Happy Anniversary: Yes, Drama

36 years ago today, Yes released their 10th studio album, one which found the band taking advantage of being in a transitional stage of their career by stepping slightly away from the prog-rock that had defined so much of their ‘70s output and heading in directions which would find them getting metal at one moment and slightly new-wavy the next.

Drama was – and, as of this writing, still remains – the only Yes album to feature both Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn as actual members of the band. Their arrival in the lineup came about as a result of Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman bidding the band adieu in the wake of Yes’s previous album, Tormato. Not ready to let the band go quite yet, the remaining three members of Yes – and if you’re keeping track, we’re referring to Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White – kept things going by bringing Downes and Horne into the fold.

While we’ve already indicated that the Drama-era lineup of Yes only lasted for a brief while – they dissolved soon after touring behind the album – it was nonetheless long enough for Horn to make an impression behind the console, which in turn led to him securing producing duties when the band regrouped a few years later to record the highly-successful 90125 album. No, it didn’t particularly sound like Drama, but that just means that Drama stands out as a unique entity within the Yes discography, one that remains worthy of regular revisitation.