90125

90125
Studio album by Yes
Released 7 November 1983 (1983-11-07)
Recorded November 1982–July 1983
Studio SARM and AIR Studios
(London, England)
Genre
Length 44:49
Label Atco
Producer
Yes chronology
Classic Yes
(1981)		 90125
(1983)		 9012Live: The Solos
(1985)
Singles from 90125
  1. "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
    Released: October 1983
  2. "Leave It"
    Released: February 1984
  3. "It Can Happen"
    Released: June 1984
  4. "Hold On"
    Released: November 1984

90125 is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 7 November 1983 by Atco Records. After disbanding in 1981, following the Drama (1980) tour, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White formed Cinema with guitarist and singer-songwriter Trevor Rabin and original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye, who had left in 1971, and began recording an album. They adopted a more commercial and pop-oriented musical direction as the result of their new material, much of which derived from Rabin's demos, with former Yes singer Trevor Horn as their producer. During the mixing stage former Yes singer Jon Anderson, who had left in 1980, accepted the invitation to return and record the lead vocals, and subsequently Cinema changed their name to Yes.

90125 was released to a generally positive reception and introduced the band to a new generation of fans. It reached No. 5 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart, and remains their best selling album with over 3 million copies sold in the US. Of the album's four singles, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was the most successful and is their only song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. "Cinema" earned the group a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Yes toured for the album in 1984 and 1985 which included two headline shows at the inaugural Rock in Rio festival. The album was remastered in 2004 with previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Background

In December 1980, Yes completed their tour of North America and the UK in support of their tenth album Drama, with the short-lived lineup of Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes (the later two being hired to replace Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, who left the band in March of 1980 due to creative differences). Marketing for the tour was mute on the lineup change. While the North American portion of the tour was largely successful, the UK portion was met with mixed to negative feedback from fans, many of whom were unaccepting of Horn and Downes. The group disbanded soon afterward; Horn became a full-time record producer and founded ZTT Records along with his wife Jill and music journalist Paul Morley, and Howe and Downes co-formed Asia. Squire and White remained together and continued to write material, including their 1981 Christmas single "Run with the Fox". The two entered sessions with Jimmy Page with the aim of forming a supergroup named XYZ, but the project was shelved over management differences and singer Robert Plant's disliking of the material. According to White, some ideas that the three rehearsed ended up on 90125.[1][2]

By 1982, South African guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer Trevor Rabin (formerly of the rock band Rabbitt) had moved to Los Angeles, whence he sent a tape with several demos to record labels with the intent of releasing a fourth solo album.[3] During this time, Atlantic Records manager Phil Carson, a longtime fan and associate of Yes, sought new musicians to work with Squire and White, and was introduced to Rabin by producer Mutt Lange,[4] with whom Rabin used to work as a session musician. Carson invited Rabin to meet and play with Squire and White in London; Rabin recalled the first sessions "didn't sound great but it felt good ... there was a lot of potential",[5] causing him to turn down an offer from RCA Records as he wished to work with a "great rhythm section".[3] The three began to develop songs for an album using most of Rabin's demos. His songs, including "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Hold On", and "Changes",[6] were more commercial and pop-oriented and less complex in structure. With such a direction, Squire recruited original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye, who had left in 1971, feeling Kaye's simpler style of playing was more suitable to their new music. Horn followed suit as a potential lead singer, but after unsuccessful rehearsals, opted to become their producer.[7]

Wishing to establish a new identity and distance themselves from their Yes past, the four named themselves Cinema and began to record an album in 1982. However, clashes between Horn and Kaye resulted in the latter's exit roughly six months after.[8][7] Rabin saw it as "a mutual parting" as Kaye resisted learning the modern keyboard technology that they were using, leaving Rabin to handle the majority of keyboard parts.[4] News reports in June and July 1983 indicate that Kaye, though he had played on the album, was unsure whether to rejoin.[9][10][11]

In addition to problems with Kaye, matters were complicated further when management declared Squire and Rabin's lead vocals not distinctive enough. Carson suggested the group have former Yes singer Jon Anderson return to sing the songs. Squire had been in contact with Anderson since late 1982, for the first time in years, and asked him to hear a tape of their music. Anderson, who returned to England in April 1983 after working in France,[12] listened to their songs in Squire's car outside his home due to past acrimony between the pair's wives.[13] Anderson took a liking to the new music and recorded his vocals, making minor changes to the lyrics and arrangements to the music. By this time, the album had cost £300,000 to make, which included £150,000 of Carson's own money. With no more funds left to finish the album, Carson flew to Paris and presented it to Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records, who had signed Yes in 1969. Ertegun liked the music and paid the remaining costs.[14]

