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Classic. It seems to get a lot of grief for being popular, or for being “corporate rock”—well, it may have been popular, but it’s also supremely weird, hardly the sort of rock that was climbing the charts. Weird arrangements, weird background mumbling/repetition of the lead vocals, lots of bizarre time shifts, reversals, howls, dynamic shifts. I think the case could be made for this being one of Yes’s strangest albums, which is saying a lot. I came back to listen to this album today for the first time in decades and I realized that I still had most of the album memorized. I loved it back when it came out, and it holds up. Three cheers for weird sellout corporate rock if it’s as lovingly crafted and strange as this album.

I think there is plenty of consideration for the listener. And I think a lot of listeners will connect with these tense, compact expressions of cathartic rage. The thrumming low-end synths propel and connect the songs, and Kesha’s lyrics are as lucid and resonant. I don’t know much about her music or the stories that drove this albums narrative, but I was floored by the work. It’s a great example of why albums are still important.