the songs in the oven long enough; if 90125 was (and to me, still is) a 10/10, BG rates only 6.5/10 (7/10 on the days I’m feeling generous). And what made it so much more frustrating is that there seemed to be such potential for greatness within the songs that are there, but then the “great moments” sort of got squandered by an inability to create a fully great song top-to-bottom. I still love “Love Will Find A Way” (although I wish its sound weren’t so damn anemic); I love parts of “Final Eyes”. I get bored easily by “Rhythm of Love” and “Big Generator”, I wish there was more meat on the bones of “Shoot High, Aim Low”, “I’m Running”, and “Almost Like Love”. And I cringe at the hippy-dippy new-agey sentiment of “Holy Lamb”. (And I consider myself philosophically to be a hippie!) Bottom line: with BG, it’s just a case of so much potential but not enough cohesion, not enough coalescence.

2:10 I was stroking my beard when you said that, thinking "this album is bloody brilliant"

If "90125" and "Big Generator" had used the band name Cinema as the musicians wanted instead being forced by the record company to put them out under the Yes moniker, these albums would have been more readily accepted critically.

Stopped by a thrift store today and grabbed this album on vinyl not sure what to expect, never heard it before. Almost left it there. Than...this video! On the same day! The universe really wanted me to listen to BG this week I guess

No Big Generator is an entertaining, energetic, intriguing, and Holy album. I have always enjoyed it. Jon is an inspired artist and he seldom misses his mark. I saw Jon perform Holy Lamb on stage, it was sacred and powerful; and the entire concert from the tour was very well done and thrilling. I think it was quite beautiful how Trevor Rabin and Jon worked together on this and the preceding album, I think their partnership reached it height on "Talk".

A lot of the "Boomer Era" bands made really strange and weak post-peak albums in the mid-80s through the early 90s that sound incredibly dated and not really like themselves. (Think CSN&Y's "American Dream" or any of the Moody Blues' 80s albums or god forbid late-stage Beach Boys) But out of these "late stage boomer" albums Big Generator is one of the ones I like the most. Yes it is extremely dated. But the sound and the songs just work for me. It will never reach the heights of their 70s material or even 90125, but it's still a solidly enjoyable album I will put on from time to time. Still a fondue fountain of cheese, but I love it.

8:33 'Open Your Eyes' a prog masterpiece? My jaw hit the floor... and it is still there!

This brings me right back to cruising around with my Mom in her 87 Thunderbird, hair blown way out, blasting Love will Find a Way. Good stuff!

While this is not Yes at there best, there is much to enjoy.

I think this was the best album put out that year

No, I think this one is alright. The real stinker is the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album. That’s a shocker.

These albums were originally supposed to be for a new pop rock group outside of the prog genre. They're only called Yes for commercial recognizability. As a fan of both deep 70s prog and cheesy 80s pop, 90125 and Big Generator can hold their own in the broader Yes discography, even if it doesn't hold a candle to pretty much everything done with Bruford.

I enjoy both 80s era Yes albums for what they are, but it's really a different band as compared to 70s era Yes (by that I mean same musicians but different intentions with the music). I understand they resurrected the "Yes" moniker for marketing reasons after regrouping for the 90125 sessions, but wonder in retrospect if it would have been wiser to stay with their original name "Cinema".

Your use of the word “synthetic” to describe this effort reminds of the first thing I thought when I heard it. It’s a 6 on my 10 scale. The interesting tracks outnumber the lesser ones, but not by enough. Talk was a much more consistent and satisfying work. That later album, to me, was the highlight of Rabin’s contributions to the band.

I had no idea that it was despised, though I did have the perception that it was very '80's (in all the bad ways), didn't remember it all that fondly and hadn't listened to it in many years. Then about a year ago put it on for the heck of it and honestly I really dug it. For a few weeks I was replaying it pretty frequently. It isn't their best but I think it's quite good!

Not a bad album. Does not deserve the beating. Yes, 90 is much better…”Changes” a masterpiece

90125 was pretty good tho it was a “different” Yes, but Big Generator was where I got off the Yes train.

