Started listening to Drama this morning, an album I was apprehensive to listen to because it's the first album to lack my beloved Jon Anderson's distinctive ethereal voice. Would it even sound like Yes without him?, I thought. But when I heard the vocals on the first track, "Machine Messiah", I realized just how crucial Yes' vocal harmonies were to their overall sound. Because my first though was, Wow, Trevor Horn really sounds a lot like Jon. But I quickly corrected myself with the following thought: No, he doesn't really, he's just harmonizing with the same guys.
But even before the vocals came in, the instrumentals made the song sound virtually indistinguishable from the way the band sounded on the previous album. Which makes sense, because duh, three quarters of the instrumentalists that played on the previous two albums are still here. This is still Yes. And while Jon is still my favorite member (although possibly tied with Chris?), he was never what was carrying the band, and Drama makes that crystal clear. And this is just after listening to the first song!
