Do you consider Drama as part of the YES 80's era?

[Bill M]

Most of us know that Drama came out in 1980. But eras are not always in sync with the calendar.

Do you associate Drama as part of the YES 70's era or is it the first album of the 80's era.

[Ceasar’s Palace]

That’s really tough. It seems to be right in the middle. The reason I chose 70s is that that’s clearly what they wanted it to be. The format and style harken back to TYA, there’s the Dean cover, and Offord making an attempt to produce it. As great as the Buggles contribution is, it doesn’t have much modernity in it.

[cybrkhatru]

I'll have to think about this, because it does feel like a straggler, belonging to both eras. It points the way forward to 90125 (and Asia), while also sounding more heavy and grounded than either GFTO or Tormato.

[Susanne]

I agree - this isn't straightforward. However, for me personally, it comfortably belongs to the 70s era. It is the last of the series that still felt provoking, confusing and deliciously weird.

[Chris2210]

It's entirely its own thing, isn't it? I wouldn't group it with the main sequence nor would I lump it in with YesWest. For obvious reasons it's closest in feel to FFH which while it doesn't have the moments of sheer brilliance that are on the earlier album is a much better outing overall. Drama is a bit thin to my ears - not just on the running length.

[Sharp On Attack]

It's exactly in the middle !

[Ceasar’s Palace]

It's entirely its own thing, isn't it? I wouldn't group it with the main sequence nor would I lump it in with YesWest. For obvious reasons it's closest in feel to FFH which while it doesn't have the moments of sheer brilliance that are on the earlier album is a much better outing overall. Drama is a bit thin to my ears - not just on the running length.

Drama sounds as much as FFH to me as KTA sounds like Tormato, in other words not at all.

[Davy]

No, it's the last album of the original band.

[Imperatrix]

I consider it 80s material, but who knows? Wherever the surviving members of the lineup think it fits is, ultimately, where it belongs…I suppose.

I probably stick Drama in the 80s because I graduated high school in 1980, and it seems to fit that decade—just as Genesis’ Duke fits the 80s and not the 70s, but hey—I could be dead wrong. 🤷🏻♀️

[Esthe]

Definitely the ‘70s.

[John Vehadija]

For me it goes with the 70s stuff

[Grey Wolf]

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, between the 70s and 80s, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call Drama.

[luna65]

I consider it 80s material, but who knows?

I agree with you. For me, it just has that feel of looking forward to what was coming, even as there were elements which made people think of Classic Yes.

[Count Robert of Paris]

I was initially intending to vote 70s era because stylistically it is clear they were going for that—the Hammond sounds, the Roger Dean cover, etc. But I decided to vote 80s era because in some ways, Yes was then repeatedly trying to reinvent itself without someone—ie, 90125 and Big Generator were Yes without Steve, ABWH was Yes without Chris, and Drama was Yes without Jon. The zeitgeist of those four consecutive albums was in many ways characterised by who was missing.

[Homemade Parachute]

I think I said on the old site, had Drama and GFTO exchanged covers, it'd be interesting to see how people responded to them… Drama was maybe over-compensating for the loss of Jon, as if to really point out the Yes credentials by bringing Eddie and Roger back on the one hand, but then looking forward with Geoff and Trevor, but then not quiiiiiiite making it, imnsho… Comparing it to the best Rush album, Permanent Waves, also of that era, which was both a cleaner break from what had come before, in many ways a direct reaction to it, without jettisoning the whole shebang. As different as Drama is, it tilts the scale a little bit more to the 70s, especially with what follows (now, 90125, *that's* an 80s album, in all the best ways).