Shoot High Aim Low, Final Eyes, and I'm Running are all fantastic songs, and i even like Love Will Find A Way. The rest of the album I can do without

90125 is my most played CD ever after Floyd's 'dark Side.." this is the son of...album and that's Ok by me, there's a good 5 top class songs here. Prog/pop heaven really. Like your show a lot.

Wore the grooves off of this album. Great tour as well.

I've been a YES fan since childhood but wasn't old enough to see them in concert until this tour. It was my first YES concert.

I think this should be looked at as an album of songs rather than a Yes album. I quite enjoyed it and still do. Shoot High, I'm Running are great tunes and I think the melody in Holy Lamb is a beautiful thing. But it's definitely not a prog album

Thanks for another good episode. All the previous studio albums were remastered and released with bonus tracks but not this one. I think that says something. The dry burn of ‘Open Your Eyes’ was also a nice touch.

I'm an 80s kid and I was a tender age of 9 years old as young as I might have been at the time my tastes were ever evolving so my mom bought my first yes cassette in January 1988 and big generator was my first ever yes album I ever owned I got it for the big hit love Will find a way however shoot high aim low and I'm running got me into lifelong love for Yes

I loved 90125, I loved Drama, I'm one of the few that even loved Tormato but I did not like Union and I really did not like Big Generator. I think it had more to do with the album's production than maybe the music.

i love big generator 9/10 for me it grows in my estimation over time actually, love what they came up with. A nice mix of longer tracks and shorter hits

No, it’s not that bad, it’s just not a great Yes album. 90125 is probably my 7th favorite Yes record, and it was the first tour l saw live. Big Generator is a lesser version of 90125, l feel the songs are better on the latter platter. “Final Eyes,” “Shoot High… “ and “Love Will Find A Way” are my three favorite tracks from BG. The song l never liked is “Almost Like Love,” those cheesy keyboard sounding horns drive me bonkos! Personally, l enjoy the ABWH CD and Trevor Rabin’s solo album Can’t Look Away better than Big Generator. Cheers from Noo Yawk, ova heyah! ~8^ )

Wow. I'm impressed by the love this album is getting here from the comments. Nothing wrong with that. I like it a listen once in a while. And I mostly agree with the great review. To me it was a band adapting with their new direction, trying to build on 90125, making money in an MTV world. To be fresh, creative. Relevant (in, again, that MTV kind of way). You must say that despite the prevailing trends nobody else really sounded like that particular group of guys at the time. I enjoy a lot of those first two Rabin albums. I must point out that I saw them many times live in that 5 or so year period from 90125 to Talk, including the Onion Tour, and I really always enjoyed Trevor putting his signature very well on the Steve Howe pieces. Steve Howes welcomed back to YES would come around again down the road some years. Yet..little did we know everything change must and that Open Your Eyes was yet be spawned. They had some good work on the later albums when Wakeman came back, maybe even Sherwood sometimes.I admit I stopped listening when the other singers replaced Jon. Cheers.

OK album for Yes, excellent for anybody else. After this, I find Magnification their best by far.

I also like BG a lot. It hangs together as an "album" more than 90125. More focussed or perhaps controlled? Andersons' songs sound more confident and Trevor Rabin doesn't sound as though he's singing on a different record. Dig the string quartet (?) music about 3/4 of the way through, providing an exposition. Holy Lamb really comes to life in live performance, by the way.

can we have a Deep Purple worst as well then :) "The House Of Blue Light" Oh dear? Then again I was a big fan of Hughes/Coverdale era Purple, so Gillan coming back, was a bit of a game-changer for me.

Been a Yes-fan from the beginning. Was more disappointed with Drama (what a befitting name) . Really liked this one and 90125

I love this Yes album and play it often. I`m growing tired of the ytube nation putting it down. It is not the best Yes but to ask a band to repeat the 70`s over and over is ridiculous. I think its a great follow up to 90125. Anyone who saw Anderson Rabin Wakeman back in 2016/17 know what I`m talking about.

