BIG GENERATOR

Many Yes fans despise this album, and I can understand why - to be honest, it's strictly Yes - if Jon's voice was not here, you could barely tell it's by the same band who made such classics as Close to the Edge and Fragile. You don't have the soaring, majestic solos of Steve Howe or the insane keyboard of Rick Wakeman, but despite all of this, I still love this album.

Yes had pretty much shed their prog skin, so to speak, some of which was still intact after 90125 (see Hearts), but by no means does that mean it's a bad album. It still has a few progressive moments, like in the longer track 'I'm Running', but on the whole it's not really prog. It leans more to the arena-rock side of the spectrum, but I don't hold anything against them for that. I don't mind a band taking a different direction as times change - in the case of a lot of bands, it's an 'adapt or die' situation, and Yes adapted very well here. I don't think there's one weak track here - the strongest are Love Will Find A Way, I'm Running, Holy Lamb and Almost Like Love, but all of the tracks are great. Love Will Find A Way could be mistaken for some of Rabin's solo work (which I am also a fan of, by the way), but is still a great song - as is the Jon Anderson composed end track, Holy Lamb. Jon's lyrics on this track are as good as ever. Tony Kaye's keyboards sound much better than they did on the previous album; it's clear he was allowed to do more of his own thing. Chris Squire's bass doesn't stand out as much, although it still has some nice touches; the stand out thing for me though is Rabin's guitar. He seems much more comfortable in the role of lead guitarist - he has some brilliant solos in here, and he has a huge talent for writing some of the catchiest riffs around.

Overall, this album won't be for those who don't like 80s rock, or are fans of Yes' 70s work, but if you're a first time listener who is a fan of 80s rock, you'll love this album. I don't compare it to Yes' 70s albums, because I don't see the point, but I do compare it to 90125 - this is superior in almost every way. Well done lads!

4.5 Stars!