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.

Following the demise of Osanna prior to their 1974 release, Landscape Of Life, Elio D'Anna and Danilo Rustici formed Uno. Originally slated with Napoletano Toni Esposito on drums, the pair ventured to London to record an eponymous album, Uno, with drummer Enzo Vallicelli. Yet the group did not last, even with Rustici's brother Corrado, previously a member of Cervello, augmenting on guitar. So D'Anna and the Rustici brothers returned to London and under the auspices of Pete Townshend, producer Rupert Hine and Arista Records, formed Nova.

Genesis' story begins at the Charterhouse public school in Godalming, Surrey. Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel and guitarists Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips were all classmates in two competing bands. Adding drummer Chris Stewart, they joined forces in 1967 with the hopes of becoming a songwriting collective. The band's earliest efforts were proffered through the old-school tie, when pop producer and fellow Carthusian Jonathan King agreed to produce some demos. The contact eventually led to a recording contract from Decca Records.