Joining Nova for their final two records were bassist Barry "SunJon" Johnson and drummer Ric Parnell, the latter previously in Atomic Rooster and Ibis (and son of the famous big bandleader Jack Parnell). The band had moved to the US, relocating first to Colorado and then on to Southern California; according to Elio D'Anna, "In England, all there were were a lot of punk bands!" Narada Michael Walden was still around, but in a different role; here, he produced Wings Of Love, which again was recorded at Trident Studios in London.

After their fiery debut, Nova suffered from some lineup changes. The rhythm section was the first to leave, while Danilo Rustici wasn't far behind. Corrado Rustici and Elio D'Anna then recruited a keyboardist—Renato Rosset from New Trolls Atomic System—and reached out to the fusion world for the rest of the lineup: Narada Michael Walden, ex-Mahavishnu Orchestra, provided drums, while Percy Jones, Phil Collins and Robin Lumley, all on loan from Brand X, filled in with bass, percussion and production, respectively.

Evidently, Jon Anderson spent little time mourning his divorce from Yes, as he quickly started up both a solo career and a highly successful collaboration with Vangelis. The pair initially recorded together for the Greek musician's 1975 album, Heaven & Hell; and from there, their relationship grew, first with Anderson adding harp and vocals to a couple of records in Vangelis's prolific catalog of albums. Short Stories is the debut album by the duo, now billed as Jon & Vangelis.

Alternating with his collaboration with Vangelis, 1982 then saw another solo album from Jon Anderson, Animation. He again assembled a stellar cast, including Jack Bruce, Clem Clempson, Simon Phillips and Chris Rainbow. “Olympia”, a paean to electronic music and gear(!), opens the album with considerable momentum, partly due to its driving forward beat. Perhaps producer Neil Kernon deserves the credit, but there's considerable more momentum to the album than on any of Anderson's previous.

Parallel to his venture with Vangelis, Jon Anderson also began a solo career. Producing, writing and arranging, Anderson also assembled a fantastic cast: Ronnie Leahy on keyboards, Ian Bairnson and Clem Clempson on guitar, John Giblin on bass and Morris Pert on drums. Several compositions had been poised for Yes, including "Some Are Born," "Everybody Loves You" and "Hear It," but it's obvious why they were never executed: Don't go looking for Yes' music here as Anderson's solo effort, Song Of Seven, is an altogether different beast.

Seems not everyone had their fill with Tales From Topographic Oceans; built around a story inspired by Roger Dean's wooden space ship on Yes' Fragile album cover, Jon Anderson's Olias Of Sunhillow is once again chock full of sci-fantasy and mysticism. The story, influenced by Vera Stanley Alder and J.R.R. Tolkien, concerned the migration of four tribes to a new planet.

The Yes Album was that herculean leap that not only helped Yes save their recording contract with Atlantic, but also elevated them towards rock’s elite. With new blood Steve Howe (previously in Bodast) on guitar, Yes spent a few months isolated in the country writing new material, including fantastic arrangements of Paul Simon’s “America” and The Young Rascals’ “It’s Love.” In retrospect, the elements for success had been in place on their previous two albums; but here, Yes elongate their compositions, which gives them room to blossom without ever getting bloated.