YMMV / Drama (Yes Album)

• Epic Riff: The opening guitar riffs of "Machine Messiah" and the bass riff of "Tempus Fugit" helped sustain the popularity of the respective songs well beyond the lifespan of the album lineup, with both songs frequently played in later lineups of Yes (i.e. without Jon Anderson and especially after Geoff Downes rejoined), and Chris Squire and Alan White frequently nodding to the latter in their duet jams as well.
• Questionable Casting: The original British reaction to The Buggles joining Yes was one of immense bewilderment prior to the lineup getting Vindicated by History. While Yes were widely known as a serious Progressive Rock group with highly complex songs and lyrics, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes specialized in quirky and more accessible New Wave Music with even quirkier lyrics. Horn's dorky looks were also a jarring sight for fans at the time. American audiences were more receptive, likely because they were unfamiliar with the Buggles, since MTV still had yet to debut with "Video Killed the Radio Star".
• Replacement Scrappy: Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes were initially seen as this by UK fans compared to Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. Not only did they lack the virtuoso-level skills of their earlier counterparts, but they were also known for making a completely different style of music from Yes.
• Vindicated by History: Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn were both seen as Replacement Scrappies by British fans, not helped in that the lineup change was announced all the sudden. Several years on however, many fans regarded this as one of the stronger albums outside of the early seventies, even rating it up with Fragile, Close to the Edge, and The Yes Album. Horn's close involvement with Yes after the fact certainly helped endear him to the band's fans, and the album eventually got a loose sequel in the form of 2018's Fly from Here — Return Trip (a remix of 2011's Fly from Here with Horn on vocals, effectively reprising the Drama lineup). The band would perform the album live in its entirety on their 2016 European tour.

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