I love the entire Drama album. This was my natural starting point for Yes as a Rush fan. I love the stuff with Jon Anderson, as well, but for some reason, this album really strikes all the right notes for me.
This is a great place for a Rush fan to connect with Yes. I'm thinking this might be the Yes album that sounds the most similar to '70s Rush in terms of energy level and grit. To any of you other Yes fans: what do you think? Is it the most Rush-like music by Yes?
"Tempus Fugit" is the closing track off 'Drama.' When I heard that Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman had left Yes in 1979, I was very upset. Then I heard rumors of a new album being released early in 1980. I had been a huge Yes fan since 1974. In 1980, I was in San Diego in the Navy and I bought tickets to see them "In the Round." Our seats were only 3 rows back and they were fire! One memory I do have is seeing Trevor Horn struggling to hit Jon Anderson's tenor register for "Heart of the Sunrise!" And as a Rush and Yes fan (my #1 & #2 bands), I'm still into prog rock even after all these decades. And I think 'Tormato' is an excellent album! Especially Side A! And it closes with one of Yes' best songs, "On the Silent Wings of Freedom!" Oh, and I'm one of those Yes fans who has seen Yes with ALL FOUR lead singers! And Jon Anderson will always be THE voice of Yes!! 🎤✌🎶
As a longtime Yes fan, Drama Is my favorite. Machine Messiah is my favorite track But the whole album is pure Brilliance! You should probably Like this, Justin. Thanks for the suggestion, Rob.
Drama was an unexpected banger. Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman ran off screaming into the night after Tormato and it looked like curtains for YES. But Squire, Howe and White assembled some seriously powerhouse pieces and invited Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn into the YES club. This is actually among my top four most listened to YES albums within the last few years. It has withstood the test of time as well as their early 70s peak period, although a very different animal, it stands up as perhaps what could have been a strong finale. What followed was very impressive but to me, the 'Rabin' phase was not really YES, it was slick prog-pop metal. Drama was somewhat harder edged than the 70s YES, but still carried the spirit of Fragile, The YES album and Relayer.. Tormato has some great tracks and is worth checking out, but it seemed mired in production issues. Overly drenched in effects, all top end and busy busy busy. But the songs themselves deserved more appreciation for sure, esp. The Silent Wings of Freedom.
On the Silent Wings of Freedom is in my Yes top ten too. Chris Squire’s bass stands out. Anderson’s lyrics far more stark, pain filled and less ethereal. Very real look at the pain of spiritual growth (the disassembly of the individual ego).
So growing up in the 80’s, I listened to rock radio stations. They would play roundabout, and I’ve seen all good people along with owner of a lonely heart. So I seeked out those albums that had those songs. Ending up loving those albums, but never got their whole discography. I feel like I need to check out more Yes!
there is another video of them performing this onstage for the camera and it's impressive to see they can play it just like they recorded it. this one and _Into The Lens_ off the same album
Producer and engineer Brian Kehew on why the compressed sound of Tormato's promising prog was really all down to just a simple oversight: "Offord had started the album. He had done most of the Yes records, and I know from working on his tracks that he used Dolby A a lot ... They parted ways with him mid-course, and somebody else finished the record. So, I'm looking at the tapes and it doesn't say Dolby A anywhere on them. It's typical that they note that when encoded. I said, 'Hold on a second, let me put Dolby on this,' and everything - except for some of the later overdubs - sounded amazing. I went, 'Aha!' I think we realized what happened. They went to somebody else, and the other person didn't see Dolby on the tapes."
This album still has Squire/Howe/White and it is very underrated. Machine Messiah is a must listen and probably the heaviest Yes song. I also like the Tormato album, although different. On The Silent Wings of Freedom is must listen with a great Squire intro. I prefer the Steve Howe yes years.
Glad someone requested some YES. There is so much great YES out there but I'm too poor to request it lol. BTW Tormato my be an acquired taste but I have always enjoyed it. Going For The One is the best YES in my opinion. Cheers...
Obviously love both Rush and Yes. Tormato has one song I like, which is about three fewer than HYF. As for this tune, it’s another showcase for Chris Squire’s badassery.
Yes is one of those bands for me that I don’t listen to all the time but every time I do I’m never disappointed, and it doesn’t matter which album it is. I’ve done their whole discography, because I’m like you, I need to listen to them all in order so I can fully understand a bands arc etc…., some albums are better than others, but all of them have mostly good to great songs on them and I always feel satisfied after listening to Yes, even their ‘80s albums. These guys should be on your very short list along with Kansas and Genesis.
