History Trivia / Yes

* FranchiseKiller: ''Drama'' subverted this when the band came back for ''90125''. ''Union'' played it straight, killing their commercial success, and all their albums have since been released on indie labels, though they're still an in-demand live act.

** Vangelis was also seriously considered for a spot in the group after Rick Wakeman left but chose to go solo. He did collaborate with Jon Anderson in the early '80s.

** "Love Will Find A Way" was originally written for Music/StevieNicks.

** The album that became ''Union'' started off as a second Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album, tentatively titled ''Dialogue''. However, "Take the Water To the Mountain" is the only piece from ''Dialogue'' that ended up making it intact onto ''Union'', with the rest of the tracks remaining unreleased until Jon Anderson finally included some of them in a rarities collection in 2006.

** WordOfGod says that this is how ''Union'' was sabotaged. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe were recording their second album in Montserrat, while the official Yes were recording the followup to ''Big Generator'' in Los Angeles, while looking for a replacement for Jon Anderson (Billy Sherwood and [[Music/{{Supertramp}} Roger Hodgson]] were considered candidates). ABWH's label, Creator/AristaRecords, wanted more commercial material, and felt it would sell more copies if ABWH were called Yes. Arista approached Yes to contribute material for ABWH. Trevor Rabin reluctantly sent Arista demos of "Lift Me Up" and "Saving My Heart" for Jon to sing on. Squire and Billy Sherwood sent "The More We Live--Let Go". Meanwhile, Anderson sang backing vocals on Yes' project. Arista assembled all of the Yes and ABWH recordings, plus a Bill Bruford/Tony Levin instrumental, a Steve Howe acoustic solo piece, and "The More We Live" into ''Union''. Adding to the meddling was producer Jonathan Elias, who, as Arista wanted the project completed on schedule, changed guitar and keyboard parts Howe and Wakeman recorded for the band, and added myriad session musicians from L.A. to finish off Howe, Wakeman, and Bruford's playing without even any input from them. That's right, '''Bill Bruford was replaced by session musicians'''. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that Arista was in a financial rut following the Music/MilliVanilli controversy that caused negative impact.
** After ''Union'', the record label Victory offered a contract to record ''Talk'' only to the members who had been on the hit eighties albums, ''90125'' and ''Big Generator''. They then made sure an epic length song ("Endless Dream") and an old song by Rabin, "Walls", appeared on the record; the latter, much to Rabin's chagrin. In a bit of poetic justice, the label folded shortly after its release.

** This is the reason ''90125'' is a Yes album instead of a Cinema album. Cinema was originally Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, and Alan White, with Tony Kaye added mainly for live shows (Rabin and Trevor Horn played most of the actual keyboard parts on the album). However, after Jon Anderson joined the fold, the record company insisted that the band be called Yes (but then again, consider the fact Squire, Kaye, and Anderson were founding members and Alan White had been the only drummer since Music/BillBruford left). Rabin wasn't happy about this, not wanting to be perceived as a replacement for Steve Howe.
** WordOfGod says that this is how ''Union'' was sabotaged. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe were recording their second album in Montserrat, while the official Yes were recording the followup to ''Big Generator'' in Los Angeles, while looking for a replacement for Jon Anderson (Billy Sherwood and [[{{Supertramp}} Roger Hodgson]] were considered candidates). ABWH's label, Arista, wanted more commercial material, and felt it would sell more copies if ABWH were called Yes. Arista approached Yes to contribute material for ABWH. Trevor Rabin reluctantly sent Arista demos of "Lift Me Up" and "Saving My Heart" for Jon to sing on. Squire and Billy Sherwood sent "The More We Live--Let Go". Meanwhile, Anderson sang backing vocals on Yes' project. Arista assembled all of the Yes and ABWH recordings, plus a Bill Bruford/Tony Levin instrumental, a Steve Howe acoustic solo piece, and "The More We Live" into ''Union''. Adding to the meddling was producer Jonathan Elias, who, as Arista wanted the project completed on schedule, changed guitar and keyboard parts Howe and Wakeman recorded for the band, and added myriad session musicians from L.A. to finish off Howe, Wakeman, and Bruford's playing without even any input from them. That's right, '''Bill Bruford was replaced by session musicians'''. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that Arista was in a financial rut following the Milli Vanilli controversy that caused negative impact.

