Yes - Drama
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Free Music Notes for Drama
Free Music Review: With vocalist swap, Yes is still fantastic
Hit: 5 Stars
John Anderson fans,beware: This was the only Yes record without his vocals.
His absence didn't disturb the consistency of the songs in no way.
His replacement was Trevor Horn, who would produce the band's eighties records.
Squire and Howe's backing vocals are notorious here; sometimes there are duets
between Squire and Horn (in Machine Messiah, Does it really happen and Run through the light, for instance)
Trevor's voice isn't impressive, it's normal.
The keyboardist was Geoff Downes.He's doesn't do that fast solos much ( with the exception of
Machine Messiah and Tempus Fugit), he likes doing effects more.He's far from Rick Wakeman, but doesn't dissapoint.
Drama was Yes's last purely progressive album before they started releasing something more commercial(great albums too).
I stranged John's absence in the beggining, but after repeated listens I concluded:
This cd is flawless, no filler.
As always, Chris Squire's bass continues with that distinctive sound and interesting.
Track 1- The most progressive(it has three parts), the start reminds Black Sabbath, catchy singings,
good melody.
Track 2- Semi instrumental, the keyboard fits with ecological nature and the sleeve (one of Roger Dean's best to me)
Track 3- One favourite, killer bass solos, cool keyboards(sound like xylophone in 4:19)
Track 4- Good, but it was the piece that I delayed to like most.The title refers to the mind
compared to a camera that "films" memories.
Track 5- The other favourite. We have that nature-esque keyboards again(beautiful).
I love its chorus and there is a synthetizer that imitates a bird in 2:26.
One curiosity: Trevor plays bass.
Track 6 - It has the fastest tempo and that evident Squire bass.The guitar here is melodic.
The lyrics seem like a band self advertisement (don't mix up). The singing ryhthm is creative.
Drama was superb, but Yes is more successful with John Anderson.
90125 sellings proved it.
I have the version with no bonus tracks.I bought it before the re-release appeared.
Free Music Review: Dramatic Changes, Excellent Results
Hit: 5 Stars
Yes is infamous for its line-up changes. At least 14 musicians have been part of this five-person outfit, with superstar keyboardist Rick Wakeman leaving and rejoining the band four times!
And with 1980's Drama, Yes for the first time lost two members at once, Wakeman and singer Jon Anderson. Yes shocked the world by replacing them with Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn - aka the Buggles - best known for their pop hit, "Video Killed the Radio Star."
But even more shocking - the album is excellent.
First, the songwriting is a big improvement over the previous effort, the uneven "Tormato." Virtually every song on "Drama" is a first rate composition.
The direction of the album is heavier, highlighted by the big and dramatic "Does It Really Happen?" and the manic prog/punk/ska of "Tempus Fugit," certainly two of the best Yes songs ever. The musicianship is excellent, especially from bassist Chris Squire and keyboardist Downes.
Horn does a nice job handling lead vocals, especially when singing with Squire. His voice is similar to Anderson's, yet has its own character. And the production and sound are the best in years, with gifted producer Eddie Offord returning to help with the production.
The only downsides are the album seems a bit sparse at times; the band was under strong time pressure, and probably prevented it from fleshing out the album's sound. And the otherwise great "Machine Messiah" is somewhat thrown off by its quasi-heavy metal intro.
But all in all, Drama is a great addition to the Yes catalogue, and is highly recommended.
(This version features 10 bonus tracks, most of which are excellent. "Go Through This" is an excellent instrumental version of an unreleased Drama song. The two tracking songs are interesting alternate versions. The last four songs are from 1979's aborted Paris sessions with Anderson-Howe-Squire-Wakeman-White; while far from Yes' best work, they are of interest to any Yes completist.)
