YES: 'Big Generator' - is it really that bad?

[@cbciosubs]

Shoot High Aim Low, Final Eyes, and Holy Lamb are 3 of my Yes favorites from any era , all in all this was a good follow-up to 90125, some outstanding songs and vocals from Anderson. I will take 70's Yes as my favorite period but so enjoy their 80's output a good bit.

[@NicholasSadlier]

Ironically, this is the album that got me into Yes - I worked backwards (and forwards) from there and enjoyed seeing them live on three tours along the way. I really like the album, but I was coming at it as a blank canvas with absolutely zero prog bias or expectations.

[@ChromeDestiny]

I kind of had the same. Big Generator was the new Yes album when I got into the band and I heard that, 90125, Fragile, The Yes Album and Yesterdays all within in a short period of time. Big Generator and 90125 were given to me as gifts and the earlier albums were my dad's and I found them and got hooked on them.

[@LanceB1960]

If "90125" and "Big Generator" had used the band name Cinema as the musicians wanted instead being forced by the record company to put them out under the Yes moniker, these albums would have been more readily accepted critically.

[@ThomasReynolds-ey1ps]

Rubbish

[@charleswagner2984]

​@@ThomasReynolds-ey1psI am one of a dozen people in the world that declares Tales From Topographic Oceans the finest music ever written or recorded in all music history. That said, I find Big Generator to be my 3rd favorite Yes album. Not quite as magnificent as my 6th favorite album of all, Magnification. Big Generator comes in 12th on my all time favorites because all the songs are magnificent. Even the slow durge that is Shoot High Aim Low is a good song though my least favorite on Big G. This album starts very well, progresses after the slow durge with two great pop songs, then the greatness generates greatly with the last 3 songs. Nearly every album Yes created have closures that are awesome and amazing. But for BG, Holy Lamb is more perfect for this particular album than any other Yes album. For me, it's as powerful as Awaken, To Be Over, even Ritual. And it's these last 3 songs that makes BG a great Yes album.

[@mattleppard1970]

Totally agree

[@SoundWaveSea]

I'm a lifelong Yes fan, starting with "Fragile". "Big Generator" is an AMAZING and BRILLIANT album. Hard stop. No more needs to be said.

[@benrawlins4037]

I 100% agree 👍

[@RootsandTendrils]

No Big Generator is an entertaining, energetic, intriguing, and Holy album. I have always enjoyed it. Jon is an inspired artist and he seldom misses his mark. I saw Jon perform Holy Lamb on stage, it was sacred and powerful; and the entire concert from the tour was very well done and thrilling. I think it was quite beautiful how Trevor Rabin and Jon worked together on this and the preceding album, I think their partnership reached it height on "Talk".

[@bennyscomin]

Funniest review I've ever seen was for the "Talk" album......only two words, it read, "Shut up."

[@Fogeyspasm]

I love this album. Just as I loved Rush's Power Windows when it came out. Great songs with magnificent crystal clear digital production that completely suited the arrangements. Still love that sound to this day.

[@georgemathie8123]

I'm an 80s kid and I was a tender age of 9 years old as young as I might have been at the time my tastes were ever evolving so my mom bought my first yes cassette in January 1988 and big generator was my first ever yes album I ever owned I got it for the big hit love Will find a way however shoot high aim low and I'm running got me into lifelong love for Yes

[@classicarcadeamusementpark4242]

I really enjoyed this album. I had just entered College at the time. I had only had the 90125 album prior to Big Generator, so I had nothing to judge it on. Plus I was still at the end of my teen years and more open minded to newer music than older fans who grew up with 70s Yes generally would have been. Unlike 90125, I wouldn't rank it as one of their very best albums, but that said, I enjoyed every song on it. My favorite was "I'm Running". Big Generator was the first Yes tour I attended, and I attended every tour that included Jon Anderson since except the Talk tour. At the Big Generator tour something happened. The band played "Heart of the Sunrise", and I was immediately blown away. Easily my favorite song they played, and I never heard it before. It's still my favorite Yes tune. Tony Kay & Trevor Rabin did a great job covering this song. I immediately bought the "Classic Yes" album after the show. Turns out I discover decades later, Tony Kaye actually was originally playing on the song when it was written. Maybe Rick Wakeman covered him for some of the parts?? Tony left & Rick stepped in during this period. Regardless, I really enjoyed both of their versions on this song. And generally speaking, Tony Kaye covered Rick's parts a lot better than Rick covered Tony's parts, as amazing as Wakeman is. I had largely grown up on "Prog rock meets AOR". Bands like Styx, Foreigner, Kansas, Genesis, ELO, Asia, etc. This era of Yes wasn't a far stretch from that, and largely followed in the footsteps of bands like Styx who originally started the trend of blending these styles together.