* TheOtherDarrin: Alan White, after Bill Bruford left Yes in 1972 to join KingCrimson.

** ''Literally'' led to the final cover of ''Tormato''. Hipgnosis had been showing Yes the photographs taken for the cover at the Yes Tor, when the album was still planned to be named ''Yes Tor'', when a frustrated Wakeman threw a tomato at one of the images, annoyed by how poor he felt the proposal was. Hipgnosis ended up incorporating the effect into the final cover, and the album was renamed ''Tormato''.

** Vangelis was also seriously considered for a spot in the group but chose to go solo.

** ''Drama'', thanks to Alan White's foot injury stopping recording, the disastrous [[Music/Queen Roy Thomas Baker]] sessions, and Wakeman and Anderson leaving the band.

** ''Big Generator'' took over 2 years to make due to Trevor Horn leaving production early because him and Tony Kaye weren't getting along and Trevor Rabin becoming IAmTheBand and disagreeing with Jon Anderson. Anderson was looking to make a Yes album with the classic 70s style, while Rabin wanted to evolve ''90125'''s sound and score another Top 40 hit. Also, they recorded the album in 3 different studios, all in different countries. They started out in Los Angeles, but they decided to go to Italy to record it in an Italian palace. They recorded "Shoot High, Aim Low" there, then they went to the U.K. to record "Rhythm of Love", then ended up ''back where they started in Los Angeles'' to record the rest of the album. When Chris Squire was interview about the album, he said that he and Alan White recorded their parts on the album over and over during the ''whole two year period''.

** ''Big Generator'' took over 2 years to make due to Trevor Horn leaving production early because him and Tony Kaye weren't getting along and Trevor Rabin becoming IAmTheBand and disagreeing with Jon Anderson. Anderson was looking to make a Yes album with the classic 70s style, while Rabin wanted to evolve ''90125'''s sound and score another Top 40 hit. Also, they recorded the album in 3 different studios, all in different countries. They started out in Los Angeles, but they decided to go to Italy to record it in an Italian palace. They recorded "Shoot High, Aim Low" there, then they went to the U.K. to record "Rhythm of Love", then ended up ''back where they started in Los Angeles'' to record the rest of the album. When Chris Squire was interview about the album, he said that Alan White and him recorded the parts during the whole two year period.

** ''Drama'', thanks to Alan White's foot injury stopping recording, the disastrous Roy Thomas Baker sessions, and Wakeman and Anderson leaving the band.
** "Union" as described in the ExecutiveMeddling entry above.

** WordOfGod says that this is how ''Union'' was sabotaged. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe were recording their second album in Montserrat, while the official Yes were recording the followup to ''Big Generator'' in Los Angeles, while looking for a replacement for Jon Anderson (Billy Sherwood and [[{{Supertramp}} Roger Hodgson]] were considered candidates). ABWH's label, Arista, wanted more commercial material, and felt it would sell more copies if ABWH were called Yes. Arista approached Yes to contribute material for ABWH. Trevor Rabin reluctantly sent Arista demos of "Lift Me Up" and "Saving My Heart" for Jon to sing on. Squire and Billy Sherwood sent "The More We Live--Let Go". Meanwhile, Anderson sang backing vocals on Yes' project. Arista assembled all of the Yes and ABWH recordings, plus a Bill Bruford/Tony Levin instrumental, a Steve Howe acoustic solo piece, and "The More We Live" into ''Union''. Adding to the meddling was producer Jonathan Elias, who, as Arista wanted the project completed on schedule, changed guitar and keyboard parts Howe and Wakeman recorded for the band, and added myriad session musicians from L.A. to finish off Howe, Wakeman, and Bruford's playing without even any input from them. That's right, Bill Bruford '''was replaced by session musicians'''. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that Arista was in a financial rut following the Milli Vanilli controversy that caused negative impact.

