Comments for Yes, Drama

One of the best Yes albums, no doubt. Who thinks that Yes ended their golden age with Tormato is wrong ! Although the departure of Rick and Jon (!) the album sounds extraordinarily great. The Buggles' input (especially from Geoff Downes) mixes quite well with the remaining classic Yes' members. It has got the rare quality that all the songs are at the top of level. The band's performances are among the best ones in their history, and it's incredible how the music can be so elaborated and at the same time so immediately appealing. I will never understand why this album has always been so undervalued and treated as an 'alien episode'. It's for true Yes fans, instead ! GUG

The "Drama" album has bee unfairly ignored by many YES fans, simply because Jon Anderson was not involved with this album. "Drama" is a great album, with very good, hard rock songs played with gusto by Steve Howe on acoustic guitar and the always powerful bass chords of YES founder Chris Squire help give songs such as "Tempus Fugit" a unique sound. Trevor Horn, while not the vocal equivalent of his predecessor Anderson, has a voice that has a unique charm on it's own. Alan White's percussion is ever present and powerful, while Geoff Downes provides interesting musical riffs. Reviewed by: Rush Wickes

INSPIRATION is what "YES" is all about, that's where their great unique rock and roll comes from. Like "Yes", my primary source of inspiration is the GREAT SPIRIT potentially inside all of us. Among my finest influences in reaching some of that spiritual potential have been the great rock & roll group "Yes", and the spiritually inspiring books written by "KEN CAREY". How do you rate inspiration? "Yes" & "Ken Carey" get 10's in my "opinion". -Ed McConnell

The two good tracks (and great riffs), "Does It Really happen" & "Tempis Fugit" turned up on the boxed set. The rest of this is ridiculous, very pretentious and strained.

The previous commentator was right on a bout the strengths of this album. Great riffs in two songs Does it Really Happen and Tempus Fugit. This rest is pretentious junk.

Considering that 1980 was a difficult time, with the loss of singer and main composer Jon Anderson, _Drama_ ended up being a suprisingly good album. Trevor Horn's voice (sung here in his higher register) lacks the warmth and emotional qualities of Anderson's voice, but when it is blended with Squire and Howe, the sound is still unmistakably "Yes". Yes dealt with Anderson's absence with a blast of real ensemble work: the compositions and the playing.

Okay, Trevor Horns vocals aren't as great as Anderson's. No one can compare with Jon. But nevertheless Drama is a good album. I know I#m in a minority here but Geoff Downes is the best keyboarder that Yes ever had and he's certainly the best composer of them, but that's not so difficult. "Machine Messiah", "Into The Lens", "Tempus Fugit" and "White Car" are great. The rest of the tracks isn't as good but there's not a really bad song on this album. I wish they would have put "We Can Fly From Here" on it, a beautiful song they played only live on the Drama Tour. Also I would like to here a Yes version of "Video Killed The Radio Star". (Yes I know I have wild fantasies). Beware the remastered version of Drama.It's awful.

"DRAMA" is an awe-inspiring album in my opinion. I am really not a huge YES-fan,but I love ASIA and Geoff DOwnes. This album has nary one weak track, and they sound like magnificent compositions of classical and rock origin. Geoff Downes is an incredible asset to any band he is with, and this album, which I think we can correctly judge as a precursor to ASIA "ASIA" sounds just fine by me. It really weaves a masterful prog tapestry with marvelous melodies, riffs, and of course, the bizarro voice of Trevor Horn.

"Drama" is Yes without Jon Anderson. My first initial reaction to this album when it was released 17 years ago was "This is not Yes!" But the album grew on me. "Drama" is the last album where you'll find any strong guitar leads from Steve Howe. Despite the bizarre vocals of Trevor Horn (who finally found his true calling as a producer, i.e. "90125"), the tracks are passable. The loss of Anderson and Wakeman (and their notorious squabblings) might have loosened up the rest of the crew to rock out. The weakest point of the album is "Into the Lens" where Horn's vocals betray him, whereas "Run Through the Light" is more Buggles than Yes (check the instrument line-up on that one). "Tempus Fugit" (pardon my French) kicks ass whereas "Machine Messiah" sounds like it could be a leading soundtrack for Dune Part 2 (Dune Messiah). All in all, "Drama" lives up to its name. Simply because a Yes album lacks the "la-la-la-la's" of Mr. Anderson does not mean the band couldn't go on without him.