[@rranswerman]

This may not be the greatest Yes album but it was released at the absolute perfect time. I was a mud logger working the midnight to noon shift at a geothermal well being drilled near the Salton Sea in California. The album came out after I was sitting the well for a couple of months or more. I bought a cassette tape of it (the first and only pre-recorded tape I ever bought since it was the only means I had to play it) right before drilling at the well was abandoned at a depth >12,000’ because it was a duster (dry - no production). They didn’t drill that night but I had been up monitoring equipment (besides logging rock cuttings we also monitored everything on the rig). About 9AM I was told to tear down the equipment and move it to another rig that was setting up nearby. I called in my relief and together we worked throughout the day tearing down the many cables and sensors from that rig and set it up at the other. We got it all mostly set up and calibrated at the new location when I began a new midnight to noon shift at the next location, which began drilling soon after. Listening to that brand new Yes tape over and over again during all those hours got me through it. Shoot High Aim Low is my favorite on that album.

[@scottross2762]

Wow. I'm impressed by the love this album is getting here from the comments. Nothing wrong with that. I like it a listen once in a while. And I mostly agree with the great review. To me it was a band adapting with their new direction, trying to build on 90125, making money in an MTV world. To be fresh, creative. Relevant (in, again, that MTV kind of way). You must say that despite the prevailing trends nobody else really sounded like that particular group of guys at the time. I enjoy a lot of those first two Rabin albums. I must point out that I saw them many times live in that 5 or so year period from 90125 to Talk, including the Onion Tour, and I really always enjoyed Trevor putting his signature very well on the Steve Howe pieces. Steve Howes welcomed back to YES would come around again down the road some years. Yet..little did we know everything change must and that Open Your Eyes was yet be spawned. They had some good work on the later albums when Wakeman came back, maybe even Sherwood sometimes.I admit I stopped listening when the other singers replaced Jon. Cheers.

[@mcolville]

Shoot High, Aim Low might be my favorite YES song.

[@BruceColon-BSides]

Awesome track

[@stantheman9072]

Awesome song, but it's no Tempus Fugit.

[@serenitypeaceandcomfort3669]

Big Generator is a great album. Lots of hits on it.

[@bencarter6702]

I've always considered it essentially a double album companion to 90125 really. Both good examples of 80s YES.

[@andrewmilesbroughton8222]

90125 is my most played CD ever after Floyd's 'dark Side.." this is the son of...album and that's Ok by me, there's a good 5 top class songs here. Prog/pop heaven really. Like your show a lot.

[@antfirmin]

8:33 'Open Your Eyes' a prog masterpiece? My jaw hit the floor... and it is still there!

[@classicalbum]

Yes, I was joking

[@spocktheripper]

More like Close Your Ears.

[@bonecanoe86]

A lot of the "Boomer Era" bands made really strange and weak post-peak albums in the mid-80s through the early 90s that sound incredibly dated and not really like themselves. (Think CSN&Y's "American Dream" or any of the Moody Blues' 80s albums or god forbid late-stage Beach Boys) But out of these "late stage boomer" albums Big Generator is one of the ones I like the most. Yes it is extremely dated. But the sound and the songs just work for me. It will never reach the heights of their 70s material or even 90125, but it's still a solidly enjoyable album I will put on from time to time. Still a fondue fountain of cheese, but I love it.

[@alanthorne3921]

I compare this album to Rush’s Power Windows which I love both.Very 80’s even down to their fashion sense.And this coming from myself growing up with all their previous albums.I still listen to both albums today.Tales of Topograhic Oceans or Hemispheres they are not but I remember thinking that both bands were moving forward with technology and trimming their epic songs into more concise ,accessible tunes.

