90125

I thought this a pretty good album when it came out--especially for the 80s. Plus, at the time I was big into Trevor HORN and his Zang Tum Tum projects--ART OF NOISE, ABC, FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, GRACE SLICK, PROPAGANDA, etc. The odd idiosyncrasies that the Fairlight CMI was able to add to the music I thought interesting, okay. The tight, "in a box" sound engineering I was never a fan of, but there were some nice songs if not really up to old Yes standards in terms of demanding musicianship. I liked "Changes" (6:20) (9/10), "It Can Happen" (5:28) (8/10) (a great Jon Anderson performance) and, yes, even "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (8/10) and "Leave It" (4:13) (8/10), but my absolute favorite--to this day--is "Hearts" (7:38) (9/10) (which Jon ANDERSON did an AMAZING job with on his 1994 solo album, "Change We Must" [see my review]). It builds a little too slowly but has such a wonderful sound and its bass and background vocal support are to die for. A Yes song for the ages! This album never impressed me enough to dive into Trevor Rabin's catalog of music (which is extensive) but it is worthy of a 3.5 star commendation--recommended for those hardcore fans of Yes and/or Trevor Horn.