Big Generator is the twelfth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 21 September 1987 by Atco Records. It was the band's final studio album of original material for the label, as well as their last studio album of the 1980s to feature lead vocalist Jon Anderson. Following the world tour for their highly successful album 90125 (1983)—which established a shift from their traditional 1970s progressive rock sound toward a commercially accessible, pop-oriented direction—the band began working on a follow-up in 1985 with returning producer Trevor Horn.
The recording process was highly fraught and protracted, spanning two years due to severe internal and creative gridlock within the group. Sessions originally commenced inside a castle in Carimate, Italy, in an attempt to foster band chemistry. However, the period was marred by unproductive writing sessions and an increasingly toxic interpersonal atmosphere. Creative progress was further strained by Horn's decision to deliberately exclude Anderson from the initial writing and rehearsal sessions. Production subsequently relocated to London, but escalating creative differences persisted, ultimately prompting Horn to abandon the project. The unfinished album was moved once more to Los Angeles, where guitarist Trevor Rabin and engineer Paul DeVilliers assumed co-production duties to finalise the tracks. Musically, the album continued the pop-rock and dance-rock direction of 90125, emphasising Rabin's polished guitar work, intricate keyboard textures, and layered vocal harmonies on mainstream rock tracks like "Love Will Find a Way" and "Rhythm of Love", alongside more experimental arrangements such as "Shoot High Aim Low" and "Final Eyes".
Big Generator received mixed reviews from music critics upon release, with commentators divided over its heavy reliance on high-tech 1980s production techniques. It reached number 15 on the US Billboard 200 and number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. The album yielded two Top 40 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: "Love Will Find a Way" and "Rhythm of Love". In April 1988, Big Generator was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales exceeding one million copies in the United States. Like its predecessor, it received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Yes supported the album with a tour of North America and Japan, after which Anderson departed the band for a second time.
Background In February 1985, the Yes line-up of lead vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, keyboardist Tony Kaye, drummer Alan White, and guitarist and vocalist Trevor Rabin concluded a twelve-month world tour in support of 90125 (1983). The album had marked a significant commercial and stylistic shift for the group, moving away from the progressive rock sound that defined their 1970s work toward accessible, pop-oriented rock. Driven by Rabin's demos and the production of Trevor Horn, 90125 became the most commercially successful album of the band's career. It yielded their first and only number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and earned the group a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Cinema". Following the tour's completion, the band took a six-month hiatus before reconvening to record a follow-up.
Rehearsals for the new album began in Hollywood, California, in August 1985, with Horn returning as producer. The band faced intense pressure from their label, Atco Records, to replicate the multi-platinum success and hit-single formula of 90125. Rabin felt restricted by these commercial demands, stating a preference to distance the band from their immediate past and pursue a different creative direction regardless of its commercial outcome. Internal creative friction quickly emerged regarding the musical direction of the album. Anderson, hoping to build upon the band's expanded fanbase, wanted to develop "more adventurous" arrangements that extended the musicianship of the ensemble. Horn and the remaining band members disagreed with this approach. Seeking to mirror the writing process used for 90125—where vocal arrangements were added to pre-established backing tracks—Horn isolated Anderson from the initial writing sessions. Anderson later characterised this isolation as a "big mistake" that disrupted the band's collective energy; he had intended to push Rabin toward experimental, aggressive arrangements, describing his vision as a "Stravinsky-ism" where the music would "go crazy wild" before collapsing into silence. Conversely, Kaye recalled that the group entered the studio without a definitive plan. While Rabin had accumulated a large backlog of songs with pre-written lyrics and structures, he purposefully refrained from forcing them onto the band in order to foster a collaborative environment. However, Kaye noted that the band avoided material based heavily on pure improvisation, opting instead for structured arrangements.
The album's title was taken from a line in the band's 1985 concert film, 9012Live. During a colourised art segment featured at the end of the film, an actor states, "It's the rhythm of big generators." The phrase resonated with the band members, who subsequently adopted it as the title for the project.
Recording Musical influence and equipment
At the beginning of the songwriting process, Rabin recalled that the group used the Beatles' Abbey Road (1969) as a structural model for the music on Big Generator. Rabin explained that the band wanted to avoid pressuring themselves into forcing every fragment into a conventional song structure, choosing instead to let standalone ideas exist naturally without pasting on weak hooks or choruses. This fragment-based approach led to a track list featuring arrangements significantly longer than typical pop songs of the era, with tracks peaking in excess of seven minutes in length. Rabin noted that Kaye played a larger role on Big Generator than he had on 90125. However, ongoing interpersonal clashes between Kaye and Horn meant that Kaye recorded many of his keyboard tracks in a separate studio space away from Horn. Despite Kaye's increased involvement, Rabin still performed a significant portion of the keyboards on the final record.