[@davedebelis9736]

Extremely well said. I wouldn’t have thought about it quite like that until I read your comment. Power Windows has more complex music and lyrics but good comparison

[@christopherwright8811]

Interesting comparison but feel Power Windows is much more consistent. I very rarely go back to BG but have listened to PW hundreds of times over the past decade. The 70s Yes just knocks me out - it's just astonishing

[@mikereiss4216]

I definitely prefer BG over Power WIndows. It's not really a fair comparison though. I think a better comparison would be BG and Hold Your Fire since both came out in 1987. I saw both bands in Philly for the first time on those respective tours. Yes sold out (or practically sold out) both of their two shows. Rush also played two shows at the spectrum but the second one had several empty seats. In Philly at least Yes were bigger than Rush. I think every where else it would have been the opposite especially in the following decade. My two favorite bands regardless (Genesis is number 3).

[@enriquesoto6534]

I really like this album! In fact, you might say is my go-to Yes album, over some later uninspired releases. It is funny how music is somehow tied to almost every period of my life. This record, Love Will Find A Way, in particular, will always remind me of my cousins 15th birthday party, and her boyfriend at the time!! He was quite a character! During the party, he made sure that the whole album, and later, the aforementioned song, be played continuously throughout the celebration! Although, I appreciate it was played through a High End system, I often ask myself, how many times did we heard that song?!? Sure, it sounded astoundingly good, but it really messed my head afterwards 😂!

[@MrWheeler715]

I have a soft spot for this album because the first time I saw Yes was on this tour. I've probably listened to it three times in the last 20 years. I'll dust it off and give it another go.

[@philhughes9562]

It wasn't my first Yes show, but I saw that tour too. I still have a fond spot for that album though not nearly as much as I do for the really excellent ones. I thought it was a little bit of a let down after 90215, but overall I feel like the Trevor Rabin version of Yes is really a different band.

[@mikereiss4216]

My first Yes tour also (I was 17).

[@DJMurphyChgo]

I remember when 90125 first came out, I only knew “OoaLH”. Then I heard “Roundabout”, which made me fall head-over-heels for Yes. I then revisited 90125 having fully immersed myself into Fragile, and I similarly fell hard for 90125. This had to have been in 8th grade for me. I then bought Yessongs (both the double-cassette and the VHS), 9012Live (rented the VHS 9012Live and bought the 9012Live The Solos on cassette). I had a copy of The Yes Album. So by the time Big Generator came out, I was already a big fan. I bought BG on the day it came out, already having loved the first single, “Love Will Find A Way”. And… I was bummed. I guess having accustomed myself to the great albums preceding it, I felt let down that certain songs on BG just didn’t grab me by the throat the same way that the songs on 90125 were able to. It’s as if they hadn’t left the songs in the oven long enough; if 90125 was (and to me, still is) a 10/10, BG rates only 6.5/10 (7/10 on the days I’m feeling generous). And what made it so much more frustrating is that there seemed to be such potential for greatness within the songs that are there, but then the “great moments” sort of got squandered by an inability to create a fully great song top-to-bottom. I still love “Love Will Find A Way” (although I wish its sound weren’t so damn anemic); I love parts of “Final Eyes”. I get bored easily by “Rhythm of Love” and “Big Generator”, I wish there was more meat on the bones of “Shoot High, Aim Low”, “I’m Running”, and “Almost Like Love”. And I cringe at the hippy-dippy new-agey sentiment of “Holy Lamb”. (And I consider myself philosophically to be a hippie!) Bottom line: with BG, it’s just a case of so much potential but not enough cohesion, not enough coalescence.

[@Harromuso]

I think this should be looked at as an album of songs rather than a Yes album. I quite enjoyed it and still do. Shoot High, I'm Running are great tunes and I think the melody in Holy Lamb is a beautiful thing. But it's definitely not a prog album

[@martz4476]

Stopped by a thrift store today and grabbed this album on vinyl not sure what to expect, never heard it before. Almost left it there. Than...this video! On the same day! The universe really wanted me to listen to BG this week I guess

[@jimjosemusic5325]

I’m Running is one of their best songs of all time - very progressive. When it gets to the part “ See through science Part of a back door A door made up of doors To an endless time To a new world I was like.. dang, this is like one of the best moments of a small set of 5th Dimension songs - just outstanding “out of the box” expansion of the melodic structure - transcendent,.. has to be Jon Anderson writing that bit. And Chris’s bass is so “Chris”. Absolutely love the song !

