90125

YES without Wakeman, Bruford and Howe!! At first, it sounds odd, but actually it just gives another very interesting output from YES! Well, YES never sounded as professional as on this record! The album is VERY accessible and catchy. All the tracks are at least very good! The catchy lead & backing voice are enhanced with excellent echo effects: those miscellaneous vocals are a very strong point on this record: indeed, not only Anderson has an OUTSTANDING voice here: Squire and Rabin do a GREAT job too! At last, here, a pure and good sounding electric guitar: technically, the electric guitar is inferior to Howe's skills, but the quality of the sound is quite superior, not coarse at all! Actually, it is very expected for a sophisticated pop & accessible album like "90125"! Chris Squire's bass takes a small break here, rather focusing on the correct easy listening rythm to impose. The keyboards are not extremely elaborated: they rather efficiently participate to the catchy rythms and contribute to create a pleasant fresh atmosphere: that's a total success! For those who think the new YES members cannot be elaborated, then just re-listen to "Cinema", and maybe you will change your mind! Compared to ASIA, this record is less progressive, more accessible and better recorded.

Definitely, 1983-1984 were wonder years!!

Rating: 4.5/5