I love this album. All the old fans of all the old prog rockers were disappointed by the 80s versions of the bands, which is their loss. Trevor Rabin brought something really new and interesting to the band, and while the 80s pop influences are apparent, the whole album, and the title track in particular, is some of the most sonically interesting music of the whole decade.

I remember playing this to death back in the late 80,s ...some beautiful songs here - I also thought union was strangely undervalued too

I think it has more ambition musically than 90125 did. Tracks like Shoot High, Final Eyes and I'm Running take it places 90125 didn't go. There's a bit more substance on those mildly epic tunes. This was the first time this lineup had to deliver a "Yes" album and I thnk it covers more ground musically than it's predecessor. Production is not as good, but it was 1987, and sounds it. The vinyl version I have sounds best. It's really bright sounding on CD. I like it about as much as the other albums they did with Rabin.

They lost me here and I was a diehard Yes fan. Not to diss any other band but they sounded like an LA hair band. I grew up on the 70s version of the band, the Fragile/Close to the Edge band with Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford. Took me a little time to warm up to Alan White, who was more four on the floor while Bruford was more top end of the kit. But Big Generator lost me and I didn't even go see them on that tour. I put it in with Buggles version of 1980.

Shoot High Aim Low and I’m Running are extremely good tracks. Big Generator also worth a listen.

Big Generator is a guilty pleasure of mine. It was always of interest from the bass guitar point of view, featuring Chris on 5 string bass, often tuned to a low A, many riffs featuring on the Starlicks video he was in that watched over and over. Very little is written or said of this album especially in comparison to the rest of the canon, even the lacklustre Tormato's story is better documented. Odd considering this took nearly 3 years to coalesce. There are hints of too much partying going on, that could have exacerbated the creativity. The multiple recording locations and producers suggest an unfinished product being beaten into submission and released hastily. I wouldn't say any of the songs are bad, but they lack any real lustre, any passion. In comparison, the hated Union has a far more complete sound with the ABWH2 material feeling like there was a driving force behind it (Anderson and later Elias). I made a CD once with the Rabin penned songs from Union mixed in with BG, it was a far more satisfying collection. The tour was short also, with many songs being dropped quickly - I feel this was more a symptom of the preparedness of the band and lack of familiarity with their recent album of abandoned arguments than a comment on BGs overall quality. A missed opportunity.

I gave up on Yes with this album. Still love everything up to and including Going for the One.

Note to self: this is not a "prog" record any more than Drama and 90125. It's rock driven new wave. It's annoying that Yes fans can't see past prog!

I adore The Big Generator. Always have. Now their visual look in 87 was a little lame, but the album is gorgeous.

BG is just 90125 shandy. I haven't bought a Yes LP since. Similarly, I haven't bought a Genesis LP after Duke.

Without the Trevor Rabin period Yes might have ceased to exist (note the "might"). If XYZ had worked out for Squire and White, Yes certainly would have been finished I think. Big Generator is a decent album although it does smack of being a hurried follow up demanded by the Record company to the previous hit album. Personally I've no time for the nay-sayers "...it's not the same without Jon Rick Pete Tony Hugh Hugh Barney McGrew Cuthbert Dibble and Grub etc yaddah yaddah. Along with MrWheeler715 the first time I got to see Yes was on the 90125 tour (having been a fan since Fragile/Close To the Edge). I saw ABWH on tour and Onion in the round at Wembly, the "classic" line up at the Hammersmith Apollo (2003?) and the the Jon Davison fronted Yes including the late great Chris Squire at the Cliffs Pavilion Westcliff-on-Sea (you heard it right!). Thoroughly enjoyed them all!

Yes, it is all that bad! I'd put it up there with Genesis' 'Duke' and Gentle Giant's 'Giant For A Day'.

i love big generator is great.yes could come out today and say theyre working on a ganster rap album, and i would buy it just to hear theyre spin on the genre.