With the album complete, it was given the provisional title The New Yes Album. However, the group opted for a more minimalist approach and used its allocated catalogue number from the their label Atco Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic. Its number was 90124 at first, but an error in the system led to its change to 90125.[14] "It was going to be called 90124," sleeve designer Garry Mouat explained to Classic Rock. "But, because they couldn't get consistency worldwide with that number, it got changed to 90125. I've still got some rough tour t-shirts and sleeves with the original number."[15]

MTV announced Cinema, but threats of legal action from groups with the same name prompted a rethink.[16] With Anderson adding to the already-present Squire, Kaye, White, and Rabin – bringing the number of Yes musicians to four – Carson suggested that they name themselves Yes, which concerned Rabin as he wished the album to be judged in its own right. But with Rabin persuaded, work began on promotion and rehearsals with keyboardist Eddie Jobson, formerly of Roxy Music and UK, who appeared in the video for "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and was reported in the press as a Yes member as late as November 1983.[17] However, seeking to consolidate the band's legal identity as Yes, management came to an agreement with Kaye who returned after touring with Badfinger. Unimpressed with the change, citing "political problems" within the group, and having a lack of interest in sharing live duties with Kaye, Jobson left by early 1984.[18]

Production

Recording

Recording began in November 1982[19] at SARM Studios in London while the group was known as Cinema, with Horn as producer; "Hold On" was produced by Horn and Yes. Production was assisted by Gary Langan and Julian Mendelsohn, both of whom also worked on Drama, with Stuart Bruce and Keith Finney.

Songs

"Owner of a Lonely Heart" was one of the songs from Rabin's set of demos; its bass line and its hook had been written while he was in the toilet (meaning bathroom). When the song was chosen for inclusion on the album, Squire replaced his original bridge. The song features a sample from the horn section of "Kool is Back" by Funk, Inc. that Horn intended to use on an album by Malcolm McLaren, which he was also producing. The sample was then stored onto his Fairlight CMI and played by White.[20] Rabin had used the same guitar tone for the opening on a session he did for Manfred Mann's Earth Band, which involved panning two guitar tracks left and right and aimed for a sound "as heavy as possible".[21] "Hold On" was originally titled "Moving In"; the final song was an amalgamation of two songs Rabin had written as they both had the same tempo. The chorus of "Hold On" was retained with its verses taken from "Moving In".[22] "It Can Happen" was written on the piano by Squire, with its introduction put together by Rabin to go with his piano chords.[22] "Changes" was another song from Rabin's demos, with its introduction put together by White. Rabin developed it during a "depressed time", after a potential solo album deal with Geffen Records fell through as they wished for him to join a band and play more "like Foreigner".[22]

"Cinema" is an instrumental track recorded live at AIR Studios.[23] Originally the group developed an unreleased 20-minute song named "Time" and decided to include its two-minute opening on the final album.[22] "Leave It" developed from a bass line from Squire and a melody from Rabin. When it came to recording the song, the band were not satisfied with the drum sound they were getting in the studio, so they recorded the vocals first.[22] However, one of the engineers had removed the song's click track time references, causing various synchronisation problems. Rabin spent as much as three days re-doing the vocals onto a Synclavier, but it "didn't feel completely right. So we redid the whole thing on top of the Synclavier stuff", a process that took several weeks.[24] The lyrics to "Our Song" mentions the city of Toledo, Ohio, itself a reference to the band's show at the Toledo Sports Arena on their 1977 tour where the temperature on stage reached 126 °F (52 °C). The song received considerable radio airplay in the Toledo area.[25] "City of Love" was inspired by Rabin's visit to Harlem in New York City while on his way to a rehearsal with Foreigner. His taxi arrived at the wrong address to a more dangerous part of the area. Upon his return to Los Angeles, Rabin started to write an "ominous kind of thing" which came easy to him following the experience, "the idea of waiting for the night to come ... the derelicts came out of the sewers at nighttime to be thugs. Later Jon put his slant on it which made it more interesting".[24] "Hearts" is the album's only track that is credited to the whole group: Rabin came up with the chorus and bridge a few months prior to meeting Squire and White for the first time; Kaye wrote its keyboard introduction, Rabin developed a melody from it, and Anderson developed its counter-melody.[24]

Sleeve design

The album's logo was designed and created by Garry Mouat at Assorted Images on an Apple IIe computer, and a variant would be used on Yes's next studio album Big Generator. Trevor Rabin's 2003 album 90124 uses the same cover design with colour and text variations.

"I became involved as I'd worked with Trevor Horn when he set up the ZTT record label…" Mouat told Classic Rock. "At that point the band were called Cinema. The original design was similar to the eventual sleeve, but with the elliptical grey Y on its side and without the stick, to make it a C. But when Jon Anderson came back, they reverted to Yes… I know some fans think that sleeve was inappropriate, but Yes wanted something completely different to the Roger Dean works, and were interested in using modern design technology, as it fitted the new techniques they were using."[26]

Release

90125 was released on 7 November 1983.[23] It reached No. 5 in the US and No. 16 in the UK.

