Big Generator
Encyclopedia
Big Generator is the twelfth studio album by progressive rock
band Yes
. It was released in 1987 on Atlantic Records
' Atco
subsidiary label (Yes' last studio album for Atlantic) and was the follow-up to the massively successful 90125
album.
was aiming to progress beyond 90125, while founding lead vocalist Jon Anderson
was beginning to yearn for more traditional Yes music. Trevor Horn
, who was a major factor in the success of Yes's previous disc 90125
was part of the early recording sessions, but dropped out after a few months due in major part to his inability to get along with keyboardist Tony Kaye
. In a 2011 interview with LineaRock Italy, Anderson stated that Horn had told Anderson to stay away from the rehearsal and recording sessions for three months, presumably so that Horn could develop material with the other band members. The band recorded some material in Italy ("Shoot High Aim Low"), moved to London to produce "Rhythm of Love", and finally to Los Angeles to produce the final tracks for the album. Rabin assumed the production duties after the departure of Horn, and is credited for pulling together the final line-up of music on the disc.
The result was an album that was successful commercially, with two songs reaching the US Top 40: "Love Will Find a Way
" (also a #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart) and "Rhythm of Love" (their last US Top 40 hit). The album was not as popular as 90125, and feeling that the band was going in a direction he didn't want to pursue, Jon Anderson
began working on other projects at the conclusion of the Big Generator tour in 1988 including a partial reformation with his Yes bandmates from the 1970s (this reformation would lead to Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
).
It is unclear if the album will ever be reissued by Rhino Records with additional bonus tracks as all previous Atlantic studio releases have been. While new additional material has not been available, unreleased demos may be pulled from the Warner
vaults, or live material from 1988 used on the box set, Yesyears.
Missing from the Yes "expanded and remastered" 2003/2004 series by Rhino/Warner
(like Yessongs
, Yesshows
and 9012Live: The Solos
), Big Generator was finally remastered (with inverted stereo image) and expanded in 2009 by Isao Kikuchi, the album was published by Warner Music Japan as part of their "Yes SHM-CD Papersleeve" series.
cover art is very similar to that of the CD and cassette version, but on different colouring: yellow is replaced by cyan and red by purple. The word YES is in the upper part of the letter G, and the symbol is of red colour and is located on the lower part of the letter G.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
. It was released in 1987 on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
' Atco
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
subsidiary label (Yes' last studio album for Atlantic) and was the follow-up to the massively successful 90125
90125
-Yes:*Jon Anderson – lead vocals*Tony Kaye – keyboards*Trevor Rabin – guitars, additional keyboards, backing vocals*Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals*Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals- Studio personnel :...
album.
History
A laborious album to make, Big Generators sessions dragged on for two years, largely over creative differences. Guitarist Trevor RabinTrevor Rabin
Trevor Charles Rabin is a South African born musician, best known as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British progressive rock band Yes from 1983–1994, and since then, as a film composer.- Early years :...
was aiming to progress beyond 90125, while founding lead vocalist Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
was beginning to yearn for more traditional Yes music. Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
, who was a major factor in the success of Yes's previous disc 90125
90125
-Yes:*Jon Anderson – lead vocals*Tony Kaye – keyboards*Trevor Rabin – guitars, additional keyboards, backing vocals*Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals*Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals- Studio personnel :...
was part of the early recording sessions, but dropped out after a few months due in major part to his inability to get along with keyboardist Tony Kaye
Tony Kaye (musician)
Tony Kaye is a British musician.Kaye was the original keyboard player for the progressive rock group Yes from 1968 to 1971, and rejoined Yes from 1983 to 1995...
. In a 2011 interview with LineaRock Italy, Anderson stated that Horn had told Anderson to stay away from the rehearsal and recording sessions for three months, presumably so that Horn could develop material with the other band members. The band recorded some material in Italy ("Shoot High Aim Low"), moved to London to produce "Rhythm of Love", and finally to Los Angeles to produce the final tracks for the album. Rabin assumed the production duties after the departure of Horn, and is credited for pulling together the final line-up of music on the disc.
The result was an album that was successful commercially, with two songs reaching the US Top 40: "Love Will Find a Way
Love Will Find a Way (Yes song)
"Love Will Find a Way" is a song by the progressive rock band Yes, from their 1987 album Big Generator. It was released as the first single from that album, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late 1987. It also topped the U.S...
" (also a #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart) and "Rhythm of Love" (their last US Top 40 hit). The album was not as popular as 90125, and feeling that the band was going in a direction he didn't want to pursue, Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
began working on other projects at the conclusion of the Big Generator tour in 1988 including a partial reformation with his Yes bandmates from the 1970s (this reformation would lead to Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe was a project of four progressive rock musicians, vocalist Jon Anderson, drummer Bill Bruford, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and guitarist Steve Howe . They had played together in Yes in the early 1970s...
).
It is unclear if the album will ever be reissued by Rhino Records with additional bonus tracks as all previous Atlantic studio releases have been. While new additional material has not been available, unreleased demos may be pulled from the Warner
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
vaults, or live material from 1988 used on the box set, Yesyears.