Although I had heard Rhythm Of Love and Love Will Find A Way back when they were released as singles, I actually did not hear the entire Big Generator album until 2016 (almost 30 years later). I was actually quite surprised by how good it was, in my opinion. It's not the greatest Yes album ever made but I don't think it's bad either. I like it.

I agree that Rabin’s voice is a welcome additional texture during this era. I respect his overall talent.

Love will find a Way's a fab song 🎵 Trevor Rabin great guitarist 🎸 vocalist & writer. RIP Chris Squire & Alan White really great musicians.

When a prog band sets their sights on making pop songs, look out. Great shit! I way prefer this era of the band to the earlier stuff. I'm the same way with Genesis. I can't huff enough glue to get into those earlier albums.

In 1991 Steve Howe quipped that 70s Yes music emphasised melody while 80s emphasised rhythm. As a bass player I'm okay with that. BG is one of my favorite Yes records because it _was_ a departure from the melodic, airy-fairy prior works and demonstrated that Yes was more than static, one-picture musical ideas. Previous records could be flighty and a bit airheaded while BG was driven, hard and in a way shiny-metallic by contrast. It was to previous Yes albums, as Bill Bruford described leaving Yes for KC, a "cold shower" compared to previous works. Of course right afterward came ABWH which tried to combine the two (and I thought, successfully) with more melodic than rhythmic.

I think Love Will Find A Way is a bit sickly sweet pop rock but other than that i really like this album, for me i'd sit this album equal to 90125, not much between them for me.

I like the album very much. Of course it's very different from the old stuff. It's still good!!

I know Rick Wakeman hated Union, but what did he say what he thought of think of Big Generator and Beverly Hills 90125 ?

This album brought interest from a younger generation. A good thing.

Personally, I really like the album. Bands should be allowed to do something a bit different after 20 years of doing the same thing. It's no Close To The Edge, but is till a very enjoyable listen. IMHO.

As I stroke my build and mourn my giving up smoking in 1991, I decide, yes, yes it is a stinker of an album!!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about Threshold's debut record "Wounded Land. And the Whitespade record that Midnight just dropped, a wonderful Motörhead tribute.

This is a flawed album, but I love it. I could do without the title track and “Almost Like Love” - it would be perfect, if really short. Side 2 is flawless (yes! I said it!) and “Shoot” is an all-timer.

Hi, I`m Ramon from Argentina. I think that if you listen to Genesis in the Gabriel era or in Trick of the tail album, it's different to Jesus he knows me or Abacab. I knew Yes with the album 90125 and that's why I investigate their other works, Big Generator is like an evolution of the band, with a lot of influence from Ravin, but it seems like a beautiful album to me. When you go to a Yes show you can enjoy both worlds, the new and the classic, this is a beautiful combination. Regards!

I'm not a huge fan of this album either, but I do love "I'm Running".

Shoot High Aim Low is one of my favorite songs ever.

This is a great album for non-Yes fans of banal pop-rock.

I actually thoroughly enjoy BG from start to finish just as l do 90... Far from a progressive masterpiece of earlier work but a great MTV era effort.

Good on them for venturing forward. As much as I love Close to The Edge, did we really expect they would keep repeating that forever? It's why I love Genesis, they kept changing things.

Obviously it’s a different beast from the prog greats like CTTE or Relayer but, make no mistake, without Rabin’s input - especially with 90125 and this album - Yes would have ground to a halt completely in 1980. Is this a “great” record? No. But it’s a pretty good prog pop crossover release nonetheless - and certain tracks are genuinely fantastic. It will always play “second fiddle” to 90125 but, compared to something like Union or the lamentable Heaven & Earth, it shouldn’t be dismissed so lightly.

Love BIG Generator.... What a great album from my youth...." I'm Running " is incredible...

As with Hot Space, your Is It Really That Bad review has sent me back to listen to this album for the first time probably since 1987. And as with Hot Space I've had again to answer No, it's not that bad. Maybe the passing of the decades makes me listen afresh, discarding the prejudices of the time. Or maybe I'm just getting old and soft in the head. I agree that it's clearly an attempt to cash in on 90125 by offering more in the same vein and it definitely comes off second best. But I found much to enjoy and will be giving it another listen shortly. However, I can't see me changing my mind about Onion, whose many layers of awfulness surely cannot be redeemed by time.

