DRAMA by Yes: Lost Classic or Justified Dud?

i like it, of course. i want to be a proper yeshead!

Also, "Flush the Fashion" is fantastic, the best thing Alice did in years.

"Tempus Fugit" is no more ska than XTC's "Living through Another Cuba," but I believe Allmusic were referring to the hiccupy tempo of the track, which -- if you erase the mandatory porkpie hat/white towelling socks from your mind -- could conceivably sound ska-esque.

And I love to play those first bars of Does it really Happen? on bass.

A classic.

Me: So the Buggles had a song called "I Am a Camera." Then they both joined Yes, who re-recorded it... as "Into the Lens."

Lisa: [guffaws]

Me: That about says it all about Yes.

Actually, it appeared on Drama first, so The Buggles were the ones to re-record it (for Adventures in Modern Recording).

There's another song this line-up performed live ("We Can Fly From Here") that I hope sees release with the next upcoming remastered reissues that are coming out...

This line up of Yes is in fact the only one I've so far seen live* Horn was okay as lead vocalist on stage, but fluffed a few of the high notes in the 'classics'.

(*but I may put that right this year when they tour UK again)

I just snagged the new reissue of this with all the extra unreleased tracks piled on. "Dancing Through The Light" is a straight-up Buggles track that could have been on the playlist in some anonymous early 80s "new wave" dance club. I'd totally pick it as one of my choices for "anarchist disco" (or whatever it's called).

I can only imagine the amount of steam that poured out of turtle-boy's ears when this came over the studio speakers.

Though interestingly, "Dancing through the Light" was recorded while Anderson and Wakeman were still in the band, not the Buggles--that's Anderson singing 'Dance through the Light', not Horn. Obviously, it was still a rudimentary idea at that point. That and the last four tracks ("Golden Age", "In the Tower" and "Friend of a Friend") are from the aborted 1979 sessions the Tormato line-up held in Paris. "In the Tower" is quite a beautiful (if incomplete-sounding) track...glad to hear a cleaned up version of it being released.

Wild! I snagged my copy from slsk, so I don't have the full liner notes on this.

Hey Jeff, if you want to stroll down memory lane:

http://www.forgottenyesterdays.com/tour_listing.asp?s=5&tname=10&SortBy=tDate&so=asc&navb=4

Thanks, Joe! :) I was at the Brighton show and the reports posted on that site are painfully accurate.

Yeggles on tour may have been a bit underwhelming, but 'Drama' still stands up IMHO. Since I last posted on this thread I've mentioned on one of the many other Yes threads that keep popping up these days how wonderful the reissue is. I share your disappointment about the absence of 'We Can Fly...' (and indeed no "finished" Yeggle version of 'Go Through This') on the CD though. Perhaps they were never recorded?

Oh, and I did get to finally see the classic line-up of Yes live last year, and superb they were too.

Inspirational verse, a la Christgau:

You walk, the way
You take, the path
To be, assured
You draw, a graph
The scale, you use
Is all, on black
Be brave, the weight
Will make, the heat
There is, no way
To take-it back.

Amen, brothers.

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1920058

Tom Terrell = the AntiMarsh?

(Did Dave Marsh say something about Yes and the racial makeup of their audience?)

No, just an offhanded, tongue-in-cheek quip (that Marsh is from NJ and hates prog rock "because it is so removed from the taproot of rock and roll, rhythm and blues"), etc).

June 25, 2005 - Dates are now available on the Tour page for The More Drama Tour, which features Alan White's band White (with Geoff Downes on keyboards), Chris Squire with the Syn, and Steve Howe solo acoustic/electric. The performances will end with a "Drama-tic" encore with the four Yes members (who recorded the album Drama).

Still like Drama though...

2x YSI = I will love you forever.

Oooh seconded!!!

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=70230

You have to be a member tho...

I think this is the only tour where the band often received boos and jeers...

Yes I would truthfully like to hear this. Carry on.

Sting, apparently.

I'd argue it's Going for the One!

Yeah, GftO, which is also the last Yes album I listen to. Moving Pictures definitely seems like a different aesthetic than Aqualung or Pawn Hearts to me, no less than Discipline.

You don't have to like Tormato very much to argue that, generically, it still ticks the boxes as a prog-rock record (maybe except for "Circus of Heaven" and "Onward").
I haven't heard the first Asia album but I really doubt it contains as much guitar heroism as Drama does.

like I wouldn't argue Drama is the last of the original prog wave, but "Tempus Fugit" maybe the last prog *tune*...the rest sounds too New Wave hybrid to me, not too unlike a bunch of similar acts...Numan, Devo, Oingo Boingo, The Buggles of course

the thing about a lot of those 77/78 releases - Tormato, And Then There Were Three, Missing Piece, Quiet Zone/Pleasure Dome, Works & Love Beach, even Attahk (if that counts?) is that these bands all seem to be trying to transition away from prog, by simplifying things or writing shorter/hookier tunes. none of it pushes any boundaries. I guess you could argue that Trick of the Tail and GftO didn't push any boundaries either but they still felt like a full embrace of the prog sound - these albums "tick the boxes" because they didn't know what else to do

Full disclosure: I've never listened to Tormato.xps

UK were maybe the first newer band to transition from 70s prog to the looming 80s version - various Yes/King Crimson/Roxy Music alumni (plus Holdsworth) moving into late 70s pop-muso territory. Seems like a template for the Drama sound, although I'm not sure if they were a direct influence on Yes in that period.