Kaye's primary instrument during the sessions was the Korg DW-8000 synthesizer, which he used to replicate Hammond organ and acoustic piano sounds. He also incorporated a Roland D-50 synthesizer and a custom-built Oberheim DPX-1 rack unit integrated with a hard disk system to minimise disk-swapping during performances. While recording in London the group recorded utilising an expensive Synclavier system housed in an isolated upstairs room above the main studio tracking floor. Basic backing arrangements were fed from the main studio up to the Synclavier, where Kaye performed his parts, before the digital tracks were fed back down to tape onto the main studio's Sony digital multi-track recorders. Simultaneously, White worked closely with sound technologist Reek Havoc to integrate a Dynacord Add-One digital drum system into his setup, using both electronic trigger pads and an acoustic kit to trigger stereo sound samples.
Italy, London, and Los Angeles sessions
At Rabin's recommendation, the band initially agreed to record at Lark Recording Studios, a facility located at Castello di Carimate in Carimate, Italy. Rabin believed that isolating the band members in an historic, remote environment would encourage them to bond socially and spark new musical ideas. However, bassist Squire criticised the location choice, claiming that Rabin selected the Italian studio purely as a tax shelter and a way to minimize production expenses—an assertion Rabin later denied, stating that saving money was never the primary intent. The sessions quickly deteriorated, and Squire recalled that the band spent more time arguing over recording equipment options than writing actual music. Rabin later noted that the friction between vocalist Jon Anderson and Squire left a creative vacuum that allowed him to work independently on his own ideas. After three months in Carimate, the band had completed most of the core rhythm tracks, but progress ground to a halt. Rabin recalled that the period dissolved into "a real drug time" with excessive partying and a severe lack of focus among unnamed members of the group. Recognizing the lack of productivity, Horn suggested they abandon the Italian sessions and return to the United Kingdom.
Recording resumed in London, where the band tracked material across SARM East, SARM West, and AIR Studios over the course of several months. The change of location failed to heal the deep stylistic divisions between the members. Frustrated by the corporate atmosphere of the group, Horn found himself completely unable to finish producing the tracks due to the unyielding gridlock. He formally resigned from the project, later describing the environment not as a working creative committee, but as "warring factions trying to kill each other." Rabin later noted that Horn's exit was accelerated by intense personal and musical disagreements with both Anderson and Kaye. Seeking an environment where he could work without group interference, Rabin recalled that his happiest moment of the London sessions occurred when he snuck into the studio alone on a Sunday to work by himself.
Recognizing that the sessions had stalled entirely, Rabin decided to move the entire project across the Atlantic in early 1987 and brought the unfinished master tapes home to Los Angeles, California. Production was finalised across Southcombe, Westlake, and Sunset Sound Studios with the assistance of producer and engineer Paul DeVilliers, who had previously served as the live sound mixer on the band's 90125 tour. Rabin also performed extensive solo tracking at his 24-track home studio in the Hollywood Hills, a positive working experience that convinced him to build his own dedicated facility.
The two-year process was financially draining and personally exhausting, with Rabin estimating the final production costs reached $2 million. Reflecting on the final stretch of production, Rabin revealed that the pressure was too much: "I had to salvage the whole thing and mix it on my own with no one in the studio. It was traumatic. My stomach lining went, but I did finish the record." Devastated by the ordeal, Rabin secretly planned to use the band's Los Angeles press conference to announce his permanent resignation from Yes, but he ultimately acquiesced after his wife and his manager successfully convinced him to stay. The album's sleeve notes credited the production collectively to Yes, Rabin, DeVilliers, and Horn.
Songs Side one The album's opening track, "Rhythm of Love", was co-written by Kaye, Rabin, Squire, and Anderson. Rabin conceived the track's lyrical theme as a deliberate exploration of romantic and physical attraction. He felt that the band's transition into mainstream rock with "Owner of a Lonely Heart" on 90125 (1983) had successfully distanced Yes from the dense, cosmic-inspired lyricism that defined their 1970s progressive rock era, and viewed a more direct theme as a playful departure from their past work. While Anderson acknowledged that the ensemble strongly supported the commercial appeal of the song's primary chorus, he initially expressed reservations regarding the explicit nature of the draft. To reach a compromise, Anderson requested that the lyrics be refined, ultimately altering several specific words to fit his vocal delivery.