Never heard this before- mid section sounds very jazz-fusion, verses sound like the Police. Singer sounds v much like Jon Anderson- it's scary. You can't mistake (or beat) Chris Squire's backing vocals. Iconic. I liked it!
Glad you enjoyed it. Regarding “Tormato,” it’s actually a pretty good record with a few tracks that miss the mark. But the bass on it is consistently excellent. “On The Silent Wings Of Freedom” is the stand out track, and I think one of the coolest bass songs ever. So well written and played.
When we first heard this album in 1980, I looked at my friends and said, "Squire must be using a platinum pick" on this song. Probably his heaviest ever bass sound. Edit to add that I thought Tormato had about 3 really good songs, some really cringe stuff, and then some just sort of throwaway songs; but the Tormato tour was the first concert I ever went to, so nostalgia runs deep on that album. Drama was a really good album, and the concert was astounding.
There is another one, fortunately. :-) I don't think it is quite as good, but it is decent and a lot of people like it. It's "Fly From Here: Return Trip" released in 2018. Enjoy!
Love this whole album. The intro section and bass riff remind me strongly of Xanadu by Rush - we know there's mutual admiration between those bands especially the bass players :)
I checked through your playlist & notice you've only reacted to the live versions of 3 YES Masterpieces: Roundabout, Starship Trooper, & Yours Is No Disgrace. I hope you've taken in the studio versions of those three since then, because the live versions are *_CRAP_* compared to the studio versions. Seriously, YES packed so much complexity into those masterpieces & mixed it so perfectly at the sound board, they stand out as stunning achievements in themselves. I get the curiosity about the visuals, but YES' perfectionism in the studio really stands out as a special sonic experience. If you were to react to those studio versions, I'd definitely check them out, if only to hear you comment about how completely different & wonderful it is. One RU-vid reactor reacted to a live version of Close To The Edge but then agreed to listen to the studio version & immediately chastised his commenters for not telling him how much better the studio version was. He was blown away.
Great song. Yes I would consider this change in Yes a change from prog to more accessible and modern prog. I would compare it to the change in Rush’s prog sound from Hemispheres to Moving Pictures. Still prog but much more accessible and a bit shorter songs. You can also see this transition in Genesis during the same time period from their late 70’s prog to what they put out on the Abacab album in 1981.
New Wave and Punk were coming in during this period. Yes, Genesis and Rush all started sounding more angular and tight. While some New Wave Bands like XTC, Gary Newman and Ultravox and the Buggles had elements of prog...
Huge Yes fan. I love "Drama." I love "Tormato." Don't forget: "Drama" includes the astoundingly brilliant "Machine Messiah," which ANY Yes fan can dig.
Howe used a Telecaster w/a humbucker on most of this album. He slso pulls out a Les Paul on "Run Thru the Light". Check it out. Appreciate the theory talk. Sets you apart as a reactor. Thanks!
A great album! After the absolute disaster of Tormato, this was a great reset. But after Fragile, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One, this is my 4th favorite. (crazy, but above The Yes Album!). Outstanding track from one of their best, what more could you ask?
He plays some strange bass with two built-in effects here, and they have exchangeable cartridges. I think he's only ever used the Flange effect, though. You can hear it again in 'Cinema' on the subsequent album '90125'. Chris demoes it together with his other basses in a 'Masterclass' clip 🙂
Hey Justin - when I was in college in Boston, my roommate was in a band whose (skilled) bassist was friends with a guitarist at Berklee, who was always playing arrpeggios all over the neck when noodling around, and now I know why! 😮He was Paul Kent - don't know if he achieved guitar fame or not...
Trevor Horny was the first voice heard when MTV launched. The first video they ever ran was Video Killed the Radio Star sung by none other than Trevor Horny. Horny…. I would say lol but I don’t say lol.
Nice Justin. Tormato was a raw middle finger to the suits in the music business as it feux filled a horse droppings contract. An album I've grown to admire the genius of each song. As for drama Howe said he really loved the fact that he Chris and Alan were constantly rocking it out. As for this song it was brilliant live. 🙏🍁
If Howe and Squire are a part of it's gonna be worth a listen, and usually excellent. There's a good argument they're both the best ever w giutar & bass, respectively. Due respect to Knopfler and Lee, ect
I only like 4 songs on Hold Your Fire. I like most of Tormato and Drama. I like the Buggles influence that Trevor Horne and Geoff Downes bring to this album. 'Into The Lense' is a remake of a Buggles song.
Great album even if the first to digress from the previous with Jon Anderson on vocals. Trevor did a good job. Unique experiment: Yes / Buggles fusion.
