Yes regrouped at Manticore Studios in Fulham, then owned by fellow progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, to start rehearsals and develop the material Anderson and Howe had outlined. They ended with four pieces that Wakeman recalled: "One was about eight minutes. One was 15. One was 19 and one was 12", which required editing to fit a single album or extending the arrangements to fit on a double. Howe recalled a mutual agreement to making a double, which Wakeman supported providing that the group could come up with strong enough music. Anderson gained confidence towards a double from the success of "Yessongs", their first live album released that May as a triple that contained almost 130 minutes of music. The group had no new material to develop, however, so ideas were penned that relied heavily on improvisation which Wakeman disagreed with, calling it "almost busking, free-form thinking" and thought the music ventured into "avant-garde jazz rock, and I had nothing to offer". Though he considered "Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)" as a strong track and good melodies and themes throughout the album, Wakeman remained displeased with the "padding" that was added. Squire recognised "a lot of substance" to the four tracks, but thought they lacked at times which resulted in an album that is "too varied and too scattered". Roughly one month into rehearsals, the band took a break from recording, during which Anderson vacated to Marrakesh with his family and wrote lyrics.