Okay... "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is trash. And all of the re-released tracks with added orchestra hits were even worse. And the personnel changes didn't help.
However, the complexities in meter, chord progressions, time signature changes, and harmonies in nearly every song always impressed me. The entire album always sounded to me like a 'contractually obligated' album that was way over-produced by a team of top-40 producers, but still had a solid prog-rock soul underneath all of the glam crap they sprinkled on top.
Example: It Can Happen (youtu.be) is an extremely complex song on many levels, and having seen them perform it live reinforced just how talented they were.
For me, this album was the end of Yes when I first heard it. But going back to it several decades later, I really think it stands up well.
Okay... "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is trash. And all of the re-released tracks with added orchestra hits were even worse. And the personnel changes didn't help.
However, the complexities in meter, chord progressions, time signature changes, and harmonies in nearly every song always impressed me. The entire album always sounded to me like a 'contractually obligated' album that was way over-produced by a team of top-40 producers, but still had a solid prog-rock soul underneath all of the glam crap they sprinkled on top.
Example: [It Can Happen](https://youtu.be/6BjSoxG1Upk) is an extremely complex song on many levels, and having seen them perform it live reinforced just how talented they were.
For me, this album was the end of *Yes* when I first heard it. But going back to it several decades later, I really think it stands up well.
(post is archived)