So what was your reaction...

[phlemmy]

I still visit the Hampton Roads area twice a year and plan to retire there. From Williamsburg to the outer banks, it's my favorite place to be.

I lived there for 36 years. I've missed it a bit recently.

[just_bassics]

There's just something about the Chesapeake Bay...

[woodyng]

i would have to somewhat mirror what tony said,i was more than grateful to hear ANY recording featuring jon and chris,but even as a huge yesfan since the very first album,i didn't think badly of the new lineup or sound,in fact,i really liked it. the fact that asia had already come out with their album,with a very similar kind of heavy guitar intro and poppier songs in general seemed to support the musical direction yes found themselves in. i really loved hearing jon in a heavier pop format. when i first heard that song,it was on mtv and they were running the loooong video where the song started,stopped and started again-i remember thinking, WTF? but again,i really loved the jetson-esque horns....

[seyesbass]

Hi Jim,
Around the time 90125 came out I was in a band with a couple of guys who were both fairly big Yes fans.We wrote and toured playing our own stuff and for want of a better description it was like a cross between (early) Simple Minds and Talk Talk. We listened to Owner Of A lonely Heart in the van and although Jon was singing there was very little else Yes-like about the track. Chris was compressed to hell and the only glimpse of anything approaching his style was the short break of high bass notes between verses. He didnt even play his Rick! Alan was also unrecogniseable due to the production and Tony Kaye wasnt there at all!. We all knew about Trevor Horn and his style of production what with his ABC and Dollar chart hits so it wasnt so much of a surprise reaction as a disappointed reaction that Yes had gone the way of all 80s flesh and kind of let the machines take over. You have to remember that the Fairlight and Linn drum era had begun in earnest and record companies would push a song produced by Trevor Horn because he had a great reputation. Other bands in the chart like The Human League who spearheaded the synth pop boom used sounds that record companies wanted everyone else to have on their records. So in that respect Yes were right to do all that stuff but they never returned to a true Yes sound as we fans knew it for the duration of Trevor Rabins tenure. Sure there were odd moments on 90125 and Big Generator that hinted at classic Yes but at the time of 90125 those of us that gave the record a chance could see that Yes had gone as far from their trademark sound as Jefferson Airplane had by the time they became Jefferson Starship.
Steve Howe was a hard act for any guitarist to follow and Rabin just didnt do following so he turned Yes into his idea of a band by having the hit songs that the others could Yessify a bit to bring in the punters.
It all worked out and 90125 was a massive hit but for me personally I would say that Drama was the last Yes album until Magnification came along.
Strange isnt it that here we are in 2008 and the Yes lineup that last toured and may tour this year comprises not of members from 90125 era but the guys who made Topographic Oceans. Lambasted by critics and band members alike ,for my money TFTO is THE quintessence of YES and I would put that album up against ANY album by ANY band .The five men who made that music should be proud of it and play it ALL on their next tour!.
Sorry Chris ,I know it paid the bills but hey...90125-vs-TFTO...no contest.

[pacealot]

I grew up reading about Steve and Chris in places like Guitar Player, Rolling Stone, Zoo World, and other mags that my folks had laying around, but I'd never knowingly heard any Yes music. (I actually knew "I've Seen All Good People" but had no idea yet that it was Yes.) So when "Owner" came out, I knew it wasn't the "real" Yes, but I was still captivated. It was one of the strangest things I'd heard. "Nostaliac" that I was even then, the first album I went out and bought wasn't 90125, but The Yes Album, followed closely by CTTE. So Trevor's Yes was responsible for me getting fully into Steve's Yes! I was just cottoning on as to why records from the '60s and '70s sounded so much "better" to me than the current ones, but I could certainly tell the difference, and I much preferred the sound of The Yes Album to 90125!

I can remember taping a radio show one night that was going to play a "block" of Yes, and "Changes" came on. I was digging it until the singing came in, and then I thought, "this can't be Yes, maybe it's Kansas or Foreigner or something," so I turned off the tape. It wasn't until the chorus that I realised it really was them!

I, too, respect Trevor's talents, and can still enjoy those records for what they are, but what I listen to regularly is '70-'77 and Drama. Although I do get a sense of pride looking back that "my band" was all over the radio and MTV for a good while in those dark '80s!

I'm in Pete's camp too as a TFTO devotee. Four more full and rich sides of music it would be hard to find.

[just_bassics]

Cheers, Pete,

Excellent points - I like every note of TFTO and probably listen to it in it's entirety every three months or so. I learned the classical guitar solo on side three note for note in 1989 and it remains one of my favorite things to play on guitar. (Please don't think I'm that good, however, there is still one section in there that I just can't get!)

I think one real difference in much of the music from the 60's and 70's as opposed to later lies in the parts - A lot of 80's music and beyond sounds great, but it just doesn't make me want to reach for a guitar and spend a weekend learning to play it. Those tracks from Yours is no disgrace to Tempus Fugit still make me want to know and play every note! And it will be a lifetime before I can!!!

[seyesbass]

Hey,
Great stuff Jim,
I just got home from work earlier and went straight for the CS forum!