** WordOfGod says that this is how ''Union'' was sabotaged. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe were recording their second album in Montserrat, while the official Yes were recording the followup to ''Big Generator'' in Los Angeles, while looking for a replacement for Jon Anderson (Billy Sherwood and [[{{Supertramp}} Roger Hodgson]] were considered candidates). ABWH's label, Arista, wanted more commercial material, and felt it would sell more copies if ABWH were called Yes. Arista approached Yes to contribute material for ABWH. Trevor Rabin reluctantly sent Arista demos of "Lift Me Up" and "Saving My Heart" for Jon to sing on. Squire and Billy Sherwood sent "The More We Live--Let Go". Meanwhile, Anderson sang backing vocals on Yes' project. Arista assembled all of the Yes and ABWH recordings, plus a Bill Bruford/Tony Levin instrumental, a Steve Howe acoustic solo piece, and "The More We Live" into ''Union''. Adding to the meddling was producer Jonathan Elias, who, as Arista wanted the project completed on schedule, changed guitar and keyboard parts Howe and Wakeman recorded for the band, and added myriad session musicians from L.A. to finish off Howe and Wakeman's playing without even any input from Wakeman or Howe. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that Arista was in a financial rut following the Milli Vanilli controversy that caused negative impact.

** Also most of the participants of ''Union'', due to the overproduction, ExecutiveMeddling and replacement of band contributions with that of session musicians and computer editing in post-production. Rick Wakeman famously calls it "Onion" [[IncrediblyLamePun as it brings tears to his eyes]] and Bill Bruford called it "just awful". The tour supporting ''Union'' in 1991 only included up three of its songs in the setlist, and only one, the album's first single "Lift Me Up" appears on the live album, which wasn't released until ''ten years later''. It is more a document for fans of the "mega-Yes" lineup of that time than for the ''Union'' album itself.

** Also most of the participants of ''Union'', due to the overproduction, ExecutiveMeddling and replacement of band contributions with that of session musicians and computer editing in post-production. Rick Wakeman famously calls it "Onion" [[IncrediblyLamePun as it brings tears to his eyes]]. The tour supporting ''Union'' in 1991 only included up three of its songs in the setlist, and only one, the album's first single "Lift Me Up" appears on the live album, which wasn't released until ''ten years later''. It is more a document for fans of the "mega-Yes" lineup of that time than for the ''Union'' album itself.

* DoingItForTheArt: Say what you will about Jon Anderson's lyrical style, hippie persona, and the concept of ''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' in general, but it's clear that the group, Anderson in particular, were willing to alienate a large chunk of the fanbase (not to mention Rick Wakeman) to put out an album they felt strongly about. Anderson temporarily left the band after ''Big Generator'' because he felt that the writing for the album had been too focused on trying to write hit singles.

** WordOfGod says that this is how ''Union'' was sabotaged. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe were recording their second album in Montserrat, while the official Yes were recording the followup to ''Big Generator'' in Los Angeles, while looking for a replacement for Jon Anderson (Billy Sherwood and [[{{Supertramp}} Roger Hodgson]] were considered candidates). ABWH's label, Arista, wanted more commercial material, and felt it would sell more copies if ABWH were called Yes. Arista approached Yes to contribute material for ABWH. Trevor Rabin reluctantly sent Arista demos of "Lift Me Up" and "Saving My Heart" for Jon to sing on. Squire and Billy Sherwood sent "The More We Live--Let Go". Meanwhile, Anderson sang backing vocals on Yes' project. Arista assembled all of the Yes and ABWH recordings, plus a Bill Bruford/Tony Levin instrumental, a Steve Howe acoustic solo piece, and "The More We Live" into ''Union''. Adding to the meddling was producer Jonathan Elias, who, as Arista wanted the project completed on schedule, changed guitar and keyboard parts Howe and Wakeman recorded for the band, and added myriad session musicians from L.A. to finish off Howe and Wakeman's playing without even any input from Wakeman or Howe.

* FranchiseKiller: ''Drama'' looked like it would be this...before the band came back for ''90125''. ''Union'' killed the band commercially, and all their albums have since been released on indie labels, though they're still an in-demand live act.

** Geoff Downes describes himself as a "computer nerd" in his Twitter bio.

* ThePeteBest: Peter Banks.

** Oliver Wakeman intended to contribute heavily to the writing of ''Fly from Here'' before he was booted out for Geoff Downes. By the time the album was finished, "Into the Storm" was the only piece he worked on that remained.

