Is 90125 the most underrated Yes album?

I agree it's more accessible, but it sounds like a band whose day is long gone and who don't know where they are. Nothing wrong with the playing etc (other than the usual Yes question of taste and excess) - this is a band of always high quality musicians after all - but for me, the albums following Fragile were all downhill, they had their day in the sun.

Slartibartfast wrote: Hey, I liked it at the time but I have better things to listen to these days.

spot on

Here's a side question for old Yes fans: would this album serve as a "gateway drug" to the older Yes albums? In other words, if people listen to this album and like it, would they likely move backwards and take a liking to stuff we consider classic Yes?


Edited by Slartibartfast - May 16 2011 at 07:35

Blacksword wrote: It's a high point in 1980's rock music in my opinion, and a gem in the Yes catalogue. It sounds like a fresh young band in their 20's; full of ideas and brimming with enthusiasm. Not all albums recorded in that decade stand the test of time, partly because of production and partly because of lack of musical invention, but 90125 sounds as fresh to my ears, today, as it did back in 85 when I first heard it.

Yes (no pun intended ), couldn't agree more with this.  I think the 'image problem' is too much to surmount with respect to 90125. Songs like Leave It Now (especially!) and Our Song capture the quintessence of Yes at their best but with a new context.  It's not all out prog but it's not dumb pop music either, these songs in particular and the album as such has several moments of brilliance. I guess the change must have been too in your face then to take and that perception has stuck. But their 'old' formula, having delivered masterpieces like Fragile and CTTE, had run its course and gone stale, especially on Tormato.  90125, instead of attempting to carry on the tradition at risk of stagnation, captures a good deal of what made Yes an amazing band in the first place - their inventiveness and infectiousness.

As for the other question, it could be pretty misleading as a gateway drug unless one works back through Drama.  Fragile would sound like the album of a very different band.


Edited by rogerthat - May 16 2011 at 09:22

Blacksword wrote: ^^^ 90125 is how I discovered Yes. My next purchase was Topographic Oceans. I chose that one next because I liked the cover artwork so much. You can imagine my horror and surprise when I heard it. It was a slow grower, but yes Rabin era Yes, specifically 90125 was my introduction to the band.

I was a bit of a backwards explorer myself. I got on board with prog late '70's.  90215 is OK with me.

Slartibartfast wrote: Here's a side question for old Yes fans: would this album serve as a "gateway drug" to the older Yes albums? In other words, if people listen to this album and like it, would they likely move backwards and take a liking to stuff we consider classic Yes?

I have also discovered Yes via 90125 (and Tormato) and then moved to The Yes Album, CttE, Fragile and the other 'classics'. So to answer the question: Sure! :D

cstack3 wrote: Blacksword wrote: ^^^ 90125 is how I discovered Yes. My next purchase was Topographic Oceans. I chose that one next because I liked the cover artwork so much. You can imagine my horror and surprise when I heard it. It was a slow grower, but yes Rabin era Yes, specifically 90125 was my introduction to the band.   Good heavens, I can only imagine!!  Going from "Owner of a Lonely Heart" to "The Ancient".....!! At the 35th Anniversary Tour in Chicago, there were many older fans like myself who also brought their kids along (teens, twenty-somethings etc.).    I watched the crowd throughout the show because they were so interesting... When OOALH was played, it brought a loud cheer & the "kids" became visibly animated....so yes, I believe that OOALH and 90125 did bring some new fans back to Yes.   The kids responded well throughout the show, I think because the lighting and visual presence was so stunning, if not only for the music.  A sublime performance, one of the best I'd seen from Yes.  Now, how much these new fans ever got into "Tales" is beyond me! Genesis had a similar experience, when the "Duke" era band would pull out old classics....I had heard that their audience would go "Huh?" when "Apocalypse in 9/8" was performed.  I don't think the kids got into it quite so much as the Yes kids dug the band.   It's always interesting to see how these bands attempt to woo the younger generations!

Oh yes, it was quite a moment when I first put TFTO on the turntable. The vinyl went straight into the sung intro. Me and my friend sat there opened mouthed for a few moments before laughing our arses off!!

Looking back, I worked backwards with Genesis too. Well, sort of. I started with ATTWT, then Trick, then Genesis (shapes) Mama was in the charts at the time, and I loved it. But with Yes, I think they've produced gems in all their manifestations. TFTO sits in my Yes top 5 these days, along with Going for the One, Fragile, CTTE and The Yes album.

Was among one of the first prog albums I owned (and the second Yes album I bought; Close to the Edge was the first one)  and I loved it  from the first listen although toatlly different to Close to the edge and I  still d olove it  today! Yes,  90125 its underrarted!

If the current average ratings of Drama (3.75) and 90125 (2.82) are swapped, both are really close to what they should be. 90125 is their best album since Going for the One. I don't know the albums that they made afterwards.

Horizons wrote: A "bleh" album made by a band who should of done better. If you call that album's lineup Yes somehow.

The only new member of the band was Rabin. Even Kaye had been a member previously, so why should the line not be called Yes?