Drama

Drama's good - it just lacks Jon Anderson's vocals to make it great (sorry Trevor!)

Has anyone ever noticed the coincidence of three Prog albums coming out at the same time which all had songs about cameras?

Yes - "Into the Lens" from Drama
Gentle Giant "I am a Camera" from Civilian (which started with the sound of a camera clicking)
Renaissance - "Camera Camera" which started with exactly the same sound effect!
Plus "I am a Camera" by Buggles (which doesn't really count as it was the precursor to "Into the Lens")

It's similar to the "Power of Love" coincidence in 1984 (Jennifer Rush, Frankie GTH, Huey Lewis, plus one by 10cc that wasn't released as a single, but all in 1984.

How about starting a thread on bizarre coincidences?

M. B. Zapelini wrote: "Drama" is far better than "Tormato" in terms of music, although Trevor Horn isn't a good singer.  Barbs, about the comparison between "Drama" and "Tormato": IMHO, the strongest tracks at the first are actually better than the strongest at the second, and "Tormato"'s weakest tracks are among the worst thing Yes have produced in all time (with the exception of Big Generator, Union and Open Your Eyes - these albums should be deleted of the Yes catalogue). But it's all subjective, as you pointed. We both will be happier listening to our favourites between these albums than discussing it.

M. B., after you wrote that post I went back and listened to both albums over again and apart from Machine Messiah, which I think is a very strong track and probably quite influential, I still cannot see how anyone could rate the album above the other. In fact, Silent Wings of Freedom is probably one of the most underrated songs in the Yes catalogue. Release, Release which has been accused of being just a plain old rock song also has more value than that and Madrigal is really quite a beautiful short composition and certainly not mainstream.

The other thing about Tormato which needs to be noted is that even if you don't appreciate 'Don't kill the Whale', which is certainly not my fav song, it is historically an important composition because at the time of the writing of that song, Blue Whales had become depleted to the point of extinction (appx 1% of original stock) and that song certainly played its part in promoting the need to protest and promote change in the modus operandi of whaling nations such as Japan in order to prevent the complete extinction of the species. So even those who argue that Jon's words are too esoteric and incomprehensible should appreciate the  importance of the album and the song in terms of our ecological history. Vocally, even though Trevor Horn didn't do a bad job he just does not have the consistent quality in his voice that Jon does. Trevor is an excellent back up, harmony vocalist but Jon was and always will be the lead voice of Yes.

I understand that some of the songs on the album are (as some people put it) twee which applies to the first couple of songs on side 2, however, Drama has some pretty weak moments to. Personally after listening to them both, in my 'subjective' opinion, Tormato is a more interesting album; the last of the classic Yes lineup for a very long time. But I also agree with the wisdom of your final comment, "We both will be happier listening to our favourites beween these albums than discussing it."

Edited by barbs

Drama is a good album... is rare to hear Yes without Jon ...

Trevor Horn is a good guy ... but i missed Jon in that album...

Into the lens

An OK album, but certianly NOT classic Yes.

I agree with most of the people here on Drama being a very good album, although marred by Trevor Horn's adequate but certainly not earth-shattering vocals. "Machine Messiah" is indeed classic Yes at full steam.

Drama was Jon Anderson’s drama. With this masterpiece the rest of the members provided evidence how good could be the band without him. 

FragileDT wrote: Well I'm glad some other people agree with me. I wasn't sure what people thought of it after seeing that it was only rated a 3.77.

I would have thought 3.77 was a pretty good score for any album. I love Drama and gave it a four star review, so that's kind of in that ballpark. How would you give it more, in light of the fact that Fragile may be a four star album or Close to the Edge a five star album? Is it as good as Close to the Edge? Most people would say no. Hence a 3.77 average.
I think when people are reviewing albums here, they really need to be more judicious with the use of five stars for a record. They can't all be perfect, can they?

"Drama" is far better than "Tormato" in terms of music, although Trevor Horn isn't a good singer. In a list of top 10 Yes albums, I would place it as the sixth better: 

Yes Album

Close to the Edge

Fragile

Relayer

Going for the One 

Drama

Tales from Topographic Oceans

Yes

Time and a Word

Magnification

Barbs, about the comparison between "Drama" and "Tormato": IMHO, the strongest tracks at the first are actually better than the strongest at the second, and "Tormato"'s weakest tracks are among the worst thing Yes have produced in all time (with the exception of Big Generator, Union and Open Your Eyes - these albums should be deleted of the Yes catalogue). But it's all subjective, as you pointed. We both will be happier listening to our favourites between these albums than discussing it.

 

I guess this is a prefect example of how music is a subjective experience.
I personally don't see how you rate Drama over Tormato. (Admittedly Tormato does have a number of weak moments but so does Drama) On their own merits both albums should receive a similar rating IMO as they fall somewhere in the middle of Yes's catalogue - neither the strongest nor the weakest albums.

I also think that it is a four star album. "Machine Messiah" is a wonderful song! Their last good album IMO. It also proves, that Squire and Howe are the essential core of YES, though Anderson is also important but provenly not impossible to be replaced! Actually, I didn't first even realize that there is a different singer on this one!