Surveyed as a whole, the Yes catalog is the ultimate hodgepodge: symphonic prog, heavy jazz fusion, arena rock, synth-pop, new wave and classical guitar showcases.
Naturally, the members’ solo work darts around even more — if you listen to everything chronologically, you may experience a wild free jazz recording (like some of Bill Bruford‘s improvisations with Dutch keyboardist Michiel Borstlap) next to a new-age ambience that calls to mind a massage parlor lobby (Jon Anderson). Given that stylistic range, it’s tough to rank it all — a problem only compounded by sheer volume. Most of these guys were prolific, both during and after their time in Yes.
To make our list more digestible, we established some loose rules: focusing on officially released albums where the musician is either on the marquee (say, Chris Squire‘s Fish Out of Water) or is an obvious bandleader (like Steve Howe in the Steve Hackett collaboration GTR); trying to avoid projects where the billing is mostly a branding concern; and whittling down the pile by eliminating solo instrument works, soundtracks (sorry, Rick Wakeman) and all records primarily comprised of covers or reworked material.
Then there’s the ultimate guideline: We looked at music from “classic” ’70s members — Anderson, Howe, Wakeman, Bruford, Squire, Alan White, Tony Kaye and Peter Banks — who played on multiple Yes LPs.
With the disclaimers out of the way, let’s rank every Yes solo album from worst to best.
Yes Solo Albums Ranked
From failed pop experiments to symphonic prog masterpieces.