Rick Beato recently caught up with founding Yes vocalist Jon Anderson, who discussed the songwriting and recording process of the classic Yes albums. Anderson also talks about how the band's 1971 hit "Roundabout" gained a new audience due to its heavy usage in the first two arcs of the popular manga-anime series, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Anderson on returning to Yes for the 90125 album:

"There was something about the songs that really, well, they needed help in some ways. I remember listening to 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart' and thinking, 'The chorus is a hit, but the sounds and the samples - what's the sample?' And he goes, 'James Brown.' And I said, 'It's so Trevor Horn.' Then I said, 'It's missing a few things.' And Chris said, 'I thought you'd say that. Would you be interested in singing on the tracks?' And I said, 'Well, yeah, I would, because I think the production is amazing. To be honest, I think the production is unique - unique energy. I think the verse of 'Owner' needs to be a little bit spiky. It's a bit wishy-washy.' So he said, 'Well, come on in tomorrow and join the band. We'll call ourselves Yes.' And I said, 'Ah, that's why.' So I went in, the following day, met Trevor Rabin and we got on great.

I realized he was a very talented musician, guitar player, and everything - songwriter. And so we started working on the verse of 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart,' and I said right away, 'It should be (hums melody).' And he said, 'Oh, yeah.' He wrote the second line, and then we got through the first verse, and Trevor Rabin said, 'You get on with that. I'm gonna have some lunch.' And I said, 'OK, I'll just get on with it.' I just carried on writing verses and Trevor Horn helped a couple of times, so it was a very joint experience to write.

The verses needed to be more, shall we say 'interesting' because 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart', if you don't take care of yourself, you're gonna have a lonely heart. So it was a great experience to join the band again in the 90125, go on tour, total Spinal Tap, upside down. It was amazing."