At the time I liked 'Drama' but I missed Anderson and Wakeman. 'Tormato' was strangely produced (dry?) and followed one of their greatest albums, 'Going For the One'. 'Going For the One' had 5/5 great songs. 'Tormato' had 2/8. The rest were uninspired or maybe not properly developed. 'Hold Your Fire' was not a huge surprise after 'Power Windows' but it was too far in one direction. I think 'Time Stand Still' was better because it was different from the rest. It needed more variety (more sounds isn't necessarily more variety). I've had the pleasure of seeing / hearing 4 of the 5 musicians on 'Drama' perform live. I enjoy your analysis - fills in blanks in my understanding.
You might be interested in seeing the music video they did for this song... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vzxZzIiO84Y.html&ab_channel=yesofficial Chris Squire, Steve Howe, & Alan White *in their prime* as musicians. Chris Squire is really impressive singing with his fingers flying on the bass. In my opinion, the Drama was YES' best album they recorded after Relayer. Each of the albums they recorded between those two had some good songs on them, but not quite as good as Drama. On Tormato, there were two really good songs that made the album worth the purchase price *Release, Release* and *On The Silent Wings Of Freedom.* OTSWOF was based on another inspired Chris Squire bass riff, which showed he still had it.
LOL! The Tormato opinions are so all-over-the-map other than agreement on Silent Wings of Freedom... I think Release Release is now 2 vs 2 as good vs "the worst" in the comments... 🤨😆
As a Yes fan for 40 years, Tormato is a love/hate Marmite album - some Yes fans regard it as underrated, while some Yes fans think of it as the absolute low point for 70s Yes. It all depends on where you are with your appreciation of Yes music/albums, and what you want from Yes music (particularly 70s Yes music). It also helps if you are aware of the shifting musical landscape (particularly in the UK) in 1978. Punk and new-wave were rampant and Yes (while still hugely commercially successful) were now declared as dinosaurs and irrelevant. I think Tormato is Yes trying to reel themselves in a bit and write shorter songs. With Tormato, Yes found out, at least musically, that it is better to be the action rather than a reaction to an action. The production on Tormato is, to be generous...dry. It sounds as if the band are trying hard not to piss off the punks while still trying not to disillusion the Yes fanbase. Tormato and Yes got lost somewhere in between. Also, Rick Wakeman's choice of keyboards sounded tired and, even for 1978, dated. There are a couple tracks on Tormato I feel are badly let down by Wakeman's horrible sounding late 70s synths (a warning if ever there was one to the 80s more synth centred Rush). The golden age of Yes is subjective, but for me, it's from The Yes Album in '71 through to Relayer in '74. Wakeman's return in late 76 for the Going For The One album in 77 was, for me, a step backwards from the Patrick Moraz keyboard work and genuinely progressive music on the previous Relayer album, even though GFTO has some nice stuff (Awaken being the stand out track). I guess what I'm trying to say is Tormato is an album you might like some of, and some of it you might regard as dated crap. If I'm in the right frame of mind, I can listen to Tormato start to finish and enjoy it for what it is. Other times... oooh no, those cheesy synths. No thanks, not today. Drama is a bit of a weird album. Is it really a Yes album? Is it Buggles & Yes or Yes & Buggles? Again, a marmite album for Yes fans. Again, some good stuff on it if you're in the right frame of mind to give it a chance. It's kind of a stand alone album in the Yes back catalogue - the Drama Band. Regards Rush Hold Your Fire album... I first got into Rush when the Permanent Waves album was released in 1980. As a school kid, I loved it. Rush were my favourite band up to the Signals album in 82. I saw them live at the end of the Signals tour in Edinburgh, Scotland in May 83. It was bliss. But I was already finding more about those 70s Yes albums and Yes became my teenage musical obsession - even though I kind of hated the whole Yes 90125/Big Generator 80s albums. Don't get me wrong, I Still love Rush though, but I just couldn't get into those mid 80s albums after Signals. In my opinion, if the golden age of Yes was 1971-1974, I would say the golden age of Rush was 1975-1981. Okay, I'll stop now 😊
@@robshaw2639 Marmite is a UK food which famously/infamously tends to split people along the lines of those who love it and those who hate it, with very little inbetween😉 For what it's worth, I love it.
Back when the only way to own music was basically to buy vinyl, I had a rule I imposed upon myself: buy no album that you can't fully enjoy all of the tracks on at least one side. That way you could spin it without having to think about moving the needle along to skip over a rotten track. The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales, Relayer, and Going for the One all easily met that test. Tormato flunked it due to some surprisingly clunky songs on both sides of the album. I suppose I may have set the bar to high. OtSWoF and Madrigal are great Yes songs. I was actually satisfied when the band broke up after Tormato, thnking it clear that this particular group of musicians had were just about done producing consistently great music. Then they had a great comeback with some new blood added to the mix.
