90125

90125 is the first of Yes' cheesy pop-prog albums. The album is undeniably cheesy from the get-go, made obvious by the random studio sounds and synthesized hip-hop percussion hits on "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and this track also features an absolutely gross sounding synthesized guitar solo. Fortunately, this is not one of the best tracks on this album.

"Hold On" starts off as a pop-rock song, but it lightly progressive with its subtle time changes. "Changes" is also lightly progressive with odd instrumentation, and manages to be quite catchy and interesting. My only gripe with this track is that it sounds like something the Scorpions would write. "Cinema" is a short and noisy instrumental that serves no purpose except to sound very '80s, which it does well. Quite cheesy indeed.

"Leave it" is a super cheesy song, more than any other on this album. The electric chorus doo-doo-doo's on this song are a huge turn off, as is the ridiculous sounding jungle beat. I always found "Our Song" to be highly unmemorable, and is mostly just an average pop song. "City of Love" is another heavy pop-rocker and is very simple. "Hearts" is the longest, most interesting, and most progressive song on this album, but it still doesn't manage to stick at all.

Reviewing this album is really hard; there isn't really much to say about it other than all the tracks sound the same. I do consider this to be better than Tormato even if only for the change of direction in sound. This album was my introduction to Yes, and I don't think that is a good thing. I wouldn't consider this to anyone unless they are a fan of Yes and love the stereotypical '80s pop sound.