90125

Performer: Yes
Engineer: Gary Langan; Julian Mendelsohn; Stuart Bruce
Producer: Trevor Horn
Distributor: Select-O-Hits

Notes: Includes 6 bonus tracks. Yes: Jon Anderson (vocals); Trevor Rabin (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Tony Kaye (keyboards); Chris Squire (bass, background vocals); Alan White (drums, percussion, background vocals). Additional personnel: Jonathan Jeczalik, Dave Lawson (programming). Recorded at Sarm Studio, London, England. Originally released on Atco (90125). Personnel: Trevor Rabin (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Alan White (vocals, drums, percussion); Tony Kaye (keyboards); Dave Lawson (keyboard programming). A stunning self-reinvention by a band that many had given up for dead, 90125 is the album that introduced a whole new generation of listeners to Yes. Begun as Cinema, a new band by Chris Squire and Alan White, the project grew to include the slick production of Trevor Horn, the new blood (and distinctly '80s guitar sound) of Trevor Rabin, and eventually the trademark vocals of returning founder Jon Anderson. His late entry insured that Rabin and Horn had a heavy influence on the sound. The album also marked the return of prodigal keyboardist Tony Kaye, whose crisp synth work on "Changes" marked the band's definitive break with its art rock roots. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was a huge crossover hit, and its orchestral break has been relentlessly sampled by rappers ever since. The vocal harmonies of "Leave It" and the beautifully sprawling "Hearts" are additional high points, but there's nary a duff track on the album. ~ Paul Collins When Jon Anderson rejoined Yes after DRAMA, he was inserting himself into an unusual situation. Keyboardist Geoff Downes and longtime guitarist Steve Howe had left to form Asia with prog rock vets John Wetton (King Crimson, Roxy Music etc.) and Carl Palmer (ELP). Chris Squire and Alan White brought original Yes keysman Tony Kaye back and recruited vibrant young Australian guitarist/vocalist/composer Trevor Rabin. The quartet had already begun writing and recording, but Anderson was able to insert himself into the proceedings with such ease that the new combination sounds completely natural on 90125. Mostly, the band was concerned with trimming the musical fat to keep pace with the onslaught of the 1980s. Thus, tracks like "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "City of Love" are full of samples, splices and almost funky beats and riffs. The unusual time changes and complex riffs of tunes like "Changes" and "Cinema" leave little doubt that this is still a Yes album, but the band succeeds in giving their sound a contemporary overhaul on 90125.

Rolling Stone (4/15/04, p.152) - 4 stars out of 5 - "The still startling 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' dives into funk and sampling years before they were fashionable; the square-dance/chorale hybrid 'Leave It' is every bit as adventurous a dance-music experiment as New Order's 'Blue Monday.'" CMJ (1/5/04, p.14) - Ranked #18 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1984"

The longest-running prog-rock group in the business, Yes flew on the strength of Jon Anderson's high, angelic voice and the group's instrumental virtuosity. The band began in England, rising from the ashes of pop-psych outfits like Tomorrow, Bodast, and Mabel Greer's Toyshop. Extending the technical facility of psychedelia and downplaying the trippiness, it helped forge the template for progressive rock and reigned as its most popular practitioners in the '70s. Over the years, Yes has weathered personnel changes, lawsuits, and changing public tastes while holding on to its original vision.

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