Yes - 90125 (remastered)


Year of Release: 2004
Label: Rhino Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 43:14:00

I can't imagine one single Yes fan putting this album on top of their list. The arrival of South-African born and bread multi-talented Trevor Rabin surely changed the face of Yes completely. But whatever you dare to say about this album, it did bring the band's only ever number one spot in the US with "Owner Of A Lonely Heart." It looked like Yes suddenly traded their prog roots for pompous stadium rock with Rabin taking over every single aspect of the Yes tradition. With Jon Anderson leaving the fold in 1980, Alan White and Chris Squire first tried something with Jimmy Page which could've become the band XYZ. It didn't happen so instead they issued the single "Run With The Fox." By adding the talents of Trevor Rabin the trio called themselves Cinema with the intention to record and deliver something new. By accident Squire bumped into Tony Kaye and when Jon Anderson heard the demos, Cinema was a five-piece again. Even stranger was the fact that yet another Yes-member (albeit shortlived), Trevor Horn, was called in to produce the album. With five out of six people involved in this project being Yes people, the name Cinema was dropped in favour of the more logical Yes. In retrospect they called one of the tracks "Cinema," winning the band's only ever Grammy award for best rock instrumental.

Named after the album's Atlantic catalogue number, 90125 is to my knowledge also the first Yes album which heavily sports the sampling technique. Especially during the well-known "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" and its lengthy extended remix, which is added here as a bonus, Tony Kaye delivers some awesome sounds. With this approach for sure Yes would loose a lot of fans but they surely would win many more, especially in America. The nine tracks of the original album are not only remastered here but are also accompanied by no fewer than six bonus tracks. For a while I thought Rhino would have included the mixes of both "Leave It" (amongst others the "hello, goodbye mix") and "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" (amongst others the "red and blue mix") (which both appear on the Atco cassette B9787C), but apparently other mixes do appear on this remastered album. However, the number of different mixes most certainly has something to do with Trevor Horn's past with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, where every single track was issued in a myriad of mixes. "It Can Happen" can also be found in it's Cinema version here, which means it kind of started out without Yes in mind, maybe that is why it sounds so damn AOR-like. Squire's bass playing really is the spine for it all. Probably the most interesting of all the bonus tracks has to be the so far unreleased Rabin track "It's Over." Also recorded in January 1981 at Sunpark Studios in London, it features Rabin, Squire, White and Kaye with Rabin also taking over lead vocals. This uptempo song has some Queen moments, especially where the choruses are concerned. In the end though it's hard to see this album as a real Yes work, as it remains so far removed from the Yes spirit and thoughts. The album has been recorded and released so there's nothing we can do about that, but needing to add this remastered version to our collection isn't really a necessity.


Tracklisting:
Owner Of The Lonely Heart (4:27) / Hold On (5:15) / It Can Happen (5:39) / Changes (6:16) / Cinema (2:09) / Leave It (4:10) / Our Song (4:16) / City Of Love (4:48) / Hearts (7:34) / Bonus tracks: Leave It (single remix) (3:56) / Make It Easy (6:12) / It Can Happen (Cinema version) (6:05) / It's Over (5:41) / Owner Of A Lonely Heart (extended remix) (7:05) / Leave It (a capella version) (3:18)

Musicians:
Jon Anderson ? vocals
Chris Squire ? bass and vocals
Trevor Rabin ? guitar, keyboards, vocals
Alan White ? drums, percussion, vocals
Tony Kaye ? keyboards