Tormato's really bad

I'll stan for Tormato again, I love it. Very fun.

It's kinda cool how the tail end of prog and new wave dovetailed so nicely, and the early 80's second wave of acts had a healthy dose of new wave threaded through them.

Gentle Giant's 'Civilian' was one of the more successful prog-into-new wave efforts, not that it did them any good whatsoever. We can only be thankful ELP didn't attempt anything similar.

They went sexytimes, instead.

It's kinda cool how the tail end of prog and new wave dovetailed so nicely, and the early 80's second wave of acts had a healthy dose of new wave threaded through them.

Yeah, I sometimes want to wonder why Howe didn't just make e.g. instrumental folk or jazz fusion records instead of ... this stuff and Asia in the 80s but then I remember that they were actually mainstream pop stars when they were making the classic prog albums; makes sense that once you're in that orbit, you want to stay in it.

I guess I feel that, despite Horn and Downes, the new wave quotient on Drama is actually lower than on some of the other transitional records of the same era. I'd say hard-rock verging on metal is the dominant sound on well over half of it.
UK's first album is a very interesting example because, sonically, they are going in a stripped-down, radio-ready direction, but Eddie Jobson's compositional style is very oblique and far from catchy (explaining why the record didn't really take off). I would call them the last "new" prog band of the first era.

tormato is grebt bcz it inspired this post: The 120 Days of Shameless Bids for Publicity!

I only listened to Bill Nelson's 'Quit Dreaming...' for the first time the other day and it's fantastic, I know people talk a lot about 'Red Noise', but this was, to me, much more enjoyable and super new wave.

I've probably said it somewhere upthread but there's 2 tracks that really damage Drama for me, I really like the album but they're just filler. I honestly like Tormato a bit more, especially with the CD bonus tracks, there's some songs that ended up on Anderson's 2nd solo album that work amazingly well with just his vocals.

And YES to what Autumn says about Wakeman creating a great vehicle pileup in space!

The only Yes album I own or want to own, and absolutely a classic.

Yeah, I sometimes want to wonder why Howe didn't just make e.g. instrumental folk or jazz fusion records instead of ... this stuff and Asia in the 80s but then I remember that they were actually mainstream pop stars when they were making the classic prog albums; makes sense that once you're in that orbit, you want to stay in it.

its kind of hard to name artists who achieved that level of success who just fucked off and did what they wanted rather than chase sales. its pretty funny in the case of these prog bands who just suddenly became very uncool, massive respect to Genesis (and Trevor Rabin) for actually doing it. I also thought Gentle Giant's Civilian was quite good, but lets face it nothing was ever happening to this band, at best they get like 25% of the sales of Utopia

won't really defend Tormato much but I will say "Arriving UFO" is one of the most bonkers things they ever did

"Arriving UFO" was Jon Anderson making sure that Klaatu and Jefferson Airplane didn't get all the credit when the aliens landed.

every time I listen to this album it hits me how great it would've been had Yes just called it a day after this. they could've still done the 90125 stuff under Cinema or whatever the original name was supposed to be but to leave "Tempus Fugit" as the last song in their catalogue would have been perfect.

Atlantic Records wasn't going to let such a valuable trademark go unused.

they have several spots in their history when it would have been wise to stop: here; after 90125; after Big Generator; after Magnification; after Fly from Here. The only thing you can count on is that they will not stop and will continue to put out albums that half their fanbase detests

I still love this record.

"Also wonder whether Horn’s wife passing had an impact on him deciding to “rejoin the band.” Tempus Fugit indeed."

haha, my read on this was "horn's wife hated Yes so much that as soon as she died he was like, "cool, now I can be in Yes again!"

they have several spots in their history when it would have been wise to stop: here; after 90125; after Big Generator; after Magnification; after Fly from Here. The only thing you can count on is that they will not stop and will continue to put out albums that half their fanbase detests

after Talk might've been a good one too. I think they made some pretty decent albums in their nostalgia phase but I'm struggling to think of a single tune other than "The Ladder" (which fucking rocks) that would fit on a "best of" compilation

I'm not an expert in their later era but I do like "Mind Drive".

I think there are a few pretty good songs on Magnification, dunno if I'd slot them as 'best of all time' though. Into the Storm belongs on a best of though.

both the long tracks on the KTA albums remind me of Tales, where the cool bits are almost but not quite good enough to justify the length

the thing is with Talk they were at least trying to do something different and evolve their sound somehow, which made the proggier bits actually pretty cool. since then they've become a zombie band where the new records are basically irrelevant - even if they are fairly decent they are all kinda forgettable and the songs from them get dropped from the setlist the moment the album release cycle is over. none of it adds a thing to the band's legacy. obviously there have been a lot of bands in that position but Yes have been in this mode for so long it's become a major side story for them, particularly in some of the ridiculous lineups they've been trotting out this last decade. at this point you wonder what has to happen...does Yes die with Howe or do they just keep on truckin' somehow?