Jon and Rick leave to continue their new-age tendencies, while Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes come in and take Yes into a completely different direction. Chris continues to play bass more prominently, while Steve continues to move away from the spotlight. But overall my feelings are mixed. Trevor is an "okay" singer, and "Run through the Light" and "Does it Really Happen" are great Yes songs that i'd love to see Jon sing, but most of the album ("Machine Messiah", "White Car", "Into the Lens") breezes by as unmemorable new-wavey rock (rightly so; Trevor and Geoff came from the Buggles, a new wave group).

No, it doesn''t sound like yes. Yes, it is more hard rock than anything they did previously, and I think it''s great! I hear a lot of people complaining that this doesn''t sound like Yes: well, the real quesstion is does it sound good. I have to say absolutely: It''s one of the greatest Yes albums of all time. Even in places where there isn''t awesome riffage (like Into the Lense) the mood is there. I would have LOVED to hear more albums with this lineup, but I was born the year it came out, so i couldn''t warn them!

Personnel:Geoff Downes (keyboards)Trevor Horn (vocals)Steve Howe (guitars)Chris Squire (bass)Alan White (drums)Despite the fact that Jon Anderson had nothing to do withthis album, it is perhaps one of the best examples of Yes in their "orchestral" period. "Machine Messiah" would havebeen right at home on the "Tales..." album. But we do beginto get a glimpse at Steve Howe`s harder rock influence withsongs like "Tempus Fugit" and "Does It Really Happen". Although I missed Anderson`s unique voice, the music on thisalbum is so solid that it is fairly easy to move past thatfact and appreciate the music for its timeless freshness.Rick Schofield

I know this mail will never make it to Steve and this is a wasted effort but what the heck, here is my story. Steve offered an ES-175D personally signed guitar on the Asia in Asia live show many years ago. The winner was to be announced during the following Elton John concert which was canceled do to Elton's illness. The winner was never announced and to this day I don't even know what happen with that whole deal. I took it upon myself to buy a used Blonde 175 because I couldn't find a deal on the Sunburst model like Steve’s, the one I really wanted. Then I removed the pick guard and took it to the (Not Necessarily Acoustic) solo show at the Phoenix in Louisville. Being the die hard Howe fan that I am, I stayed after the show hoping to meet the best guitarist to ever grace rock music. It was lucky for me that Steve did come back after the show to chat and sign autographs. At this time I asked Steve to sign the pick guard and my frustration was finally put to rest. I will never forget that night and the amazing performance of one man and his guitars, only thing that would have made this concert better would be to see Steve and Chet Atkins playing together. It will be a sad day when Steve retires and stops producing musical expertise and sound from his soul. P.S. Who won my GUITAR!!!!!! And to make matters worse...... I missed the opportunity to buy the limited addition Steve Howe Martin Acoustic because I was in the middle of a divorce when they released it and the lawyers had me broke. To bad huh? Tim Robertson Robertson_tw@msn.com

There is many people who think a Yes album without Jon Anderson or Rick Wakeman is not a Yes album. Well, in 1979 Yes went to Paris to record an album, The Golden Age, which i have heard the demo tapes... believe me, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes gave much more to Yes than many people believe. If 'The Golden Years' had been released as an official Yes album, many of you would change your great opinion about Anderson Wakeman & company... Drama is a very fresh album for a band that was musically dead at the end of the 70's. Search for 'The Golden Age' if you don't believe me. :)

'The Golden Age', not 'The Golden Years' :)

Are you kidding? This is Yes? What are you people on? This album sucks! I have every Yes album except this one! Fuck Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn! THE BUGGLES? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!

Call it what you want, The YES album by the group DRAMA for instance. Either way, this is a highly creative and under-rated album. Very futuristic in many ways. Most nay-sayers are probably biased because Anderson did not participate in this endeavor. They can buy one of his solo albums from that era if they want to hear his pristine and angelic vocals. I thought the album flowed well from track to track for the most part. Although I like the entire album for different reasons than most, the highlights for me are Machine Mesiah, Does it really happen, and Tempus Fugit. Tempus Fugit rocks with a tightness and cohesiveness that makes you wish there were more tracks following. But this was not to be. This album is a rare gem that should not be overlooked. If you don't want to consider it a YES album fine. But at least take the cotton out of your ears and put your ego on hold for a 1/2 hour and listen to some great music by three YES veterans and 2 guest artists.