Never was able to listen to it in one go, I remember buying the vinyl on day one, putting it on, and just turning it off after 3 songs. It was the beginning of the end, took until The Ladder to get back to form, and then just horrible albums until Keys.

I would agree with Meinart Hansen; not a bad album... i think "Heaven & Earth" is the worst album by yes. Some good songs on Big Generator... "Rhythm Of Love"; Shoot High Aim Low" and "Final Eyes" i really like. But i would say that the two previous albums "90125" and "Drama" are far better... both are my favourites und most listened albums. Greetings from germany... bye and take care.

I like this one alot but it is not great like 90125. Loved all yes releases though

I play this album far more than 90125. A fine sonic experience which is varied and interesting.

I think the answer to this question largely depends on when you were born. Most people who got into Yes in the 1970s aren’t going to like it much. I got into Yes in the late 80s and really like it, especially Shoot high aim low, Rhythm of love & I’m running. This album is also let down by it’s pretty awful title track and album cover (which aren’t going to help entice those older fans).

Almost Like Love gets my vote as worst concert opener by any Yes lineup. But overall what killed this album was the interminable wait from 90125. Yes was on a roll but per their history failed to capitalize on it, missing out on LiveAid and better production values on this album. Oh well, it was the 80s after all on they were not kind to many prog acts. The “hear this voice” end of I’m Running is great, one of the best moments from this lineup, wish they played it live when I saw this tour.

I actually like this album quite a bit. In terms of the 80's output i prefer it to 90125

Big G came at a time when shorter songs were popular. I'm a fan of epic songs, but this album has some really great songs. Shoot High, Aim Low is still one of my favorite Yes songs. This LP is a perfect example of A-Side/B-Side construction. Nevertheless, this LP is a masterpiece of 80s music from a band that designed prog rock. But, I'm also a fan of Yes's "Talk" LP as well. I'm not sure why you keep comparing this LP to 90125. They are 2 different music ideas.

I think this is a fine album and LWFAW is a fantastic pop song.

I can still listen to some tracks on this album from time to time, my favorite being "Shoot High Aim Low". But I do think it is the worst of the "Rabin-era" albums. And on top of that, the sound quality of Big Generator is aweful. It lacks lower frequencies quite a bit. I even like Union better, which is an album often put as the absolute worste of theirs.

No, it’s not really that bad. Does it rate as a great Yes album? Well, no. But this is not a horrible outing, and has some strong pieces, to be sure. Shoot High Aim Low is the big standout, I think. Love that tune. I think a lot of the problems for this album find their genesis with the label and with Horn. The label was demanding another Owner of a Lonely Heart, thus you have an album geared toward trying to mimic the success of 90125. But you also have Horn, who clashed with Anderson during the writing of the album. Anderson has famously said he wanted to craft more adventurous songs and push the musicality of the band to capitalize on the new influx of fans, but Horn shut him down and reportedly isolated him from involvement until the songs were near completion. So it would come as no surprise that Anderson left after the tour for this album and put together ABWH. Despite its troubled birth, I think it does stand fairly well, though it doesn’t have the shine of a quality classic Yes outing. I still enjoy it.

Ive never heard any one say this album was bad. not once since it came out, and was listened to often by anyone i knew that had it. I don't even get the basis of making a video defending an album that had hits, and was loved at the time and still is by fans of the band. what's next? "was let it be really a dud?" or how about "Led Zeppelin, no one liked em"

My first Yes album was Union, bought right after its release in 1991. Big Generator I bought shortly afterwards, from a bargain bin for very little, perhaps also because it was on a cassette, though later replaced by a CD. Terrific abum, in my opinion. I still enjoy it now, especially Shoot High, Aim Low. Still, what an eyesore that album cover is, eh?