Big Generator marked the end of Trevor Horn’s tenure with Yes as producer. The album continued their trend of the more Pope oriented sound of the previous albums. It had two singles, and reached #17 on the UK charts and #15 on the US chart. During their tour, Trevor Rabin collapsed backstage due to exhaustion from the flu. After appearing at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary, Jon Anderson left the group to form a supergroup with former Yes members Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, and Bill Bruford.
Members:
Jon Anderson: Vocals
Trevor Rabin: vocals, guitar, keyboards, string arrangements
Chris Squire: bass, backing vocals
Tony Kaye: piano, organ
Alan White: drums, percussion, backing vocals
The Tracks:
- “Rhythm of Love”: this is an excellent opener, with some great keyboards and drums.
- “Big Generator”: The keyboards on this are pretty good. This sounds more like a song Duran Duran would have done, though.
- “Shoot High, Aim Low”: One of my favorite songs. I like the reverb on the vocals, and the keyboards sound eerie.
- “Almost Like Love”: This song doesn’t really work for me. It’s too poppy.
- “Love Will Find a Way”: I like this one a lot. The strings are nice. It almost became a duet with Stevie Nicks, but White convinced Rabin otherwise.
- “Final Eyes”: I like the acoustic guitar, but this isn’t Yes.
- “I’m Running”: This feels more like arena rock than Yes.
- “Holy Lamb (Song For Harmonic Convergence)”: This song is all right, but it wasn’t good.
Final Verdict: I like this album, but I’d like to see Yes go back to what was working for them, not trying to sound like they’re imitating New Wave. By this time, New Wave was waning in popularity, so Yes should’ve stopped being something they weren’t.
Grade: C
Aspie Catholic 