Four singles were released from 90125; "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was released a month prior to the album and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. In 1984, "It Can Happen", "Changes", and "Leave It" reached the top ten on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.

In 1985, "Cinema" won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance and 90125 received a nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[27]
Pitchfork(7.8/10)[28]
Rolling Stone[29]

A review in The Morning Call considered 90125 one of the band's best releases, calling it the "missing link" between the popular earlier albums The Yes Album (1971) and Fragile (1971). It described Kaye's keyboard parts as "dreamy" and at times "a contemporary rock attack", favouring this style over the more flamboyant approach adopted by former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman. The "stalwart" rhythm section of Squire and White "hasn't lost anything", and named Rabin as "the biggest surprise" of the group who "adds a much needed gutsiness". The review compared "Cinema" to a Jeff Beck track.[30] In a review for The Los Angeles Times, Terry Atkinson noted the prominent role of Rabin in the group but believed it falls short of the band's previous albums because of Anderson's reduced input into the songs, or a lack of the "old inspiration". Atkinson only names "Hearts" touches on the "monumental yet warm" music Yes had made in the 1970s, specifically "Awaken" from Going for the One (1977). Nonetheless, Atkinson wrote the album is "densely dynamic" and liked the "catchy" and "full of unexpected turns" on "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and wrote the simpler tracks "Our Song" and "Changes" allowed Yes to change their sound "without too seriously damaging its reputation". He concluded with 90125 being an "enjoyable, only somewhat disappointing".[31] J. D. Considine gave a mostly favourable review of 90125 for Rolling Stone magazine. He points out "Owner of a Lonely Heart" sounds "too hip, too street-smart for a band whose idea of a pop song was once something as rococo as "Roundabout", yet credits the band's reinvention to Horn's production with "flashy pop sensibility" and his handling on the group's vocal harmonies. He thought "Cinema" and "Our Song" showed Yes displaying "old tricks" with such "overblown" tracks, though praises the record as a whole for its accessibility.[29] BAM magazine praised 90125, thinking Yes' "dramatic rise from the ashes of rock's touring heaps" had created "some of the year's freshest, most un-dinosaur-like music" with its "stunning blend of pop, synthetics, fusion and classical music".[32]

Critic and author Martin Popoff thought 90125 is the band's most "successful and sociable album" of their entire catalogue, comparing "Owner of a Lonely Heart" to a song by The Police. He declared the record "a rich album experience with legs".[33] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Paul Collins gave the album four-and-a-half out of five, calling 90125 "a stunning self-reinvention by a band that many had given up for dead" while complementing Horn's "slick" production work and Kaye's "crisp" synthesisers on "Changes". He also cites the vocal arrangements on "Leave It" and the "beautifully sprawling" "Hearts" as high points on the record, which "nary has any duff track".[27]

Reissues

  • 1984 – Atco – CD (Remastered by Joe Sidore)
  • 2002 – Elektra/EastWest Japan – "Mini LP" HDCD (Japan only; remastered by Isao Kikuchi)
  • 2004 – Elektra/Rhino – "Expanded & Remastered" CD (Remastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot)
  • 2009 – Atco – "Papersleeve" SHM-CD (Japan only; remastered by Isao Kikuchi)
  • 2009 – Audio Fidelity – 24 Karat Gold CD (US only; remastered by Steve Hoffman)
  • 2009 – Friday Music – 180-Gram Vinyl (US only; remastered by Joe Reagoso and Ron McMaster)
  • 2013 – HDTracks – 24-bit/44.1 kHz Digital Download
  • 2013 – Atlantic/Rhino – High Vibration Box Set SACD (Japan only; remastered by Isao Kikuchi)

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Owner of a Lonely Heart"Trevor Rabin, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Trevor HornAnderson, Rabin4:27
2."Hold On"Rabin, Anderson, SquireAnderson, Squire5:15
3."It Can Happen"Squire, Anderson, RabinAnderson, Squire5:39
4."Changes"Rabin, Anderson, Alan WhiteRabin, Anderson6:16
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
1."Cinema"Squire, Rabin, White, Tony KayeInstrumental2:09
2."Leave It"Squire, Rabin, HornRabin, Anderson4:10
3."Our Song"Anderson, Squire, Rabin, WhiteAnderson4:16
4."City of Love"Rabin, AndersonAnderson4:48
5."Hearts"Anderson, Squire, Rabin, White, KayeAnderson, Rabin7:34

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's 1983 and 2004 liner notes.

