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INTO THE LENS

Yes

Symphonic Prog


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Yes Into The Lens album cover
3.08 | 44 ratings | 5 reviews | 39% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, released in 1980

Songs / Tracks Listing

Side A:
1. Into The Lens

Side B:
2. Does It Really Happen? (See "Releases informations" for exceptions)


Line-up / Musicians


- Trevor Horn / vocals
- Chris Squire / bass, vocals
- Geoff Downes / keyboards
- Alan White / drums
- Steve Howe / guitars

Releases information

UK Atlantic 7" K 11622
UK Atlantic 12" SAM125 featured "Into The Lens" on both sides
US Atlantic 7" 3767
US Atlantic 7" 3767 featured "Into The Lens" mono version on B side

Thanks to Eetu Pellonpää for the addition
and to SouthSideoftheSky for the last updates
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YES Into The Lens ratings distribution


3.08
(44 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(39%)
39%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(25%)
25%
Good, but non-essential (23%)
23%
Collectors/fans only (11%)
11%
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
2%

YES Into The Lens reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Chris S
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Taken in the context of the album, one has to question why on earth Yes would release these two songs in single format. ' Into The Lens' is anything but single material. It is far too progressive to even get a sniff at commercial success. A fantastic piece of music no doubt and a worthy contributor to the Drama archive but a single? Not!

' Does It Really Happen also great in album format but perhaps works better as the additional track as opposed to ' Into the Lens' be the main release

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Team
2 stars Less Drama

1980's Drama is one of my all time favourite Yes records and the last of what I would consider the "classic" period of the band. The song Into The Lens was released as a single from that album in a heavily edited version. While the original album version had a running time of over eight and a half minutes, the single version is cut down to three minutes and 45 seconds. This single edit has since been included as a bonus track on the 2004 remastered CD reissue of Drama. Does It Really Happen? was chosen as the b-side of the single. This track was not edited and is the same as on the album.

The song Into The Lens was originally written by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes for The Buggles and they brought this song with them when they joined Yes. The tune also appears in a quite different version on The Buggles' album Adventures In Modern Recording under the alternative title of I Am A Camera. Coming from a Yes fan it is not too surprising that I prefer the Yes version of the song which I think benefited considerably from the input of Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White.

The best version of Into The Lens is the album version on Drama and if you have that excellent album you have everything you need from this single.

Review by patrickq
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars An intriguing, but definitely not essential, single edit of the Drama track.

The 8:32 album track is cut down to a 3:48 single edit with about four splices. It eliminates the first three minutes of the album version by fading in right before the first bridge ("there by the waterside / here where the lens is wide"). The modified "I am a camera" chorus and the "taken, taken so easily" section follow as on the album version. Two quick edits later, we're at the finale; the last two minutes of the single edit are almost identical to the last to minutes of the album version (five seconds are cut during the "I am, I am a camera part").

It's a pretty chopped-up single, but it does accomplish the task of cutting "Into the Lens" down by more than half without entirely losing the feel of the original. The weirdest part is definitely the fade-in, which drops the listener into the middle of the song.

Yes had a total of 11 singles make the Billboard pop charts from "Your Move" In 1970 to "Lift Me Up" In 1991. Released as "Into the Lens (I Am a Camera)," this was the only one of these not to make the top 100. It debuted on September 25, 1980 and spent two weeks on the "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart, peaking at #104.

An interesting curio for fans, and, on its own merits, a good early-1980s art-pop song.

Latest members reviews

3 stars Two great songs from a fine Yes album, minus Jon Anderson. Many people do not like Drama but I think it is great and rate it about 5 stars. Having these 2 tunes released as a single is a little strange and I bet this was NOT a huge seller. That said, "Into the Lens" is a good prog piece and "D ... (read more)

Report this review (#295513) | Posted by mohaveman | Friday, August 20, 2010 | Review Permanlink

2 stars 5 stars actually!!! i know it doesn't make any sense since i rated it for two stars but the thing is that even though i love Drama, every single note of it, and Trevor's vocals, even though Into The Lens is my fave Drama track and Does It Really Happen? is excellent, i don't see ... (read more)

Report this review (#122925) | Posted by toolis | Monday, May 21, 2007 | Review Permanlink

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