Missing from the Yes "expanded and remastered" 2003/2004 series by Rhino/Warner
(like Yessongs
Yessongs
Yessongs is the first live album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released on Atlantic Records. The album is formed of recordings from their supporting world tours for their studio albums, Fragile and Close to the Edge, between February and December 1972...
, Yesshows
Yesshows
Yesshows is the second live album by British progressive rock group Yes. Released shortly after the appearance of Drama, Yesshows comprises live performances ranging from the summer of 1976 to the supporting tour for Tormato in 1978...
and 9012Live: The Solos
9012Live: The Solos
† – Recorded at Edmonton, Canada at Northlands Coliseum, 28 September 1984, as part of the soundtrack of the movie "9012Live"‡ – Recorded at Dortmund, Germany, 24 June 19849012Live: The Solos reached #44 in the UK...
), Big Generator was finally remastered (with inverted stereo image) and expanded in 2009 by Isao Kikuchi, the album was published by Warner Music Japan as part of their "Yes SHM-CD Papersleeve" series.
Track listing
- All Songs CopyrightCopyrightCopyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
Affirmative Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corporation.
2009 Japan Bonus Tracks [wpcr-13529]
- "Love Will Find a Way [Edited Version]"
- "Love Will Find a Way [Extended Version]"
- "Rhythm of Love [Dance to the Rhythm Mix]"
- "Rhythm of Love [Move to the Rhythm Mix]"
- "Rhythm of Love [the Rhythm of Dub]"
Yes
- Jon AndersonJon AndersonJon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
- lead and backing vocals - Trevor RabinTrevor RabinTrevor Charles Rabin is a South African born musician, best known as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British progressive rock band Yes from 1983–1994, and since then, as a film composer.- Early years :...
- lead and backing vocals, acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, keyboards - Tony KayeTony Kaye (musician)Tony Kaye is a British musician.Kaye was the original keyboard player for the progressive rock group Yes from 1968 to 1971, and rejoined Yes from 1983 to 1995...
- keyboards, organ, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s - Chris SquireChris SquireChristopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Alan WhiteAlan White (Yes drummer)Alan White is an English rock drummer known for his work with the progressive rock band Yes. White was also a member of the Plastic Ono Band, playing live in 1969 at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, which was recorded and released three months later as Live Peace in Toronto 1969...
- drums, percussion
Additional personnel
- Horns on "Almost Like Love": Soul Lips-James Zavala, Lee R. ThornburgLee ThornburgLee Thornburg is a trumpeter who has played with many artists, and also has been a member of Supertramp and Tower of Power. Thornburg also played with Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders in the 1970s.-Biography:...
, Nick Lane, Greg Smith - Harmonica on "Love Will Find a Way": James Zavala
- Keyboard Programming: Kim Bullard
- String Arrangements by Trevor Rabin
Production
- Produced By Yes, Trevor Rabin, Trevor Horn & Paul De Villiers
- Mixed By Trevor Horn
- Engineers: Paul De Villiers & Alan Goldberg (Lark Recording Studios), Dave Meegan, Trevor Rabin, John Jacobs, Paul Massey, David Glover
- Assistant Engineers: Mike "Spike" Drake, Stuart Breed, Brian Soucy, Lois Oki, Julie Last, Jimmy Preziosi, Mike Kloster
- Mastered By Stephen Marcussen
Accolades
Big Generator (Atco 790 522) reached #17 in the UK, and #15 in the US during a chart stay of 30 weeks.Bootleg Demos
A set of demos for Big Generator has been circulated unofficially. In some cases, the demos are scarcely different from the album versions, but the two demos of "Shoot High, Aim Low" demonstrate the labour of bringing the album to its final form, and thus are of interest to students of the creative process or Yes history. The first demo is an early, sparse mix with Anderson singing what would become Rabin's parts. The minimal feel lacks the intricate production of 90125, but it may simply have been an early mix. The second seems to be re-recorded, or at least re-mixed, with the drums pushed up front and a decidedly different feel, climaxing in a Jon Anderson spiritual peak that harks back to the 1970s Yes. The final song on the album is a combination of both versions, with a significantly more lush production approaching that of 90125. (Both demos have different lyrics from the final version. Some notable changes are "Malibu sand" for "crimson sand" and "first ride" for "last ride". The second demo makes the "blue fields" connection more explicit by mentioning Central America.)Vinyl version
The vinyl recordGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
cover art is very similar to that of the CD and cassette version, but on different colouring: yellow is replaced by cyan and red by purple. The word YES is in the upper part of the letter G, and the symbol is of red colour and is located on the lower part of the letter G.
Album
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Billboard 200 | 15 |
Singles
Singles - Billboard (North America)| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | "Love Will Find a Way" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| The Billboard Hot 100 | 30 | ||
| "Rhythm of Love" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 | |
| The Billboard Hot 100 | 40 | ||
| "Shoot High Aim Low" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 11 | |
| 1988 | "Final Eyes" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 20 |
Sources
- AllMusicGuide.com
- "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002
- Yes, "Big Generator" CD Liner Notes. 1987 ATCO Records.
- Yes, "Big Generator" CD Liner Notes. 2009 Warner Japan Music Records.