Latest / Booked On Rock with Eric Senich / Yes's Hidden Gem: 'Drama' [Highlight From Episode 324]

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Yes's Hidden Gem: 'Drama' [Highlight From Episode 324] · Booked On Rock with Eric Senich

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Here's a highlight from a recent episode of Booked on Rock.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Preston Fraser, the author of Yes Indeed, tales from Yes
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: without John Anderson. The opening chapter covers the nineteen eighty
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  Speaker 1: album Drama. That's the first one. It's their tenth studio album,
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  Speaker 1: but the only to feature Trevor Horn on lead vocals,
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  Speaker 1: and the first with Jeff Downs on keyboards. A wonderfully
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  Speaker 1: written opening, I'm gonna quote you here, you write quote.
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  Speaker 1: In the autumn of nineteen eighty, as dusk settled over
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  Speaker 1: London's foggy streets, the air carried a secret promise of change,
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  Speaker 1: promised that the familiar might yet be reborn. For Yes,
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  Speaker 1: a band long defined by its intricate progressions and sprawling epics,
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  Speaker 1: that night was the quiet prelude to a transformation both
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  Speaker 1: unexpected and inevitable. The stage was set not in a
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  Speaker 1: grand arena, but in the collective determination of its members,
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  Speaker 1: a determination that, despite internal fractures and the loss of
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  Speaker 1: cherish icons like John Anderson and Rick Wakeman, the creative
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  Speaker 1: spirit of Yes would not only endure but evolve. Wonderfully written.
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  Speaker 1: Wanted to quote you directly on that one. Before we
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  Speaker 1: get into the album. What led to the departure of
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  Speaker 1: John Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman, right.
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  Speaker 2: I think it was because of these I think it
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  Speaker 2: was nineteen seventy nine or nineteen seventy eight, the Paris
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: sessions that they did with Roy Thomas Baker, who died
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  Speaker 2: a few months ago. I mean they were working on
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  Speaker 2: an album in Paris. It was Anderson, Wakeman, Howe, Squire
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  Speaker 2: and White. They had completed some rough tracks and then
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  Speaker 2: I believe Alan White, their their late drummer, went out
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  Speaker 2: went roller skating, disco skating. It broke his ankle, so
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  Speaker 2: they decided to wrap up the album. They wrap up
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  Speaker 2: the sessions, but it was thought that Anderson and Anderson
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  Speaker 2: and Wakeman really weren't feeling the music. They weren't enjoying
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: the sessions. They were kind of burnt out and they
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  Speaker 2: wanted to do their own things. So they both went
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: in their way to do solo albums. And that led
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: to a situation where Squire said, well, I want to continue.
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  Speaker 2: How do you want to continue? Why do you want
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  Speaker 2: to continue? And they said yeah. So they found the
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  Speaker 2: Buggles and integrated the Buggles, Jeff Downs and Trevor Horn
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  Speaker 2: into the Band.
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  Speaker 1: And the Buggles, known for video Killed the Radio Star
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  Speaker 1: famously known for that.
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  Speaker 2: Song and two great, two really good albums by Jeff
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  Speaker 2: and Trevor.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've heard about that. I got to listen to him.
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  Speaker 1: I've heard that. Let's talk about the soul single from
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  Speaker 1: the album, which is Into the Lens. Interesting comment, I'm
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: hoping you can expand on you write quote. It was
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  Speaker 1: as if the band, through this song, invited its listeners
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  Speaker 1: to look deeply into the reflective surfaces of memory and change,
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  Speaker 1: to witness the subtle alchemy of loss transforming into innovation.
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  Speaker 1: Now this is referring to both the complexity and the
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  Speaker 1: power of the track.
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  Speaker 2: Right Into the Lens is a wonderful well. Quite frankly,
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  Speaker 2: I love every song on Drama. It's one of my
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  Speaker 2: favorite Yes albums. It's not my favorite, but the Lens
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  Speaker 2: is a great song because it could it buying so
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  Speaker 2: many great progressive elements, so many great pop elements, and
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  Speaker 2: it has such wonderful guitar nuance playing to the album,
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  Speaker 2: to the song. One thing I like about Drama is
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  Speaker 2: that how doesn't do what's expected, nor does filed matter.
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  Speaker 2: Chris Squire know that, nor did he ever do that.
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  Speaker 2: It is really subtle, but it's different, it is progressive.
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  Speaker 2: I talked to John Anderson a few years ago about
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  Speaker 2: his album with ron A Stoved. I think it was
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  Speaker 2: called what was it called like the Miracle of Life
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  Speaker 2: or something like that. It was a du what album,
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  Speaker 2: And I asked him what was progressive music? And I
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: really appreciate the album he'd done with Rona, and he said, well,
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  Speaker 2: progressive music music are always progressive, there always moving forward.
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  Speaker 2: And I think into the Lens and Drama shows that
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  Speaker 2: where it's a band that didn't want to recreate fragile,
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  Speaker 2: they want to create close to the edge, but wanted
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  Speaker 2: to move forward they really did.
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  Speaker 1: What was the response to the album from the fans
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  Speaker 1: and the critics and how did the perceptions kind of
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  Speaker 1: shift in the years following its release.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't remember where it charted. It charted pretty
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  Speaker 2: well though in America and in England. But I think
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  Speaker 2: that a lot of fans weren't aware initially back when
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  Speaker 2: it was released that Anderson and Wakeman no longer in
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  Speaker 2: the band, and a lot of people bought it and
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  Speaker 2: initially thought it was okay or it was not okay
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  Speaker 2: because it wasn't John and Eric Wakeman. I think over
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  Speaker 2: the years it has definitely gained a following fans. A
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  Speaker 2: lot of fans point to this as being one of
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  Speaker 2: their favorite Yes albums, and I think when they toured,
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  Speaker 2: they toured they did. It was five years ago for
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  Speaker 2: a topographic Drama tour with one part drama, the first
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  Speaker 2: part of the drama in its entirely, the second part
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  Speaker 2: teals some topographic oceans in its entirety, and those songs
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  Speaker 2: were really well received by the audience. And also the
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  Speaker 2: Topographic Drama live release is a wonderful live release, probably
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  Speaker 2: one of the best live releases for a band has
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  Speaker 2: a lot of live releases. So it has definitely gained
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  Speaker 2: favor among Yes fans, especially those who are you know
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  Speaker 2: who are open to new singers and new ideas, and
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  Speaker 2: even those who said there's no Yes without John Anderson,
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  Speaker 2: some of them have fall into the fold.