Steve Howe will never die so the point is moot

If howe kicks it soon and it's before Anderson I think Anderson would get the Yes naming rights (he already got the end of that ARW tour to be booked as Yes) and I could see him trying to squeeze another tour out of it with Rabin and whoever else they can get to join them. If Howe kicks it after Anderson I can totally see Sherwood helming this zombie band for another 25 years.

Looking at the Wikipedia entry for this album and holy shit if this isn't the most pathetic, passive-aggressive band dynamic:

In June 1979, the Yes line-up of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White completed their 1978–1979 tour in support of Tormato. The five reconvened in November 1979 to start work on a new album. After the various problems they faced while recording Tormato, Yes decided to work in Paris with Roy Thomas Baker to oversee its production.[3] Anderson and Wakeman entered the sessions with enthusiasm and wrote more material together than they had before, but the rest of the band felt the songs were too light and folk-oriented and started writing more aggressive and direct arrangements.[3] The growing internal differences, described by Anderson as a "loss of respect for each other", led to Squire, Howe, White and Baker coming to sessions late, which discouraged Anderson and Wakeman, the latter at times refusing to leave his hotel room to rehearse.[4] Conversely, Howe recalls Wakeman frequently throwing peanuts at White's drum kit during takes of a song he was getting tired of, which in addition to being very noisy and distracting through the other members' headphones took considerable effort to clean up.[5]

Anderson and Wakeman left the studio to drink Calvados in a bar; in Wakeman's words: "Jon and I got really quite depressed and started crying on each other's shoulders and Jon said 'This is not the band that I love, this is not the band that I wanted to keep on going', [and I replied] 'I'm with you, Jon'".[4] The sessions were ultimately called off after White cracked a bone in his right ankle while roller skating with Richard Branson in a nightclub, rendering him unable to perform for about six weeks.[6][7] Following a break over Christmas, the band reconvened in London for rehearsals in an attempt to salvage the situation. They failed, and Anderson and Wakeman left in March 1980.[8]

Had to have been hell, imagine wrapping up on Close to the Edge and saying "hm pretty cool guys but Imma go hang out with Robert Fripp now, he seems fun peace out"

I'm imagining this Wikipedia entry was negotiated by the most vicious lawyers each member could afford.

that Benoit David interview from the all yessed out thread was pretty eye opening, live touring musician sounds like an awful way to make a living

no need to update my wakeman spreadsheet lol: "self-centred infant, fat-fingered oaf"

I love "which in addition to being very noisy and distracting... took considerable effort to clean up"

Right? It speaks volumes about how petty they all are.

Alan White seems like he was a remarkably nice and affable guy given everything he went through

White cracked a bone in his right ankle while roller skating with Richard Branson in a nightclub

I need more detail on this incident before I can form a proper opinion

Tour Footage!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbcQTITKOc

I wonder if they did the whole show slowly rotating like rotisserie chickens? That much have been very strange.

Honestly it was making me feel dizzy watching that

Wait, I thought it was the disastrous Tormato tour that was in the round. They busted it out … again?!?

wonder how difficult a time Squire and Howe were having with that, seems like such intricate fingerings might be difficult to do when your sense of balance is a little off

is this the first time we've actually seen footage of this tour?

they did some later tours in the round too...I think maybe an ABWH one?

xpost Indeed I think it is!

Tormato tour was disastrous? How so?
All the recordings from that tour I’ve listened to are excellent. Even the cornier tunes from the album go off.

Union tour was definitely in the round.

I may have said it before, but my earliest memory of Yes is either this clip of the band doing "Tempus Fugit", or a similar clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzxZzIiO84Y

It seems to have been shot on a prototype of the in-the-round stage shown above. You can see the whole thing at 2:29. If you were born in the mid-to-late 1970s there was a three-year period from 1980-1983 when Trevor Horn's version of Yes was the actual official Yes. And so for a long time that was my mental image of the band - especially when you bear in mind that they basically stopped being a commercial force in the UK after that point. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" barely cracked the top thirty. 90125 only made #16, fourteen places lower than Drama itself.

I remember really enjoying the album. It's like a blend of Yes and The Police. Horn even seems to be doing a Sting impersonation on "Man in a White Car". It was a perfectly legit go at updating their sound for the modern age. I think the crucial thing is that they tried to copy the more Yes-like elements of New Wave - two-thirds of The Police had been in actual prog rock bands - and they kept the synthesisers toned-down, so it doesn't badly dated. Unlike e.g. Tormato, which has some shockingly thin and weedy synthesisers.

I have the impression that Trevor Horn kept his natural control-freak tendencies in check while he was in Yes, but that couldn't have lasted, and wouldn't have worked in the long run because the rest of Yes were also control freaks. So they would have broken apart at some point. I can admire his guts for actually joining and staying with Yes for a while, because circa 1980 he was a one-hit wonder and they were a bunch of highly-talented assholes.