Free Music Review: Drama - If You Have Written This Album Off Due To No Jon Anderson You Need To Give It A Chance
Hit: 5 Stars
A lot of Yes fans won't even give this album a chance due to the fact that vocalist Jon Anderson is not on it. In my opinion this is a big mistake. Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman both departed the band after the "Tormato" album and tour (Wakeman for the second time). The rest of the band, drummer Alan White, guitarist Steve Howe, and bassist Chris Squire decided to continue and added vocalist Trevor Horn and keys player Geoff Downs to the lineup. Horn and Downs had been formerly known The Buggles, a new wave group that had a big hit with the song "Video Killed The Radio Star". When I first heard that these two guys had been picked to join Yes my first thought was "you've got to be kidding me", but amazingly this lineup put out some really killer music. "Drama" is unlike any Yes album before or since, but it stands on it's own as a great mix of progressive rock, AOR, and 80's style new wave. Chris Squire and Alan White really step up to the plate on this one like they had something to prove. Squire is all over the album playing his bass like a man possessed, sharing in many of the lead vocals, and involved in much of the songwriting. Alan White is all over the drum kit playing with a much heavier rock style than on previous discs. Even Steve How adapts his guitar style to fit this new sounding approach, and it works like a charm. Horn does not sound like Jon Anderson on vocals, but he has a similar high pitched voice that really harmonizes with Chris Squire's similar vox in a nice way. Geoff Downs is a great keyboard player (along with Steve Howe he would go on to form Asia after this album) and adds just enough of a new wave feel to Yes more prog oriented sound. Of the songs "Machine Messiah" and "Tempus Fugit" rank right up with the band's all time best. The other tracks are all solid as well. If you are a Yes fan and have never given "Drama" a chance you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. I think I like it even more today than when it came out 28 years ago (wow has it really been that long?)Free Music Review: Yes, Drama really is my fav Yes album!
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember defending Drama as my choice of Yes albums to a friend in college 10 years ago. He couldn't believe I could like a Yes album that wasn't really Yes. Well, Drama outperforms the post Tales From Topographic Oceans albums and I believe is on-par with my second fav Yes album Close To the Edge. Here's why:1. Yes are much more aggressive on this album than they've ever been before or since (though parts of Close To the Edge are, well, edgy.) the drums have a lot of room ambience to them, Chris Squire's bass is at its trebly, overdriven Rickenbacker best and Steve Howe is just slaying with his larger-than-life hard rock guitars (a far-cry from his chicken pickin' from the earlier albums.) The band have never rocked so hard and frenetic than they did on Tempus Fugit and the opening 90 seconds of Machine Messiah.
2. The songs are super-catchy and not bogged-down in prog-minutiae. The arrangements are just as tight as the musicianship.
3. Trevor Horn does a pretty-good job of stretching himself towards Jon anderson territory without sounding like a pale imitation. And I can't believe he doesn't get more recognition for his jaw-dropping fretless basslines on "Run Through the Light." I love Chris Squire's bass playing, but Horn's fluid lines just really make that song (as do Alan White's Jerry Marotta-esque cymbal-less drumming.) Geoff Downes, well, I don't know that he really adds anything but doesn't take anything away either.
The bonus tracks on this deluxe edition are good and insightful, but I'd rather Rhino had dug up some of the live tracks from the Drama tour. One of the Madison Square Garden shows from that tour was broadcast on the radio so I know tapes exist somewhere.
Free Music Review: Más si es más
Hit: 5 Stars
No entiendo como alguien puede criticar el que un disco ofrezca más material. Si no te gusta, sencillamente, no escuches los temas extra y "sin problemas". Pero es que, además, en el caso concreto de Drama, los temas extra son del máximo interés, especialmente los cuatro que se incluyen de las olvidadas sesiones de Paris en 1979. De cualquier forma, nos encontramos ante el, para mi, último gran disco de Yes. Tradicionalmente no se ha valorado suficientemente este disco por el hecho de suponer una especie de punto y aparte en lo que a la participación de Jon Anderson en el grupo ha supuesto. Es verdad que no está Anderson, y eso se nota, pero a pesar de ello este disco, y las vías que en el se descubren son mucho más interesantes que la zambullida en el "heavy blando" que supuso el siguiente: 90125. En este disco se conjugan perfectamente algunos de los mejores temas del Yes más clásico con una apertura hacia mundos más pop, sin que eso suponga una merma en la calidad de los temas, cosa que si ocurría, por desgracia, en buena parte de Tormato. Escuchando este disco con atención, uno solo puede lamentar que quedara como "botón de muestra", y no fuera el primero de una serie de discos con esta formación. Lamentablemente, la incorporación de Trevor Rabin sumió al grupo en la travesía del desierto que supusieron los años 90. Tras los grandes discos de la mitad de los 70 que están en la mente de todos, Drama es uno de sus más interesantes experimentos.