[@anscules]

This is a flawed album, but I love it. I could do without the title track and “Almost Like Love” - it would be perfect, if really short. Side 2 is flawless (yes! I said it!) and “Shoot” is an all-timer.

[@greghaines6488]

Exactly right! Those are the two worst songs. Otherwise, it is a really good album. So what if it isn’t proggy enough for some, or not as good as 70’s YES. (After all, NOTHING is as good as 70’s YES! ) I still enjoy the rest of this album very much. I rate it fairly close to 90125. Why in the world did they ever stop using Roger Dean covers?

[@richarddixon7890]

Not a bad album. Does not deserve the beating. Yes, 90 is much better…”Changes” a masterpiece

[@Luukupuuk]

Been a Yes-fan from the beginning. Was more disappointed with Drama (what a befitting name) . Really liked this one and 90125

[@kayfimt7769]

No, I think this one is alright. The real stinker is the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album. That’s a shocker.

[@keithplant2860]

While this is not Yes at there best, there is much to enjoy.

[@antfirmin]

2:10 I was stroking my beard when you said that, thinking "this album is bloody brilliant"

[@peterthompson8014]

I've been a YES fan since childhood but wasn't old enough to see them in concert until this tour. It was my first YES concert.

[@KilroyWasHere83]

Shoot High Aim Low, Final Eyes, and I'm Running are all fantastic songs, and i even like Love Will Find A Way. The rest of the album I can do without

[@miccarbo7911]

Final Eyes and I'm Running are so underrated!

[@KOSMICKEN09]

Final Eyes is incredible

[@jamesscully529]

They lost me here and I was a diehard Yes fan. Not to diss any other band but they sounded like an LA hair band. I grew up on the 70s version of the band, the Fragile/Close to the Edge band with Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford. Took me a little time to warm up to Alan White, who was more four on the floor while Bruford was more top end of the kit. But Big Generator lost me and I didn't even go see them on that tour. I put it in with Buggles version of 1980.

[@MrZen08]

For me it's in the top 5, after Close to the Edge, the Yes Album & Relayer. "I'm Running": how it pivots from the dark vibe to the tropical jaunt is wonderfully bizarre, and when the snare is going but the kick drops out, it feels like lift-off. "Almost Like Love": may seem out of place for Yes, but not Jon Anderson in the whole of his career, and he does this one with gusto. The spiral section in "Big Generator". "Shoot High". Rabin is referred to as the pop guy, but he's really the rock guy. Yes with Rabin was one of the few places in the 80's to find moments of hard rock played by a smart band instead of hair metal/butt rock.

[@frankmarsh1159]

The problem with this album is the production. The super trebly brittle guitar sounds. The low resolution digital chorus and reverb on everything. The gated drums mixed way too loud. The very cheesy thin digital synths. No low end on the bass guitar. The upper mid frequency boost on the over all washy sounding mix. This album is a prime example of the excesses of 80's recording techniques. One of the worst offenders.

[@emceesmith6665]

These albums were originally supposed to be for a new pop rock group outside of the prog genre. They're only called Yes for commercial recognizability. As a fan of both deep 70s prog and cheesy 80s pop, 90125 and Big Generator can hold their own in the broader Yes discography, even if it doesn't hold a candle to pretty much everything done with Bruford.

[@nintendo64isking]

i love big generator 9/10 for me it grows in my estimation over time actually, love what they came up with. A nice mix of longer tracks and shorter hits

[@tonyspada2744]

Rabin only gave the band a face lift. They still wrote and played amazing Prog. I've been a Yes fan since 1970. And love Rabin's playing and writing. The TALK album is the best of the 3 they did with Trevor 🎶🎶🎸 Everything after Magnification Sucked .