Discography:
Yes (1969)
Time And A Word (1970)
The Yes Album (1971)
Fragile (1972)
Close To The Edge (1972)
Yessongs (1973)
Tales From Topographic Oceans (1974)
Relayer (1975)
Going For The One (1977)
Tormato (1978)
Yesshows (1980)
Drama (1980)
Classic Yes (1982)
90125 (1983/2004)
90125 Live - The Solos (1985)
Big Generator (1987)
Union (1989)
Yesyears (1991)
Yesstory (1991)
Highlights: The Very Best Of Yes (1993)
Talk (1994)
Keys To Ascension I (1996)
Keys To Ascension II (1997)
Open Your Eyes (1997)
Yes, Friends And Relatives (1998)
Beyond And Before: BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (1998)
Something's Coming (1998)
Friends & Relatives (1998)
The Ladder (1999)
Millennium Collection (1999)
House Of Yes: Live From The House Of Blues (2000)
Yes, Friends and Relatives - Volume Two (2001)
YesSymphonic (ep) (2001)
Magnification (2001)
Keystudio (ep) (2001)
3 For 1 Box Set (2001)
Original Members Of Yes (2001)
Extended Versions (2002)
Friends And Relatives: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 (2002)
Yestoday (2002)
In A Word (2002)
Yes Remixes (2003)
Friends And Relatives: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 2 (2003)
Roundabout: Best Of Yes Live (2003)
The Yes Story Gold (2003)
The Ultimate Yes - 35th Anniverary Collection (2004)
(Re)Union (2004)
Topography: The Yes Anthology (2004)
Inside Yes 1968-1973: A Critical Review (2004)
The Word Is Live (2005)
Live And Solo: The Collection (2006)
Greatest Hits Live (2006)
An Evening Of Yes (2006)
Yesstories: Group & Solo Tales (2006)
Essentially Yes (2006)
The Definitive Rock Collection (2007)
Roundabout & Other Hits (2006)
Live At Montreux 2003 (2007)
Works (2007)
The Best Of Yes: 1970-1987 (2007)
Symphonic Live (2009)
The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (2009)
Introducing Yes (2009)
Wonderous Stories: The Best Of Yes (2009)
Union Live (2011)
Fly From Here (2011)
In The Present - Live From Lyon (2011)
Heaven & Earth (2014)
Songs From Tsongas (2014)
Like It Is: Yes At The Bristol Hippodrome (2014)
Progeny: Seven Shows From Seventy-Two (boxset) (2015)
Like It Is: Yes At The Mesa Arts Center (2015)
Topographic Drama - Live Across America (2017)
Fly From Here - Return Trip (2018)
From A Page - Studio Tracks Plus In The Present Live From Lyon (2019) Yes50 Live (2019)

9012LIve (VHS/DVD) (1985/2005)
Greatest Hits Video (VHS/DVD) (1991/2001)
Yesyears: A Retrospective (VHS/DVD) (1991/2003)
Yes: Live - 1975 At Q.P.R. (VHS) (1993)
Live In Philadelphia 1979 (VHS/DVD) (1996/2003)
Keys To Ascension (VHS/DVD) (1997/2001/2009)
The Union Tour Live (DVD) (1999)
House Of Yes: Live From The House Of Blues (VHS/DVD) (2000)
The Best Of MusikLaden Live (VHS/DVD) (2000/2003)
Live In Amsterdam (VHS/DVD) (2002)
Symphonic Live (DVD+CD) (2003)
Yes: Special Edition EP (DVD) (2003)
YesSpeak (DVD) (2003)
YesAcoustic (DVD) (2004/2006)
35th Anniversary Concert: Songs From Tsongas (DVD) (2004)
YesSpeak - YesAcoustic - 35th Anniversary Edition (DVD) (2005)
Critical Review 1968-1973 (DVD) (2005)
Greatest Video Hits (DVD) (2005)
Inside Yes Plus Friends And Family (DVD) (2006)
Acoustic Live (DVD) (2006)
Total Rock Review (DVD) (2006)
Close To The Edge: Rock Milestones (DVD) (2007)
Live At Montreux (DVD/BR) (2007)
The Lost Broadcasts (DVD) (2009)
Rock Of The 70s (DVD) (2009)
Union Live (2011)
Live Hemel Hempstead Pavilion October 3rd 1971 (2014)

Genre: Symphonic Prog

Origin UK

Added: June 7th 2004
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: yesworld.com
Hits: 2710
Language: english

  

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