Rick Wakeman said he admired Drama after giving it a bit of a drubbing originally but he never mentions much about 90125.
Does anyone remember HIS reaction to Owner?
(I know he got on well with T.Rabin and it would still be an interesting project if those two got together.)
When you take a small chunk of TFTO like Leaves Of Green and compare it to a track from 90125 its a completely different band and may as well be totally different people playing it even though three of those players are on it.
I cant call 90125 progressive rock because as I said before Yes had morphed into a pop rock outfit by then.
The live concert versions are good and still retain a spark of true Yes however.

PS..I will have time to do some proper mails this weekend.
Keep up the good work Jim.

[ajish4]

Hey Tony, there's always "American Idol!!" (ducking as Tony considers throwing his CS at me!)

....And yes, I still think that if you haven't given "The Ladder" and "Magnification" a few good listens, then you're still missing a lot.

You are probably going to laugh at me, but I have never seen even one full show! AND, I would NEVER throw my CS at you.....my Washburn, POSSIBLY ....

And you are right, I have to give Drama, Magnification & The Ladder some more time....

[just_bassics]

I would NEVER throw my CS at you.....my Washburn, POSSIBLY ....[/i]

Come on, Tony, throw the CS at me! I'll catch it, I promise...(then I'll run like h#@l

Pete and everyone, I'll do my best to keep this fun. I love the Rics but intend to focus on the music here as much as possible. Chris did use the ric on a few 90125 tracks, didn't he? "It can happen" and "Hold on" if not more?

Rick and Trevor got along very well and Rick wanted to be on a Yes CD with Trevor - Imagine TALK with Rick Wakeman!

[johnallg]

My reaction to "Owner?" I never really liked that song. Only more recently can I appreciate it, but don't really like it. The rest of 90125 took longer to acclimate to than other Yes changes, but I do like the album. I realized that not only was the lineup of Yes different, but times were changing also. Actually the different Yes lineup and sound was right for the 80s and gave our boys a much wider audience for all their body of works. Anyone else here have Trevor Rabin's "Can't Look Away" - I really like that one.

I have a harder time with GFTO and Tormato as I feel though there is some of their best works represented (Awaken for just one), there is also a lot more throw-away than any other time in their existence. It would be revealing to see what Chris's song DKTW would have been without Jon's replacement lyrics.

TFTO, Relayer, and Drama have always been most favorites for me. Listening through all 4 sides of Tales is quite an experience, even today. I have always wished MIAWC would have been developed to a much longer theme.

No one really mentions Talk as a great Yes album. I realize it was a major effort of Trevor's, but the music is at a level with TFTO in it's themes and soaring melodies. Very spiritual album.

I guess I need to listen to Ladder again and to get Magnification. I must be missing something.

Lastly, any others here feel like they've just been to church or glimpsed heaven after listening to songs like Awaken, Soon, the last movement of Ritual, and even the 3 movements of Talk, especially Talk/Endless Dream?

[just_bassics]

Help me out here, John. I'm drawing a blank on MIAWC. I'm sure it will be obvious...

I for one really like Talk and listen to it frequently. My only gripe is that Chris is just not there. I keep listening for his voice, bass and arrangements, but it's mostly Trevor and Jon. Endless Dream is cool and I saw them perfom it live in '94. Where Trevor lost me is when he played "And you and I" on an electric piano. I was really ready for the classic lineup by then.

I have Trevor's "Can't look away" and a solo demo album from 1978 that I found at a swap meet in Chicago, along with an album of Yes songs from the Roy Thomas Baker sessions. Bet they didn't mean for that one to get out!

[just_bassics]

Wait, I got it! "Man in a white car" And it is a little longer if you check out the version on the Rhino CD.

[johnallg]

You got it, Jim. I'll have to get the Rhino. Is it this one?

http://www.amazon.com/Drama-Yes/dp/B000 ... 787&sr=8-1

[relayer]

I fall in line with the majority opinion here. I will say that, although like others I enjoy (or at least don't mind) 90125, I gotta admit that I *am* hung up on it "not being a true Yes album", whatever that might mean. Kinda stupid, I guess, but I can't help it.

As for when it was released, the first song I actually heard (living in Toronto at the time) was Our Song - I understand that it's not well liked for some reason, but I actually *do* like it quite a bit as far as the 90125 stuff goes, and I was quite optimistic for the rest of the album after hearing it. I think the thing that sells me on that one is that the bass line, although not as in your face as the classic era volume or tone wise, is very much in line with the classic CS locomotion. I did recognize though that even with certain Yes characteristics in place (watered down, but still there) this was gonna be something different.

I think for me it wasn't so much what 90125 was at the time, but what it created afterwards that puts a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. That is, it's success seemed to put the fellas (or some of them) on this perpetual chase for another Owner type chart topper.

[just_bassics]

You got it, Jim. I'll have to get the Rhino. Is it this one?

http://www.amazon.com/Drama-Yes/dp/B000 ... 787&sr=8-1

That's it, John. The tracking session version is twice as long with an extra verse. And although I agree that it could have been developed into a longer theme, something about the original version is perfect - like it's there and then gone before you really start listening. As soon as the bass line hits for the next track, however, I'm back in Yes-land. That one had me fooled when I learned it was his Gibson bass and not the Ric. Tone starts at the fingers of the player.

Chris, after several listens to 90125, my two favorites were It can happen and Our song - the former seemed to be all Chris Squire and the latter was classic Jon Anderson, with what I thought was Trevor's nicest solo. It fits in that pocket between the verses nicely and had a clean, bluesy tone to it.