Yes

Additional musicians

Production

  • Trevor Horn – production
  • Yes – production on "Hold On"
  • Gary Langan – engineer
  • Julian Mendelson – additional engineer
  • Stuart Bruce – additional engineer
  • Jonathan Jeczalik – keyboard programming
  • Dave Lawson – keyboard programming
  • Keith Finney – assistant engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Tony Dimitriades – management
  • Elliot Roberts – management
  • Garry Mouat – sleeve production

Chart performance

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[36] 27
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[37] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[38] 2 [39]
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[40] 3
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[41] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[42] 8
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 7
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 3
UK Albums (OCC)[45] 16
US Billboard 200[46] 5

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[47] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Germany (BVMI)[48] Platinum 500,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[50] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Perry, Shawn (22 January 2009). "The Alan White Interview". Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Interview: Alan White (Yes, John Lennon, George Harrison)". Hit Channel. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 Morse 1996, p. 75.
  4. 1 2 Welch 2008, p. 204.
  5. ↑ Hunt, Dennis (25 March 1984). "YES Changes Tune, Scores with Big Hits". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  6. ↑ 90124 (Media notes). Voiceprint. 2003. VP263CD.
  7. 1 2 "Trevor Rabin - Capturing adrenaline". Innerviews.org. 2004. Retrieved 2015-07-04.
  8. ↑ Welch 2008, p. 208.
  9. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/image/368844682/?terms="Tony+Kaye"
  10. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/image/388073137/?terms="Tony+Kaye"
  11. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13504084/yes_90125/
  12. ↑ Yes — Jon Anderson — Interview 1. Paste. 16 September 1984. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  13. ↑ Welch 2008, p. 205.
  14. 1 2 Welch 2008, pp. 205–206.
  15. ↑ "Sleevenotes". Classic Rock #48. Christmas 2002. p. 10.
  16. ↑ Campbell, Mary (January 1984). "Yes – Things better for Yes the second time around". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  17. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6605627/90125_1983/
  18. ↑ Chambers 2002, p. 60.
  19. ↑ Bienstock, Ron (May 1984). "Atlantic Crossing". Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music. Vol. 2 no. 5. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  20. ↑ Morse 1996, p. 77.
  21. ↑ Molenda, Michael (6 June 2017). "Trevor Rabin: Checking in with the Yes man". Guitar Player. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 Morse 1996, p. 80.
  23. 1 2 3 90125 (Media notes). Rhino/Elektra Records. 2004. 8122-73796-2.
  24. 1 2 3 Morse 1996, p. 81.
  25. ↑ Kisiel, Ralph (1 March 1984). "Sweltering Night Keeps City Fresh in the Memory of Yes". The Blade. p. P-2. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  26. ↑ "Sleevenotes". Classic Rock #48. Christmas 2002. p. 10.
  27. 1 2 "90125 Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  28. ↑ "90125 Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  29. 1 2 "90125 Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04.
  30. ↑ Smutresk, Michael J. (26 November 1983). "Records - Yes: 90125 (Atco)". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. 89. Retrieved 15 April 2018 – via Newspapers.com. (Subscription required (help)).
  31. ↑ Atkinson, Terry (4 December 1983). "The Record Rack - The return of Yes". The Los Angeles Times. p. 72. Retrieved 15 April 2018 – via Newspapers.com. (Subscription required (help)).
  32. ↑ Tolleson, Robin (1 June 1984). "YES Lives". BAM. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  33. ↑ Popoff 2016, p. 103.
  34. ↑ "Interview with Deepak Khazanchi". Matchbox Recordings Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  35. ↑ "90125 page on the official Yes Discography". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  36. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Yes – 90125". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  37. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Yes – 90125" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  38. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  39. ↑ https://www.offiziellecharts.de/album-details-47
  40. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue {{{chartid}}}". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  41. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Yes – 90125" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  42. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Yes – 90125". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  43. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Yes – 90125". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  44. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Yes – 90125". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  45. ↑ "Yes | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  46. ↑ "Yes Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  47. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Yes – 90125". Music Canada.
  48. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Yes; '90125')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  49. ↑ "British album certifications – Yes – 90125". British Phonographic Industry. 2 January 1985. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Enter 90125 in the search field and then press Enter.
  50. ↑ "American album certifications – Yes – 90125". Recording Industry Association of America. 10 April 1998. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 

Sources

  • Chambers, Stuart (2002). Yes: An Endless Dream of '70s, '80s and '90s Rock Music: An Unauthorized Interpretative History in Three Phases. General Store Publishing House. ISBN 978-1-894-26347-4.
  • Morse, Tim (1996). Yesstories: "Yes" in Their Own Words. St Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-14453-1. *Popoff, Martin (2016). Time and a Word: The Yes Story. Soundcheck Books. ISBN 978-0-993-21202-4.
  • Welch, Chris (2008). Close to the Edge – The Story of Yes. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84772-132-7.
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