Rank these 4 Yes albums..

[Chrisklenox]

1- Drama - perfect
2- The Quest - fresh, nice production. Feels good
3- Fly From Here - brilliant, but side b lacks focus
4- Tormato - Circus of Heaven sank this one to 4 for me even though I love the rest

[Soundchaser413]

The op had it right imo:

Tormato
Drama
FFH
The Quest

Tormato because I like the vibe and it has Jon Anderson on it. Drama is great because of the musicianship and rhythm section. Also, Geoff and Trevor H. add something fresh to the Yes sound. FFH is very good and I enjoy the FFH suite in particular. The Quest has yet to grow on me (I've only heard it a few times so far though).

[Yesed]

Tormato - for me, a strong album at the end of the classic period , production is 'busy' , but it is Yes and it always reminds me of wonderful Wembley '78. If Roger had designed the cover, the fans would give it more love !
Drama - clean, strong album, well produced, punchy and , boy, what drama when it came out ! Real determination to stay relevant and be Yes. Touring with Trevor and Geoff just the week before Jon's solo tour - a very weird time for us fans, but wonderful looking back
FFH - strong suite and other songs /ideas from the Drama period - great production , always liked Benoit's vocals
The Quest - patchy - a step up from H&E, but a step down from FFH

Thats my order as well, pretty much my reasoning. I think Tormato and Drama were taken for granted for a long time and are much more appreciated now. Imagine getting albums of that quality now?
If I were to rank them with Sam I Am's type of illustration, I think..

Tormato
Drama

FFH



The Quest

[Oldie on the Goldie]

I find FFH to be the best overall album of these, however there are songs such as OTSWOF on Tormato and MM on Drama that I enjoy far more than anything on FFH, so I find it very hard to rank them in any meaningful way. I can't get into TQ so it would be ranked last in any case.

[A Venture]

Tormato - for me, a strong album at the end of the classic period , production is 'busy' , but it is Yes and it always reminds me of wonderful Wembley '78. If Roger had designed the cover, the fans would give it more love !
Drama - clean, strong album, well produced, punchy and , boy, what drama when it came out ! Real determination to stay relevant and be Yes. Touring with Trevor and Geoff just the week before Jon's solo tour - a very weird time for us fans, but wonderful looking back
FFH - strong suite and other songs /ideas from the Drama period - great production , always liked Benoit's vocals
The Quest - patchy - a step up from H&E, but a step down from FFH

[Yesed]

Tormato - first side pretty good
FFH - couple of good songs





Drama - Machine Messiah pretty OK




The Quest - no thanks

Clever, ...though I would adjust the order a bit.

[Yesed]

OTSWOF is a strange song, in that for me it both shows what makes/made Yes great, as well as why Yes was falling apart at the time. The intro from Chris and Alan is brilliant, some great vocals as well and good melody, as the best Yes music. But also, certainly towards the end, a manifestation of ego's with Steve and Rick seemingly trying to outplay each other speed wise, with the rhythm section also trying to get on top, resulting in a cacophony of sound, almost as if the imploding that was about to happen was put to music.

Drama to me feels like real team work, an effort where everyone gives each other room to shine and bring his best. It's tight, and in contrast to OTSWOF, there's not a note too much, every note counts.

Well, Rick does seem to have to get his last licks in there on Silent Wings, ahead of Steve's, doesnt he. lol. Ill say its a nice segue going into The Lens. It could have happened, it seems, with Jon, as evidenced.

[Somis Sound]

1. Drama- I love it from start to finish
2. FFH- I can listen to the whole album and absolutely love the FFH suite
3. Tormato- Some Yes classics and a few songs I always skip
4. The Quest- Don't love any of it

[Chris2210]

So CTTE is a very short, thick album?

CttE is not one of my absolute favourites, but yes it’s thick in the sense the content is pretty dense and very widely acknowledged as a groundbreaking classic. The ‘lightest’ track on there does interesting and innovative things (for a rock band) with rhythm.

Drama is unique and innovative in its way, blending metal and Buggles style gimmickry. I think of it as a cheese grater. While I’m partial to all sorts of mouse-bait, that’s on the plate rather than the platter.

That sounds too self-satisfied for its own good.

[yamishogun]

Key here is short, thin album. MM and odd bits of ItL aside it’s pretty light fare. Tempus Fugit has never struck me as much more than thrusting pop and MiaWC aside I can’t even think what else is on it. That means it’s just really forgettable. For me of course. If others find depths I can’t hear that’s my loss I suppose. My POV is that the depth just isn't there.

So CTTE is a very short, thick album?

[Chris2210]

Key here is short, thin album. MM and odd bits of ItL aside it’s pretty light fare. Tempus Fugit has never struck me as much more than thrusting pop and MiaWC aside I can’t even think what else is on it. That means it’s just really forgettable. For me of course. If others find depths I can’t hear that’s my loss I suppose. My POV is that the depth just isn't there.

[rabin105]

now From a page is a nice short but fun album


It's crazy to think Aliens Credit Carnival and Second initial would of push that album above Drama's length

[yamishogun]

OMG. You're right.


36:30 Drama
37:45 CttE
38:43 GFtO
39:08 TaaW
40:09 Relayer
40:56 TYA
40:57 Tormato

Ain't time strange? heh. Until a few years ago when I looked it up, I would have said Drama is a short but great album.

[pianozach]

Close to the Edge is only a minute longer than Drama and Going For the One is only two minutes longer.
Relayer is three minutes longer than the very short Drama.

TFTO is a mere 44 minutes longer.

OMG. You're right.


36:30 Drama
37:45 CttE
38:43 GFtO
39:08 TaaW
40:09 Relayer
40:56 TYA
40:57 Tormato

[yamishogun]

Tormato.
Drama. A very short, thin album.

Close to the Edge is only a minute longer than Drama and Going For the One is only two minutes longer.
Relayer is three minutes longer than the very short Drama.

TFTO is a mere 44 minutes longer.