You shouldn't get distracted by awesome bass playing. You should enjoy it.

There are no 'rules' to music. You can't say this is how a bass or drums should sound. That's how we got to the homogenised, by the numbers, interchangeable dross that is the current chart music formula.

They’re not appreciating it. This is a work of art

Never in my life have I seen two reactors prime themselves ahead of time to hate the thing they’re about to hear.  It’s ridiculous.

How to destroy your YouTube Channel. Listen to some of the greatest music ever made, and sit there and criticize it. Good luck with that.

I borrowed this album, in 1975, from a friend at school. I think I pretty much wore the grooves out playing it every day until he guilt-tripped me into handing it back. I’ve always felt bad for doing that but at the time I couldn’t afford my own albums. I hope wherever he is now that he finds it in his heart to forgive me, anyway, it’s a magical album. Great review, thanks.

Great music isn't for everyone

Just "Close your eyes and listen." As most of us Yes fans well know, Yes music requires the listener to immerse themselves, within the privacy of one's own head, and with repeated listenings; therefore to allow the music to carry you on a journey within one's own soul. With Peace and Love to all! (Michael a 72 y/o curmugeon)

Steve Howe has said that the opening section of "Close to the Edge" is an homage to The Mahavishnu Orchestra. To my mind, the tracks "Meeting of the Spirits", "The Noonward Race", "Vital Transformation" and "Awakening" from their 1971debut THE INNER MOUNTING FLAME are probably what they were referencing. The version  of "America" you listened to is a grotesquely edited version of the 10-minute original. It has a 2 1/2-minute intro unrelated to the rest of the song that they worked up themselves, and some extended soloing in the middle that some individuals don't like, but I think it's fantastic and have thought so for more than 50 years.

The entire point of part one is to be chaotic. It is the beginning of life, sprouting forth from the primeval soup of creation. The middle part is experiencing life. The song ends with death and recreation.

I had a bit of a rant teed up for this reaction, but decided to take the high road and acknowledge that younger guys listening to old Yes music has to be a net positive. I'll just say Yes in the 70's is not 'one-and-done' music. Repeat listens are almost mandatory and are usually rewarding. But if you just don't dig Chris Squire's bass tone or the way Bill Bruford's bass drum was recorded I don't know what to say...
Also, Rick Wakeman during this period had a keyboard rig consisting primarily of piano, Hammond organ, Mellotron, and the Minimoog synthesizer. He occasionally also played Fender Rhodes, and as you heard would also dabble in harpsichord and church organ. But that was sort of the standard prog keyboard player set up until the mid 70s when the first poly synths and string synths arrived. Some keys players like Tony Banks of Genesis favored the ARP over the Minimoog, and Pink Floyd were known for using the EMS Synthi on their early 70s albums. But synths were very much in use going back to ELP's debut album in 1970.
Re: the 70's/80's divide (BTW, Drama is a historical cul de sac for Yes, between when Jon Anderson left and when Trevor Rabin came on board. A good album, but an outlier.), "Owner of a Lonely Heart" did make Yes a bit of a one-hit wonder for people who only knew that one song and album. But Yes ultimately won out because of how many new fans they picked up from people discovering the older 70s stuff at record stores. That was essentially their strategy throughout the 80s and into the 90s: try to stay relevant but don't alienate the older fans. They eventually gave up around the time grunge and alt-rock arrived in the 90s and reverted back to being a symphonic prog band.
NOTE: The version of "America" you guys heard is the radio edit, a butcher job of the full-length version which includes a lengthy Steve Howe guitar solo. It was originally recorded for an Atlantic Records compilation LP, but the full-length version was considered too long to be released as a single.

There is no one else playing on OLias of Sunhillow it is Jon playing all instruments.

WOW! I listened to you telling me for 23 minutes why you wouldn’t like it before you listened to it, was gratified that you found a few minutes of pleasure, then listened to another few minutes of displeasure. At 50 minutes I stopped. Maybe this isn’t your thing.

You played the shortened America.   The normal long one has an iconic Steve Howe solo.

Fun fact: Rick Wakeman from Yes plays a guest keyboard spot on Black Sabbath's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath album. They paid him in beer.

Rick Wakeman always had two Minimoogs (minimum) in his work with YES. The original poly synthesizers were developed for Rick, so he could showcase them on the road at the height of his fame. The Moog 203A was featured on 1977's GOING FOR THE ONE

Yes, you should definitely do The Yes Album. That was Steve Howe's first album with the band, and his guitar is all over it.

The string sound keyboard is the mellotron -- every proggers favorite keyboard. It was a bank of tapes in a keyboard.

The sound you speculated might be a string sound on a keyboard, was actually a slide steel guitar played by Steve Howe.  And yes, there was a 12 string guitar.    There is a live symphony-backed version of this where you can see all the instrumentation.

7:07 Drama is an underrated album! I love it. Just picked up a secondhand vinyl copy, as it's been on my vinyl wishlist for many years.