90124

In 2003 two archival Trevor Rabin releases saw the light, both issued by the Voiceprint label. Someone had dug into the archives and found some older recordings including a live recording from 1989 which resulted in Live In LA and some demos and outtakes of material Rabin had written for Yes between 1981 and 1991 resulting in the present compilation. Out of these two the Live In LA album is the much superior one, recorded on tour in support of the very good Can't Look Away (Rabin's first solo album since he had joined Yes).

The title and the artwork of 90124 obviously refers to the Yes album 90125, the first yes album that Rabin had contributed to, though the unfinished songs included here were not all written for that album but some for Big Generator, Union, and Talk. Most of the songs here will be familiar to Yes fans, but in some cases only some parts of these songs were used by the band.

The album opens with Hold On which here consists of two different demo recordings stuck together into one. Other songs from these 1981 sessions include Changes and Owner Of A Lonely Heart, all of which would end up on 90125. These versions add little of interest to the finished versions. Moving In is a track that was not recorded by Yes, though some parts of the track were incorporated into the finished version of Hold On. The track that is here mislabelled Cinema is actually an alternate, early version of Make It Easy, a track that was written and recorded by Yes in the early 80's but was not included on any Yes album. It was subsequently released in 1991 as part of the YesYears box set and also as a single around the same time to promote that box set. Rabin often used to play part of this song live as an introduction to Owner Of A Lonely Heart. Would You Feel My Love is yet another track written by Rabin for 90125 but was not used. I can understand why!

From the Big Generator writing sessions we get Love Will Find A Way. This version is rather similar to the finished version and adds nothing of interest. Miracle Of Life is an excellent song that Rabin wrote for Union. Again, this demo version adds little of interest and I much prefer the finished album version. Finally, Talk is represented by two tracks here in Walls and Where Will You be. The former features Roger Hodgson of Supertramp on backing vocals and the latter is here presented in an all instrumental version. I enjoy this instrumental version but it can hardly be said to be essential. Promenade is a guitar version of the Classical piece by Mussorgsky (popularised by Emerson Lake & Palmer in the early 70's; Rabin was probably inspired by them). It is unclear to me why it is included here as it doesn't have anything to do with Yes.

If you have 90125 (especially the remastered CD version with bonus tracks), Big Generator, Union, and Talk, this compilation adds little of interest to your collection. It is interesting only as a historical document and it has very little listening value. It is only recommended for hard core fans of 80's Yes and Trevor Rabin's contribution to that era of the band in particular. Rabin himself has expressed scepticism about this release and called it "a brutally honest first draft" which is exactly what it is.

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