** Also most of the participants of ''Union'', due to the overproduction, ExecutiveMeddling and replacement of band contributions with that of session musicians and computer editing in post-production. Rick Wakeman famously calls it "Onion" [[IncrediblyLamePun as it brings tears to his eyes]].
*** The tour supporting ''Union'' in 1991, only included up three of its songs in the setlist, and only one, the album's first single "Lift Me Up" appears on the live album, which wasn't released until ''ten years later''. It is more a document for fans of the "mega-Yes" lineup of that time than for the ''Union'' album itself.
* DoingItForTheArt: Say what you will about Jon Anderson's lyrical style, hippie persona, and the concept of ''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' in general, but it's clear that the group, Anderson in particular, were willing to alienate a large chunk of the fanbase (not to mention Rick Wakeman) to put out an album they felt strongly about.
** Anderson temporarily left the band after ''Big Generator'' because he felt that the writing for the album had been too focused on trying to write hit singles.

* Creator/{{Hipgnosis}}: Designed the covers of ''Going for the One'' and ''Tormato''.

* MoneyDearBoy: ''Fragile'' had the band members doing "solo" pieces to record the album quickly in order to pay for Rick Wakeman's keyboards. Subverted in that it's still considered one of the band's best albums.

* PromotedFanboy: Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes of Music/TheBuggles were both fans. They tried to submit a song to Yes in 1980, and were asked to join as replacements for Anderson and Wakeman, since both bands had the same manager (Brian Lane). They hadn't even known about the shakeups in the band lineup yet.

** ''Close to the Edge''

** ''Big Generator''.
** ''Union'' counts as well, thanks to ExecutiveMeddling.

** When Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, the band formed by those ex-Yes members which was Yes-in-all-but-name, they were nearly going to (somewhat humorously) call themselves "No". "The Affirmative" was also mooted.
*** As a jab to the official band, they released the ABWH album under the catalogue number of ''9012'''6'''''!

** Also most of the participants of ''Union'', due to the overproduction, ExecutiveMeddling and replacement of band contributions with that of session musicians and computer editing in post-production. Rick Wakeman famously calls it "Onion" [[IncrediblyLamePun as it brings tears to his eyes]]. The ''Union Live'' album[[note]]The 2011 release of their 1991 tour supporting the album[[/note]] goes so far as to contain only '''one song''' from ''Union'', showing just how little regard the band has for it even now.

** Jimmy Page entered the picture yet again when he wanted to collaborate with Bill Bruford in a project he had with Paul Rodgers called "The Firm". Bruford had to decline due to contractual and artistic conflicts, but this ultimately left him free to do ABWH a few years later.

** "Owner of a Lonely Heart" off ''[[NewSoundAlbum 90125]]'' was a catchy New Wave pop rock tune that sounded nothing like the band ever did before then. One of the first mainstream songs to ever use sampling, it was one of the most revolutionary and influential songs of the '80s and the popular MTV video helped introduced the band to a new generation of listeners, many who never knew they were a progressive rock band until then. Play this song to anyone, then play one of their '70s songs, and the listener will think they are two completely different bands.

* BlackSheepHit: Almost all of their Top 40 hits in the United States qualify as this:
** "Roundabout" (peaked at #13) off ''Fragile'' has few progressive elements compared to most of their '70s output. Even sounds like a straightforward rock song if you listen to the radio edit. The original length? 8:37. Radio edit? ''3:27''.
** "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (peaked at #1) off ''[[NewSoundAlbum 90125]]'' was a catchy New Wave pop rock tune that sounded nothing like the band ever did before then. One of the first mainstream songs to ever use sampling, it was one of the most revolutionary and influential songs of the '80s and the popular MTV video helped introduced the band to a new generation of listeners, many who never knew they were a progressive rock band until then. Play this song to anyone, then play one of their '70s songs, and the listener will think they are two completely different bands.
** "Love Will Find A Way" (peaked at #30) off ''Big Generator''. Its a really good power ballad (even if it does contain one of the worst lyrics in rock history, "I eat at Chez Nous"), but it sounds like a song any '80s arena rock band could write. Plus, it is Trevor Rabin, not Jon Anderson, that sings on most of the song.

** "Love Will Find A Way" (peaked at #30) off ''Big Generator''. Its a really good power ballad (even if it does contain one of the worst lyrics in rock history, "I eat at Chez Nous"), but it sounds like a song any '80s arena rock band could write.

* Crerator/{{Hipgnosis}}: Designed the covers of ''Going for the One'' and ''Tormato''.

** "Love Will Find A Way" was originally intended for Music/StevieNicks to sing.

** On Chris Squire's death, Jon Anderson said this about him: "he always said he was [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader to my Obi-Wan]]. I always thought of him as Christopher Robin to my Winnie-the-Pooh."