[@ThomasReynolds-ey1ps]

Ironic trevor didn't play after Talk...... He single handedly saved YES...... That's a fact

[@caramanico1]

OK album for Yes, excellent for anybody else. After this, I find Magnification their best by far.

[@daveycretin664]

No, it’s not that bad, it’s just not a great Yes album. 90125 is probably my 7th favorite Yes record, and it was the first tour l saw live. Big Generator is a lesser version of 90125, l feel the songs are better on the latter platter. “Final Eyes,” “Shoot High… “ and “Love Will Find A Way” are my three favorite tracks from BG. The song l never liked is “Almost Like Love,” those cheesy keyboard sounding horns drive me bonkos! Personally, l enjoy the ABWH CD and Trevor Rabin’s solo album Can’t Look Away better than Big Generator. Cheers from Noo Yawk, ova heyah! ~8^ )

[@julio_scissors]

Wore the grooves off of this album. Great tour as well.

[@figgybass]

I like the album very much. Of course it's very different from the old stuff. It's still good!!

[@stantheman9072]

Your use of the word “synthetic” to describe this effort reminds of the first thing I thought when I heard it. It’s a 6 on my 10 scale. The interesting tracks outnumber the lesser ones, but not by enough. Talk was a much more consistent and satisfying work. That later album, to me, was the highlight of Rabin’s contributions to the band.

[@anscules]

I also like Talk. It’s rare that anyone mentions that one.

[@kevdmiller]

I had no idea that it was despised, though I did have the perception that it was very '80's (in all the bad ways), didn't remember it all that fondly and hadn't listened to it in many years. Then about a year ago put it on for the heck of it and honestly I really dug it. For a few weeks I was replaying it pretty frequently. It isn't their best but I think it's quite good!

[@rickypayne9192]

I think this was the best album put out that year

[@biggiefries4111]

Love BIG Generator.... What a great album from my youth...." I'm Running " is incredible...

[@dannyjoebrown4611]

When a prog band sets their sights on making pop songs, look out. Great shit! I way prefer this era of the band to the earlier stuff. I'm the same way with Genesis. I can't huff enough glue to get into those earlier albums.

[@Starman2112ofKings]

90125 was pretty good tho it was a “different” Yes, but Big Generator was where I got off the Yes train.

[@chetthebee1322]

I loved 90125, I loved Drama, I'm one of the few that even loved Tormato but I did not like Union and I really did not like Big Generator. I think it had more to do with the album's production than maybe the music.

[@cdeford]

I think 90125 is excellent, but Big Generator marked the start of a musical desert (Keys and the odd track here and there aside) that lasted over a decade until Magnification came along. I find nothing on the album worth wasting time on.

[@chrispur6883]

I would agree with Meinart Hansen; not a bad album... i think "Heaven & Earth" is the worst album by yes. Some good songs on Big Generator... "Rhythm Of Love"; Shoot High Aim Low" and "Final Eyes" i really like. But i would say that the two previous albums "90125" and "Drama" are far better... both are my favourites und most listened albums. Greetings from germany... bye and take care.

[@lemming9984]

Yes, it is all that bad! I'd put it up there with Genesis' 'Duke' and Gentle Giant's 'Giant For A Day'.

[@dougmcgee3059]

Thanks for another good episode. All the previous studio albums were remastered and released with bonus tracks but not this one. I think that says something. The dry burn of ‘Open Your Eyes’ was also a nice touch.

[@bertbecker7532]

Almost Like Love gets my vote as worst concert opener by any Yes lineup. But overall what killed this album was the interminable wait from 90125. Yes was on a roll but per their history failed to capitalize on it, missing out on LiveAid and better production values on this album. Oh well, it was the 80s after all on they were not kind to many prog acts. The “hear this voice” end of I’m Running is great, one of the best moments from this lineup, wish they played it live when I saw this tour.

[@harrynewiss4630]

I for one am thrilled one of my favourite bands dodged Live Aid

[@stevep7582]

Is it really that bad? I can’t imagine anyone hearing the incredible production, songwriting, and interplay between Rabin and Squire on this album and thinking it’s a “bad” record. No, it isn’t Close to the Edge or Relayer, but that in no way diminishes the potency of the fantastic songs on this record. And Rabin’s guitar tone is god tier. I loved it when it came out and I still do to this day.

