Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Yes
Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 1987
Length: 43:41
Rating: 3/5
After the most commercially successful style makeover of their career, Yes carried on with the lineup from “90125” and, of course, tried to make a new record that would chase the success of its predecessor “90125”. “Big Generator”, as the name itself suggests, is spiked with the edge of “rock energy” that Trevor Rabin brought into the band, especially as a guitarist and songwriter. The man who was the main instigator of Yes’s big transformation, with an exceptional knack for writing punchy, short, compact songs richly seasoned with energetic riffs, once again had a free hand in steering the musical direction of the new Yes. In short, Yes’s music got a dose of adrenaline rush at this point that they had never been able to boast before.
The opener Rhythm of Love is a track that tries to follow in the footsteps of Owner Of A Lonely Heart, and so it ended up as a seriously radio-friendly song made for heavy rotation over there. It lacks the evergreen “metal riff” of Owner Of A Lonely Heart, but it has a similar final effect on the listener, thanks mostly to the pronounced, standout “beat” that’s the main culprit for getting your hot blood pumping through your veins right from the first listen.
Ultra-melodic tracks with polished heads and tails, crystal-clear production with a sharp contrast between the pulsing, “splashy” drum rhythm line and the polished edge of Rabin’s guitar, are back again. Gorgeous multi-vocal harmonies (Holy Lamb) that fit the songs like a glove give them a special and very important stamp. Anderson’s indispensable vocal is that extra dot on the “i”, giving the eighties Yes their character and at the same time the one recognizable thread through which the spirit of the great days of the seventies, when Yes were a completely different story, still somehow shines. The band also keeps Rabin’s lead vocals front and center this time, which adds even more contrast to the songs (Love Will Find A Way) on the record. But in a “one on one” comparison of songs between “Big Genrator” and “90125”, “Big Genrator” lacks the grandeur of the expressive motifs of Change, Ownr Of A Lonely Heart, or any progressive spices in the style of the instrumental Cinema. On “Big Generator” Yes completely abandoned the progressive elements that “90125” still contained, at least in faint outlines here and there.
As ever, the songs have a nice range of motifs and moods, which makes “Big Generator” a dynamic album. But there’s no experimenting on it, and so no shift from the predictable to the unpredictable, or any moves you could call progressive. “Big Generator” is an album for fans of pop rock, AOR and melodic hard rock, and at the same time “death” for fans of the Yes legacy of the seventies. Still, this album didn’t bring the band the kind of success that “90125” did, even though it was written with the identical blueprint, since for the market it no longer had the freshness that “90125” surprised it with. “Big Generator” is the logical continuation of “90125”, but between 1983 and 1987 Yes didn’t change their image in the slightest. So after its release Rabin drifted a bit away from Yes and started devoting himself to his solo career again. Maybe he sensed that Yes were once again on the verge of new “weird” changes, which wasn’t far from the truth. Simply put, with “Big Generator” Yes wanted to cash in for real money. It’s a nice pop art rock album, with no hooks for seeking out deeper, more philosophical horizons, yet in its own negation it never reached the ridiculousness of pop minimalism at the price of selling off intellect in the kind of trend that swallowed their brothers in arms Genesis. Yes were slowly becoming “uncles”, and the era of avant-garde music that had written them into eternity in the seventies had obviously passed for good.
Lineup
Jon Anderson – vocals
Trevor Rabin – guitar, vocals, backing vocals
Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tony Kaye – keyboards
Alan White – drums
Production
Yes & Trevor Rabin
Tracklist
1. Rhythm Of Love (4:49)
2. Big Generator (4:31)
3. Shoot High Aim Low (7:59)
4. Almost Like Love (5:58)
5. Love Will Find A Way (4:48)
6. Final Eyes (6:20)
7. I’m Running (7:34)
8. Holy Lamb (3:15)
