MAGNIFICATION

Wow, Yes has indeed revived with this album. While not a masterpiece, it is better than most neo prog of these times. They have used an orchestra like many other bands, but here their arrangements are made in a magnificent way so that the orchestra seems to serve the purpose of the lost keyboardist.

Magnification 7/10 : this is a little overrated in my opinion, and sounds nothing more than a nicely arranged symphonic pop song that ends with noise. The bass guitar line is very good.

Spirit Of Survival 7.5/10 : sounding like a spy flick soundtrack melded with hard rock, this is a very powerful track with the standout lyrics 'in this world the gods have lost their ways' which is something I never expected jon to sing. Steve Howe is the standout of this track.

Don't Go 3/10 : I always skip this track. This is as bad as the stuff from Big generator. The only good thing is the catchy chorus and the intro. It also feels long.

Give Love Each Day 9/10 : WOW, this is symphonic beauty. I never thought the words 'give love each day' could have such an imcat in the song's climax. It is a slow beautiful song like And You and I.

Can You Imagine 8/10 : A VERY catchy pop song of Chris Squire that should have been on the radio. Squire sings lead vocals, and jon sings beautiful backing vocals. The orchestra little riff is very memorable.

We Agree 6/10 : Very pretty guitar intro, but the song is a mixed bag, and it has a disappointing ending after all the emotion there was in the song.

Soft As a Dove 6/10 : very short pretty song that has a nice acoustic guitar break, but it is very short, and the song is not very memorable.

Dreamtime 9.5/10 : Oh My ... this song should be consirered a yes Classic! It has my favoruite intro in any yes songs beacuse of how the guitar melds with the orchestra. Then the song is full of strange 'rushed/tense' vocal melodies, nice instrumentation, great use of the orchestra, and on moments my favourite Squire riff of all times : descending bass notes crashing with the orchestra ... amazing! it eventually ends with an unecessary orchestra solo that hurts the score of this song.

In the presence of 8/10 : The intro is terrible, it is so much based around that uninspired melody and contains cheesy lyrics. It then intensifies and gets more interesting, like the ' what when I touch you there, you feel the words roll over you' melody over the midi guitar. The highlights of this song are the slide guitar solos, and the dark section with an ascending slow bass, and some choirs. This should have been the end of the album.

Time is Time 4.5/10 : a song about being old I think, and it sounds beatlesque and mediocre. I think they shouldn't have put this song in the album, since it is a weak closer of the album.

My Grade : B