[@asmcelhinney]

Big Generator is a guilty pleasure of mine. It was always of interest from the bass guitar point of view, featuring Chris on 5 string bass, often tuned to a low A, many riffs featuring on the Starlicks video he was in that watched over and over. Very little is written or said of this album especially in comparison to the rest of the canon, even the lacklustre Tormato's story is better documented. Odd considering this took nearly 3 years to coalesce. There are hints of too much partying going on, that could have exacerbated the creativity. The multiple recording locations and producers suggest an unfinished product being beaten into submission and released hastily. I wouldn't say any of the songs are bad, but they lack any real lustre, any passion. In comparison, the hated Union has a far more complete sound with the ABWH2 material feeling like there was a driving force behind it (Anderson and later Elias). I made a CD once with the Rabin penned songs from Union mixed in with BG, it was a far more satisfying collection. The tour was short also, with many songs being dropped quickly - I feel this was more a symptom of the preparedness of the band and lack of familiarity with their recent album of abandoned arguments than a comment on BGs overall quality. A missed opportunity.

[@papunAlicea]

Great album, great job as always. 💯🎼

[@stevetobin7495]

I remember playing this to death back in the late 80,s ...some beautiful songs here - I also thought union was strangely undervalued too

[@meloralovesdarkness2495]

Actually a Very good Album IMHO! It is Very Happy and Fun for the most part! Not Classic YES though, by any means.. Worth checking out though! Very POP YES!! I will say though, the WORST album artwork of ALLTIME goes to this, besides Tony Banks "Bank Statement" album, For Sure!! It is NOT 90125 though..

[@michaeldy3157]

I like this one alot but it is not great like 90125. Loved all yes releases though

[@SOALNightLive]

I think it has more ambition musically than 90125 did. Tracks like Shoot High, Final Eyes and I'm Running take it places 90125 didn't go. There's a bit more substance on those mildly epic tunes. This was the first time this lineup had to deliver a "Yes" album and I thnk it covers more ground musically than it's predecessor. Production is not as good, but it was 1987, and sounds it. The vinyl version I have sounds best. It's really bright sounding on CD. I like it about as much as the other albums they did with Rabin.

[@ustuppy]

This album brought interest from a younger generation. A good thing.

[@MetalMan73100]

My first Yes album was Union, bought right after its release in 1991. Big Generator I bought shortly afterwards, from a bargain bin for very little, perhaps also because it was on a cassette, though later replaced by a CD. Terrific abum, in my opinion. I still enjoy it now, especially Shoot High, Aim Low. Still, what an eyesore that album cover is, eh?

[@ianstewart5598]

can we have a Deep Purple worst as well then :) "The House Of Blue Light" Oh dear? Then again I was a big fan of Hughes/Coverdale era Purple, so Gillan coming back, was a bit of a game-changer for me.

[@steveouk90126]

In 1991 Steve Howe quipped that 70s Yes music emphasised melody while 80s emphasised rhythm. As a bass player I'm okay with that. BG is one of my favorite Yes records because it _was_ a departure from the melodic, airy-fairy prior works and demonstrated that Yes was more than static, one-picture musical ideas. Previous records could be flighty and a bit airheaded while BG was driven, hard and in a way shiny-metallic by contrast. It was to previous Yes albums, as Bill Bruford described leaving Yes for KC, a "cold shower" compared to previous works. Of course right afterward came ABWH which tried to combine the two (and I thought, successfully) with more melodic than rhythmic.

[@LouiePlaysDrums]

Although I had heard Rhythm Of Love and Love Will Find A Way back when they were released as singles, I actually did not hear the entire Big Generator album until 2016 (almost 30 years later). I was actually quite surprised by how good it was, in my opinion. It's not the greatest Yes album ever made but I don't think it's bad either. I like it.

[@bddrex]

Has anybody told you that you look like Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull? Big generator by Yes isn't that great in my opinion but I really like the song love will find a way. That's a classic in my opinion.

[@kevinbutler3665]

I think Love Will Find A Way is a bit sickly sweet pop rock but other than that i really like this album, for me i'd sit this album equal to 90125, not much between them for me.

[@ArchieDuke.]

