Steve Howe (musician) combined with Jon Anderson's vocals, Chris Squire's bass, Bill Bruford's drums, and Tony Kaye's keyboards, were seen as an essential part of the band's change in musical direction towards progressive and art rock. The album includes a live recording of Howe's solo guitar piece "Clap", recorded on 17 July at the Lyceum Theatre in London. It was a commercial breakthrough for the group. Kaye left in 1971 and was replaced by Rick Wakeman for the following album, "Fragile". This classic Yes line-up of Anderson–Howe–Squire–Bruford–Wakeman is associated with the peak of the band's early achievements. "Fragile" is one of the most
Rick Wakeman Wakeman left from the Ronnie Smith group and for several months, played in a pub band named the Spinning Wheel. In 1970, Wakeman performed on "Seasons" by Magna Carta, and records by Brotherhood of Man, Paper Bubble, Shawn Phillips, and White Plains. He soon became disillusioned with session work, "I was getting good bread, but I wasn't getting a chance to be part of the music". Wakeman's prominence rose during his tenure with the folk rock group Strawbs from 1969 to 1971. He first played the piano for them as a session on "Dragonfly", the first album released with Wakeman's