Machine Messiah - Yes

According to Trevor Horn, "Machine Messiah" was written in one day. Music reporter and critic Chris Welch described Howe's opening guitar riff as "unexpectedly heavy metal". White called the song his "baby", putting together much of its structure and rhythm. Squire found some of its passages difficult to play on his bass and thought it was more suited for keyboards, but was encouraged by White to master his parts. Downes rates the track highly, citing its various sections and mood changes. When he was composing his keyboard parts for the song, Downes included an arpeggiated segment from the fifth movement of Symphony for Organ No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor, a piece that he was familiar with from his youth. Cover artist Roger Dean said "Machine Messiah" is one of his favourite Yes tracks, while Downes has said it is the central track on the album, epitomizing the coming together of his and Horn's style with Howe, Squire and White.