Good on them for venturing forward. As much as I love Close to The Edge, did we really expect they would keep repeating that forever? It's why I love Genesis, they kept changing things.

[@davidmacdonald1695]

Shoot High Aim Low and I’m Running are extremely good tracks. Big Generator also worth a listen.

[@MalkyMcMillan]

I play this album far more than 90125. A fine sonic experience which is varied and interesting.

[@mikereiss4216]

No matter how many low ratings or bad reviews this album receives these days my ears will always hear this as a very good album. My opinion isn't going to change over time just because the old Yes fans from the 70s don't like it or the younger cool kids don't. I had been into the band for 2-3 years when it came out and was really excited to finally hear a new release by Yes. I saw the tour twice. The first time was my first time seeing them live. Even without the nostalgia I find it to be a very good album.

[@andreasghb8074]

I gave up on Yes with this album. Still love everything up to and including Going for the One.

[@drewgeraci8434]

I loved 90215. That said, I reeeeealy wanted to like Big Generator but it sounded very mid-80s and- like Yes-wannabee trying to sell product.

[@JohnnyRecently]

I adore The Big Generator. Always have. Now their visual look in 87 was a little lame, but the album is gorgeous.

[@BruceColon-BSides]

I agree that Rabin’s voice is a welcome additional texture during this era. I respect his overall talent.

[@phillipanderson7398]

No thoughts on his guitar textures ?

[@BruceColon-BSides]

@@phillipanderson7398 Really liked his playing as well. Much like his production touches, it really suited the era.

[@johnthresher259]

Without the Trevor Rabin period Yes might have ceased to exist (note the "might"). If XYZ had worked out for Squire and White, Yes certainly would have been finished I think. Big Generator is a decent album although it does smack of being a hurried follow up demanded by the Record company to the previous hit album. Personally I've no time for the nay-sayers "...it's not the same without Jon Rick Pete Tony Hugh Hugh Barney McGrew Cuthbert Dibble and Grub etc yaddah yaddah. Along with MrWheeler715 the first time I got to see Yes was on the 90125 tour (having been a fan since Fragile/Close To the Edge). I saw ABWH on tour and Onion in the round at Wembly, the "classic" line up at the Hammersmith Apollo (2003?) and the the Jon Davison fronted Yes including the late great Chris Squire at the Cliffs Pavilion Westcliff-on-Sea (you heard it right!). Thoroughly enjoyed them all!

[@WillowRedDog]

Hurried follow up? It took them four years after 90215 to get this out. Even if you factor in touring, there were still two years to write and record a new album. We’re also talking about a band that used to only take a year between releases, and sometimes even put out two albums in the same year.

[@danaaronmusic]

It's worse. OK, now I'll watch the video.

[@rameybutler6555]

i love big generator is great.yes could come out today and say theyre working on a ganster rap album, and i would buy it just to hear theyre spin on the genre.

[@stevecowder4774]

Although its not one of their stronger albums, it does however possess some shining moments. But it’s hard for that album to hold a candle to 90125, one of the most successful and lyrically important albums of the entire 1980s. Overall I don’t think it’s that bad of a piece. Just not as strong as any of their predecessors.

[@WillowRedDog]

I feel that had this album had come out a year earlier, it likely would have performed much better. For one, the music soundscape was changing, and secondly, they just took too long between albums to get it out. I quite like Big Generator, and the highs are really high. I’d still choose to listen to this over albums like Relayer, Going For The One, Tormato, or even most of the records which came after it.

[@markcorbett7402]

I think the answer to this question largely depends on when you were born. Most people who got into Yes in the 1970s aren’t going to like it much. I got into Yes in the late 80s and really like it, especially Shoot high aim low, Rhythm of love & I’m running. This album is also let down by it’s pretty awful title track and album cover (which aren’t going to help entice those older fans).

[@Russell_G]

As I stroke my build and mourn my giving up smoking in 1991, I decide, yes, yes it is a stinker of an album!!

[@treeduck3705]

This is the point where YES hit the realms of metal!

