It’s late fall, 1983. I’m a senior in college, driving through
\nthe tree-lined streets of Davis, California with the radio on,
\nhaving sort of lost track of my long-since-imploded favorite
\nprogressive rock band Yes, whose last really good album (
\nGoing For The One<\/i>) had come out six years earlier. Flipping
\nthrough the channels, I catch the beginning of a new song\u2026
\nHmm, decent opening guitar riff; kinda neato pseudo-symphonic
\nsynth effects; crisp, spacious, modern (’80s) commercial
\nproduction; a beat you could just about dance to, and\u2026 the
\nvocals\u2026 WTF? Is that Jon Anderson?!?<\/i><\/p>\n
My reaction to “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” (the band’s only #1 hit
\nin its 35-year existence) was probably pretty typical for a fan of
\n“Classic Yes” — first shock, then fascination. What happened? And
\nwho’s playing those fat, in-your-face power chords, because it sure
\nisn’t Mr. Fluid Elegance Steve Howe.<\/p>\n
The story goes like so. After the 1980
\nDrama<\/i> lineup of Yes broke up, guitarist Howe and keyboard
\nplayer Geoff Downes linked up with Asia, while vocalist\/producer
\nTrevor Horn went back to producing, and bassist\/vocalist Chris
\nSquire and drummer Alan White forged on as a duo. For a few heady
\nweeks, there was talk of a new band to be called XYZ
\n(ex-Yes\/Zeppelin), to consist of Squire, White, Jimmy Page and
\npossibly Robert Plant. That idea didn’t pan out, though, and some
\ntime later, Squire and White hooked up with South African
\nguitarist\/vocalist\/composer Trevor Rabin. Their new unit was to be
\ncalled Cinema, and featured Rabin as the main composer and singer,
\nalong with (eventually) former Yes-man Tony Kaye on keyboards.
\nTrevor Horn was invited in to produce and recording ensued, but the
\nlabel expressed concern over Rabin handling both guitars and lead
\nvocals. Around the same time, Squire and former Yes lead vocalist
\nJon Anderson had gotten back in touch, and Squire sent over the
\nCinema tapes. Anderson was intrigued, the label was delighted, and
\nthe rest is history. Yes was reborn, albeit with an entirely new
\nsound, dominated by Rabin.<\/p>\n
That sound was, simply put, prototypical arena rock. Big, flashy
\nguitars, steady, thumping beats, sleek production and tight, poppy
\nsongs. On the one hand, it was a sound that served mainstream rock
\nbands like Foreigner, Journey and Boston well in the late ’70s and
\nearly ’80s; on the other, it was a slap in the face for fans of the
\nprogressive, experimental vision Yes had been thrilling fans with
\nsince 1969. From whichever angle you approach it, one thing is
\nundeniable, though; in the context of 1983,
\n90125<\/i>‘s approach was fresh, modern and exciting.<\/p>\n
Still, for long-time Yes fans like me, it was a challenge to
\nsort out our feelings. Do you cringe at the commercial tone of the
\nnew music, or feel grateful that Yes is back and try to get with
\nthe new program? Are they sell-outs, or survivors? I have a
\ncolleague at my day job who, when presented with a dilemma of this
\nmagnitude, is fond of proclaiming “I feel strongly both ways.”
\nWhich is about as fair an assessment as you’re likely to get out of
\nme about
\n90125<\/i>. One Trevor Rabin supporter over on Amazon.com called
\n90125<\/i> “Yes’s best album of the ’80s.” I agree
\nwholeheartedly, even if it’s sort of like naming the least homely
\ndog in town the “best of show.”<\/p>\n
Say this for
\n90125<\/i>, it’s the best set of songs the Trevor Rabin version
\nof Yes ever produced. “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” is a fine little
\nditty, perhaps a bit dated now, but full of energy and undeniable
\nhooks. “Hold On” and “It Can Happen” rock out to similar effect,
\nwith the latter even having a bit of a prog edge to it thanks to
\nthe sitar. These tracks have a cohesive sound, as though Rabin’s
\narena rock yin and Anderson’s airy prog yang have found a happy
\nmedium.<\/p>\n
Signs of trouble were there already for any who cared to read
\nthe tea leaves, though. “City of Love” and “Changes” were
\nessentially Rabin solo tracks with some Anderson vocals added, and
\nfeatured very un-Yes-like crunch on the thundering guitars. “Leave
\nIt” was another Rabin showcase, although its soaring multi-part
\nvocal harmonies suggested a lighter side to Mr. Leatherpants (as
\nHowe partisans would dub the usurper). Not to be outshined by
\nRabin, Anderson and his sunny sentimentality dominate both the
\nsoaring, rather pretty “Hearts” and the forgettable “Our Song.”<\/p>\n
Overall, the album works remarkably well for what it is — the
\nfusion of two very distinct and to some extent opposite approaches
\nto music. Many critiques of this album are somewhat unfair; Trevor
\nRabin was right to have reservations about calling this band “Yes,”
\neven with four former members on board. It was a different band
\nplaying a radically different style of music from anything Yes had
\nproduced before. Placed in the context of other arena rock bands of
\nthe era, Cinema\/Yes performs well on
\n90125<\/i>. The songs are punchy and often memorable, and
\ncertainly feature more skillful\/creative musical backing than any
\nother arena rock outfit at the time could muster. It’s just that,
\nplaced alongside a prog-rock masterwork on the scale of “Close To
\nThe Edge,” they look like cheesy miniatures. Context is
\neverything…<\/p>\n
In closing, one last caveat. The thing we occasionally
\nhigh-and-mighty Steve Howe fans must remember about the Rabin era,
\nand
\n90125<\/i> in particular, is that while the Howe-less Yes was
\n“tarnishing the band’s legacy” (not my sentiment, but not an
\nuncommon one), our man Steve was busy with Asia, cranking
\n(wanking?) out some of the most awful top 40 prog-lite ever
\nrecorded. Compared to twaddle like “Only Time Will Tell,” “Owner Of
\nA Lonely Heart” is freaking Mozart.<\/p>\n
It was the times, folks. It was the times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5713],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-37823","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-yes","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37823"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}