DRAMA

I don't think I need to write an introduction for this album on Prog Archives, since it already has 190 reviews and comes from a classic progressive rock band. But a little history never hurts. After a long, two-year tour, Yes closed out a successful decade during which they released several landmark albums. However, the recording of Tormato was a complete disaster, and the resulting album left not only the band but also many fans?and especially the label?deeply dissatisfied.

That's why the band, with its classic lineup and taking advantage of Rick Wakeman's return, planned a tour covering their entire 1970s discography. Each show lasted between two hours and 45 minutes to well over three hours. Despite the length, the tour was a success, and Yes re-established itself. Perhaps it marked the end of an era for the band?or even the band itself. The dilemma, along with the failure of Tormato, put Yes in a difficult position. In fact, none of the classic members responded when Chris Squire and Alan White reached out to discuss the band's future.

At that point, Squire, Howe and White began rehearsing on their own. despite everyone's hopes, it didn't work out. Each time Squire headed to rehearsals, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles played on the radio. He thought it was terrible?but there was something about the song that stuck with him. Howe left, and Squire and White were jamming alone.

One day, Squire began playing the hit song of the moment. White followed, laughing. In the middle of the jam, they stopped to talk. White said he liked the middle section and thought it had something. Squire felt it too and that's when he realized it might be a good idea to talk to Atco Records.

Squire, accompanied by Brian Lane his dude close friend, manager, and owner of the studio where Yes used to rehearse arranged a meeting with The Buggles. It turned out that Trevor Horn already knew Squire quite well, and they agreed to start working together, bringing in Horn's counterpart, keyboardist Geoff Downes. However, Horn made one thing clear: if it was going to be a Yes album, it had to include Steve Howe, whom Horn saw as the key member responsible for the classic Yes sound. Squire contacted Howe, who was finishing a short tour for his latest solo album. Howe agreed, but with one condition: that the album be produced by Eddie Offord the classic producer who hadn't worked with Yes since Relayer in 1974.

What Horn didn't know at that point was that Jon Anderson, the other fundamental piece of Yes, would not be part of the lineup.

And so, Squire convinced him that he would be the vocalist on the project, and Horn finally accepted. The band began working in New York, but they were broke, so Lane approached Atco Records to request a $200,000 advance. Initially denied, after some tough negotiation he managed to secure a better deal?$400,000. It was the first Yes album that started with a cash advance.

The album consisted of several Squire,Howe and White songs, along with others they had been rehearsing on studio, for a few weeks. Horn suggested including a Buggles song, "Into the Lens," as a potential promotional single. Although the Yes version was less commercial, it had the potential to bridge the prog world with the pop world.

Unfortunately, Offord's return as producer proved to be a disaster. He was going through a difficult emotional period, and his erratic behavior led the band to keep him on only as co-producer. His most valuable contribution came specifically on "Into the Lens." The production was eventually taken over by Hugh Padgham, then a young and relatively unknown figure who would later work with Sting, XTC, Genesis, and Phil Collins. As soon as work began under Padgham, everything started to feel easier and more relaxed than expected.

For example, Machine Messiah was rehearsed and recorded in just one day. The next day, inspired by Trevor Horn, they began work on White Car. Does It Really Happen? was a track originally rejected by Yes during the Going for the One sessions, but it was a personal favorite of Alan White. Side two opens with the masterful version of Into the Lens. Run Through the Light was one of the songs from the Squire and White era, but reworked in the studio?especially by Howe. Finally, Tempus Fugit was a song that originated in 1979 from a kind of Squire-Howe-White project.

Yes also worked on additional material during the recording sessions, though much of it remained incomplete. This included "We Can Fly from Here" and "Go Through This," which were later performed during the 1980 tour and eventually released on the live compilation The Word Is Live. "We Can Fly from Here" was later expanded into a 20-minute suite on Yes's 2011 studio album Fly from Here. A third track, "Crossfire," was also later released on another compilation.

The album's sleeve was designed by Roger Dean his first artwork for a Yes album since Relayer in 1974. When Dean was commissioned for the project, he already knew the album's title and approached the design with what he described as "an intuitive approach" to match the tone and spirit of the music. The title Drama was not chosen at random. It reflected the turbulent period the band went through before and during the making of the album the internal tensions, lineup changes, financial struggles, and the emotional weight of trying to rebuild Yes without Jon Anderson. It was, quite literally, a drama both musically and personally.

And yet, despite the odds, Drama stands as one of the most unique and underrated records in the Yes discography. It may lack the spiritual voice of Anderson, but it compensates with a renewed energy, tighter arrangements, and a bold fusion of progressive complexity with new wave flair. Horn and Downes brought fresh textures, and the core of Squire, White, and Howe delivered powerful performances. Songs like Machine Messiah and Tempus Fugit are now considered essential by many fans.

Over time, the album has gained respect, especially as listeners have re-evaluated it without the burden of its original context. It marked both an end and a new beginning?an experimental chapter that captured a band in transformation. Drama may have started in crisis, but it emerged as a reinvention.

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