Drama is definitely an outlier in the Yes catalog. It's a fan favorite, but wasn't a huge commercial success and the group quickly imploded following the tour, with poor Trevor Horn probably heading fastest for the exits! He had the unenviable -- and unsustainable -- job of going on stage singing "And You And I" every night for 60 shows. He and Benoit David can probably share war stories about THAT experience! 😄 Still, Trevor has never regretted a moment he was in Yes. I mean, he went from The Buggles to Yes to producing Yes in the space of a few years, and then onto fame and fortune as a star producer for people like Seal (and Yes again much later!) Not a bad career. Still, the entire Drama album has aged well and definitely holds up to scrutiny, especially for Chris Squire fans (and btw Justin, it was a major influence on bands like Dream Theater, who even covered another track from this album at one time.) But this whole album was sort of Chris, Steve and Alan's "revenge" album following the acrimonious breakup of the classic 70's lineup and the departure of Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. Re: Tormato, it's a good but not great album. It's a bit too varied, and feels like a snapshot of a band coming apart at the seams. Justin, I have a feeling you'd like 90125, although it divides the fan base and is more "of its time". Re: the arpeggios, any time you hear tricky patterns ("Long Distance Runaround" for example) that's Steve Howe's influence on Yes. He's the kind of guy who sat in his room playing Wes Montgomery licks for hours. Re: Hold Your Fire, I'm with Justin. Nuff said. 😉
Tormato is my fav Yes album and bass player in a band i'm in his fav as well. I never get why it always is seen as a poor relation release,i love it.I was pretty much over Rush after Signals except for specific tracks.
Yes is also a favourite of mine, but I had to look up what songs were on Tormato. Did a quick skim, I'm generally OK with it - but Circus of Heaven is awful. Hold Your Fire is not top ten Rush but still great - Time Stand Still is easily one of the all time Rush classics - and love Prime Mover especially. Power Windows easy top 3. Drama is excellent, and Tempus Fugit is my top pick off the album. Much preferred over Tormato.
Interesting album. In the absence of Anderson and Wakeman, Howe, Squire and White really stepped up. Saw the tour supporting Drama-strangest show ever. Sounded great on songs from this album. Horn was awful on classic Yes songs. Would like to have seen a second album from this lineup.
Tormato was mostly awful with two really good songs “On the Silent Wings of Freedom” and “Release, Release” and a decent song “Don’t Kill the Whale.” The Drama album is excellent. One of my favorites and I wish the lineup had survived for a couple more albums.
The consensus seems to be non-Tormato fans still say Silent Wings of Freedom is good, but vary on the other tracks - I know I saw someone call Release Release the worst... lol. Thanx for the Tormato reply.
This entire album is interesting in a number of ways. Drama caught a lot of flak when it dropped from older Yes fans because it was so different from what they were used to. The tour supporting this album was so strange. Trevor Horn really struggled with Anderson’s vocals on older Yes material, so much so that it was a bit embarrassing. Then, when they performed songs from Drama, his confidence soared and they sounded like a different band. Schizophrenic almost. From today’s vantage, Drama stands up pretty well. Edgier, harder driving. More prog metal than the more classically flavored earlier prog. Your Dream Theater comp is apt. Absent Anderson and Wakeman, I thought Howe, Squire and White really stepped up. “Tempus Fugit” is still one of my top 10 Yes songs.
Thanx Justin, and all the commenters! I never knew Drama was as popular as all comments are saying (that was a bit of surprise), and yep, the Tormato comments are roughly what I expected...😙
I have a new theory - because I listen mainly to prog/alt, whatever The Cure is, and singer/songwriter including experimental/jazzy singer/songwriter (Kate Bush, Dave Matthews)... I'm biased to thinking that the less proggy (eg lots of Styx) is just rock or pop/rock, because I don't really listen to too much straight rock... So yeah, I"m wrongly placing the line somewhere already inside the prog spectrum....
Tormato: Other than Release, Release I enjoyed that one, and that song wasn't horrible. In fact it was better than Parallels. Only (real) Yes album I haven't been able to embrace is Relayer. It has some fantastic moments, but I'm not a big fan of jazz, and boy does that one get jazzy. Hold Your Fire: Power Windows was when I could no longer ignore the fact that Alex was basically being shoved to the back and even for the eighties Rush now had a super dated sound. Hold Your Fire was a continuation, but a slight improvement. I pretty much never decide to listen to it as an album, whereas Hemispheres has been living in my car CD player for 3 years.
