90125

90125 did for Yes to a lesser extent what post Hackett, particularly 80's albums did for Genesis - alienated a lot of older fans but brought onboard plenty of new ones. Those music fans who were not prog orientated but enjoyed commercial heavy rock would find much to enjoy here.

90125 was never meant to be a Yes album; originally a project of 3 former Yes men, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White and keyboard player of way back Tony Kaye teaming up with guitarist Trevor Rabin in a band to be called Cinema. With the introduction of vocalist Jon Anderson into the equation and bowing to management and record company pressure the name was changed to Yes. Because it bears little if any resemblance to the Yes of old; there's no sweeping symphonic epics here, 90125 is hated by many fans of the band. However while my love of Yes lies largely with their classic 70's albums taken on its own terms this is a very good slice of slick, modern sounding (at the time at least) slice of commercial melodic rock with a great sounding production courtesy of Trevor Horn, the man who stepped into Jon Anderson's vocal shoes for the Drama album in 1980.

The only thing to tie the sound of 90125 to previous Yes is not surprisingly the distinctive vocal presence of Anderson and Squire's backing vocals and bass. Kaye exchanges his Hammond for 80's synths and Rabin's guitar playing is a heavier more solid style than Steve Howe's clean and busier sounding chops. White's drumming while solid as a rock could be any one of a thousand drummers of the era.

90125's strength lies in the instantly appealing melodies of the songs, backed by Rabin's powerful riffy guitar work. White keeps things simple and solid in the main driving the songs along with mid tempo rock rhythms though nods to the past are there in slightly more complex playing here and there like on Changes and instrumental Cinema.

Owner Of A lonely Heart can't go without a mention for its catchy hit single potential and indeed was a rare single hit for the band still receiving fairly regular daytime radio 2 airplay in the UK to this day.

So while 90125 is not what I really want from a Yes album if I think about it as an album by a band called Cinema there's no denying the quality of these melodic rock songs. 3 ½ stars.