[@paulcassidy8130]

As with Hot Space, your Is It Really That Bad review has sent me back to listen to this album for the first time probably since 1987. And as with Hot Space I've had again to answer No, it's not that bad. Maybe the passing of the decades makes me listen afresh, discarding the prejudices of the time. Or maybe I'm just getting old and soft in the head. I agree that it's clearly an attempt to cash in on 90125 by offering more in the same vein and it definitely comes off second best. But I found much to enjoy and will be giving it another listen shortly. However, I can't see me changing my mind about Onion, whose many layers of awfulness surely cannot be redeemed by time.

[@paulcadby6925]

I actually thoroughly enjoy BG from start to finish just as l do 90... Far from a progressive masterpiece of earlier work but a great MTV era effort.

[@garrettchristensen8074]

Shoot High Aim Low is one of my favorite songs ever.

[@classicalbum]

Best advice my dad ever gave me

[@zlonxman]

I just never fell in love with any Trevor Rabin era Yes music. When 90125 first came out, the mainstream public went nuts over it, and I (as a 17-year-old) was saying "no" to this new Yes. I was infatuated with true classics like "The Yes Album," "Fragile," "Close to the Edge," and basically anything before the horrible 1980s stuff. 80s rock (not just Yes, but too many other bands) sounded like it was all made by computers rather than flesh in blood human musicians. Hell, even the album covers for 90125 and Big Generator were created by computers. (Roger Dean was probably not even considered to make the album covers for this 80s stuff.) So I'll take Steve Howe (or even Peter Banks!) over Trevor Rabin any day.

[@elongatedborzoi1160]

I personally am a massive fan of 90125, but I have always really hated Big Generator. It feels like (imo) a worse version of 90125 that trues to capitalize off it's success.

[@ayeatropoulos1]

I'm not a huge fan of this album either, but I do love "I'm Running".

[@cratercritter]

Each to their own. I love this album far more than 90125. For me, it's the last great Yes record and I've not enjoyed anything the band's done since (in all it's various incarnations) as much.

[@glauciodon.campelo8967]

Side B from the original LP is good. Both "Final Eyes" and "I'm Running" were solid songs. Side A... nah.

[@GreatCosmicWebs]

I'd love to hear your thoughts about Threshold's debut record "Wounded Land. And the Whitespade record that Midnight just dropped, a wonderful Motörhead tribute.

[@michaelreynolds8204]

I was in the army during basic training this album has forever been in my head awesome The rythom of love is the weakest song but it is still good

[@ThomasKDye]

No. Well, I'm glad we got that solved.

[@vallaindigital]

I can still listen to some tracks on this album from time to time, my favorite being "Shoot High Aim Low". But I do think it is the worst of the "Rabin-era" albums. And on top of that, the sound quality of Big Generator is aweful. It lacks lower frequencies quite a bit. I even like Union better, which is an album often put as the absolute worste of theirs.

[@nickbaggins7942]

This was my introduction to Yes. As a child this was the background music when I was playing Lego. Shoot High is still a favourite

[@spocktheripper]

This would be a much better album with a remix. That shrieking 80's reverb just kills it. Rhythm of Love, Love Will Find A Way and especially Shoot High, Aim Low are great tracks. I would love to hear what they would sound like with the Steven Wilson treatment.

[@LeeHardingakaFirmament]

Obviously it’s a different beast from the prog greats like CTTE or Relayer but, make no mistake, without Rabin’s input - especially with 90125 and this album - Yes would have ground to a halt completely in 1980. Is this a “great” record? No. But it’s a pretty good prog pop crossover release nonetheless - and certain tracks are genuinely fantastic. It will always play “second fiddle” to 90125 but, compared to something like Union or the lamentable Heaven & Earth, it shouldn’t be dismissed so lightly.

[@dhfenske]

I believe that Chris and Alan would have found some other musicians to work with if they hadn't chosen to work with the Trevors. They would have made some different great music I'll bet. Trevor Rabin was a great choice of theirs, though. And I think that indicates that Chris knew how to choose good musicians to work with and, fortunately for us, good musicians with INTERESTING creative ideas. R.I.P. Chris and Alan.

[@Superbokka]

It isn't that bad but yes 90125 was better and a few years after Big Generator we'd get the album Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe with the glorious Order of the Universe on it.

[@williamharris9417]

i would love for something the quality of Big generator to be released today...