First of all, YES has never put out a “pop” album. I hate when people say that. I’ve been a rock/metal jock since 80, and YES is always rock first. Tormato (Tour-mato) is excellent as well. That tour was amazing. Rushs Geddy Lee and I talked for about half an hour about how great YES is. They are the GOAT! I call it great rock, not prog…☮️❤️😎
You interviewed Geddy (or know him personally)? Agreed, 90125 is rock first, but a definite shift towards pop when compared with all the 70s Yes... (funny how i need to say "agreed" instead of "yes" to avoid confusion... lol)
I liked this album when it came out, but then again, I rather liked The Buggles too. one of the songs on this album was also on a later Buggles album with a different arrangement and title. The songs on Drama are very New Wave, yet also progressive. They're like the Buggles, and also like Yes. It's a weird mix and I mainly enjoy it, though at times when I'm in a different frame of mind I have a disconnect between the two styles and find it a bit abrasive.
My Google music service doesn't have the 2nd Buggles album, although it has their "I am a Camera" single -- does you music service have the 2nd Buggles album?
"Into the Lens" is a remake of the Buggles track "I Am A Camera" which appeared on Adventures in Modern Recording. The bonus tracks on the most recent CD reissue also includes "We Can Fly From Here", a Horn/Downes song that was played live on the Drama tour and later re-recorded by Yes for their Fly From Here album in 2011.
@@yes_head Thanx! I couldn't remember the name! Adventures in Modern Recording... but my Google music service doesn't have that album for some reason... I really liked Vermillion Sands from the 2nd Buggles album
@@robshaw2639 Amazon "Music Unlimited" has even less. That service only has the first album (original 8 tracks) and a single edit of Video Killed the Radio Star.
I was a Yes fan before Tormato and Drama were released. Tormato was kind of meh with a couple tracks I liked. However, Drama was a good album. Tempos Fugit is good but I really like Does it Really Happen?
My brother was into Yes in the early to mid-70s. He even bought a Rick Waksman album. They were genius level musicians but I didn’t really get into until the 9-oh something album. I saw them in concert that tour as well. They were good but I don’t think they were as good as they were in the 70s. Just saying. My brother later got into the Psychodelic Furs. College does that to people. 😂
IMO, Yes has a lot of GREAT stuff and a lot of "what the hell is this crap" stuff. I think at the time this came out, Yes needed all the changes they had just to refresh. Both Tormato and Going For The One albums have occasionally cool stuff surrounded with stuff 'd be perfectly happy if I never heard again. I refuse to even bother to listen to Tales From Topographic Oceans. But all the albums from The Yes Album through Close To The Edge are really great. Drama has a lot of really interesting stuff (like this track, Machine Messiah, and Does It Really Happen?) as does 90120, Big Generator, and Talk. Most of the albums after Trevor Rabin's tenure though to me are pretty disjointed. I give the band a lot of credit for experimenting and trying to break new ground -- it led to a lot of great music. But they also recorded a lot of stuff I can do without.
Drama is a top 5 Yes album for me. Love 90125 as well, w/ "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" being one of my least favorite tunes on that one. Still can't touch The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To the Edge. As far as Tormato goes...never liked the songs and the production is a mess to me. Rush-Hole Your Fire, love it...a bit overproduced and a much different direction lyrically for them, but i have a soft spot for that album. Permanent Waves is still my fav from them though.
I'm remembering, a small cylinder came down over the stage, opened out sort of like an umbrella and a curtain dropped from around it's edges. Then a light turned on inside showing their silhouettes, it raised and there they were. Really cool entrance. Stage revolved throughput the show and the drum riser raised up and down revolving the opposite direction. 😊
Yes set the bar so high that when they were merely great it was a huge disappointment...in my opinion when they let jon dominate the songwriting they flopped...ala Tales Of Topographis Oceans...But when Chris and Steve And Alan were the drivers they ROCKED...RELAYER and Drama are examples of that...drama of course because jon left.
Not much Yes I don’t like. Tormato is not my favorite and I understand the dislike by many fans. This song was cool. Hold your fire is a masterpiece. I hold it so high in my list of favorite albums that I refuse to listen to every again. 😀
What are you, a troll looking for vile comments to masterbate to? HOW CAN YOU HATE A BAND?? Were you tied down in your youth and forced to listen to Rush albums back to back? I personally don't care for many artists music but Hate, no I won't listen to something after giving it a couple of shots at winning my ears over, if it's not your thing then don't listen to it. Maybe your one of those people that use the word Hate like it doesn't matter, like a child referring to an untouched vegetable on their plate. Hate People whom Hate, but prefer not to give them much thought because Hate is poison Dude.😊❤
