Drama Songs Ranked
Drama is the tenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 18 August 1980 by Atlantic Records. It is their first album to feature Trevor Horn on lead vocals and Geoff Downes on keyboards. This followed the departures of Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman after numerous attempts to record a new album in Paris and London had failed. Drama was recorded hurriedly with Horn and Downes, as a tour had already been booked before the change in personnel. The album marked a development in the band’s musical direction with more accessible and aggressive songs and featuring the use of modern keyboards, overdriven guitar, and a vocoder. Here are all of the Drama songs ranked.
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6. Does It Really Happen?
“Does it Really Happen is probably my favourite song off the record, I love how present Squire’s bass is all over the song. If it wasn’t for The Fish, this would be the ultimate Squire song, bar none. Maybe I’m biased because Squire is probably my favourite bassist of all time, but still; a great track.”
5. Tempus Fugit
“This song could be argued as the OTHER ultimate Squire song (ignoring The Fish), and for good reason. Howe, Squire and White go wild on this one, and it’s pretty damn cool.”
See more: Yes Albums Ranked
4. White Car
“White Car is my preferred tiny transitionary track on the record. It’s pretty much the perfect transition between Machine Messiah and Does it Really Happen; a somewhat dark (perhaps even a bit heavy, esp. around the 5:15 mark) song to a pretty light and groovy song. Unlike some transitionary tracks from Yes’ past (e.g. Roundabout > Cans and Brahms > We Have Heaven), the track fits into the mould this record made perfectly, with all of Horn’s and Downes’ musical aesthetics.”
3. Run Through the Light
“Sting-like vocal acrobatics on ‘Run Through the Light’ are a bit of a misfire and don’t do much to help an otherwise dull song, the brilliant ‘Into the Lens’ is a convincing mix of the prog rock of old and the pop sensibility familiar to Horn and Downes, having joined the ranks from their own synthpop group Buggles. It’s a mixture that clearly points the way to what would come next from Yes.”
See more: Yes Songs Ranked
2. Machine Messiah
“Striking opener ‘Machine Messiah’ has some pretty edgy and distorted guitar work to it, from which you can clearly trace links directly into future prog metal even more obviously than you can from earlier Yes classics, which are of course bigger influences in a more general way. It’s an excellent song and one of Yes’ heaviest moments, in as much as Yes ever really get heavy.”
1. Tempus Fugit
“This song could be argued as the OTHER ultimate Squire song (ignoring The Fish), and for good reason. Howe, Squire and White go wild on this one, and it’s pretty damn cool.”