Yes - 90125

 Great CD with incredible sound!
Some Yes fans dislike the fact that some of the songs on this album have a more "pop" quality than classic 70s Yes, but the high quality and superb musicianship that characterize Yes at their best are very much evident here. I've never heard a more upbeat and inspiring song than "Hold On," and the instrumental piece "Cinema" is gorgeous. Overall a great Yes album. November 22, 2007

 Yes' Most Inspirational CD
90125 is Yes' most inspirational CD, and that's because you can actually understand what they're singing about, as opposed to their so-called prime-period albums, where for every song that has inspired me to do what's necessary to look good for a young woman I met in 2007, there's one that's totally incomprehensible without the aid of B-vitamins and omega-3 oils. However, on this one, they have a simplifying influence: Trevor Rabin. Rabin plays great hard-rock lead guitar that brings the influences of Clapton, Beck, Page, Walsh, and Todd Rundgren into a more new-wave context. Rabin himself sings the best song, "Changes", a narrative about how we grow apart from our past, that inspired me to realize that it's normal to want to look good for young women by skipping food-related reunions at my old school, especially since with adults, age doesn't really matter. "Leave It", on the other hand, is a life-on-the-road song, which, although very good, hasn't aged as well as "Changes" or "Owner Of A Lonely Heart." The bandmembers' opposition to Indonesia's trumped-up 2005 drug-smuggling conviction of a young Australian tourist makes 90125 an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience. October 8, 2007

 No Topographic Oceans, but still quite listenable....
I did like this album a bit, though I don't play it much anymore. It's still Yes to me, even though originally it wasn't supposed to be. Anderson left Yes in 1980, and the band kind of dissolved after the Drama album (with Trevor Horn on vocals). Squire, Kaye, White, and Rabin were going to form a band called Cinema, but then Anderson heard their new stuff and liked it, so he sang lead on it, and then they realised it had to be a Yes album. It rankled Trevor a bit, as he didn't join Yes and he knew he would be compared to Steve Howe. So when this album came out, many Yes fans were pissed off because they felt Rabin had changed the sound, which really wasn't true.

Regardless, the final album is what counts, and it's pretty good. I like most of the songs here, and I really like the vocal arrangements (something Yes did extremely well) here. The intricate vocals on Hold On and Leave It are really good examples of it. Owner of a Lonely Heart is a good track, and the album is well done. There are no epic songs (a shame), but still it isn't complete crap as some have said. September 13, 2007

 (3.5 stars) Not quite classic Yes, but pretty close
Hm, not bad at all. Anderson was back, along with founding keyboardist Tony Kaye (best known as "the guy who got the boot when Rick Wakeman decided to join the part) for reasons I probably will never be able to grasp. The result was a pop album, and a pretty good one, too. Not an exceptional one, but pretty good, and packed with radio hits. Four, to be exact: the catchy, well-harmonized metal riff-fest "Owner of a Lonely Heart"; "Hold On", with fine guitar from newcomer Trevor Rabin; and "Changes", which is the one of the best cheesy '80s pop songs I've ever heard. It's very derivative of the Police's Synchronity sound, but it's catchy and has a cool guitar/keyboard riff. So no complaints about it! I also like "It Can Happen", a hard rocker with a sitar! No, really, sitar! Oh, those crazy Yes lunatics. Who knows what they'll think of next? For one, they'll eschew their signature sound completely. Ain't no prog here! Okay, maybe on the crashing instrumental "Cinema", but that song blows in the first place and sucks in the second. Well, at least it's only two minutes. And some of the non-hits on side two are tops as well, like the danceable "Leave It", with complex harmonies. I'm gonna have to complain about a few songs: "Our Song" is awkward, clumsy arena-rock; "City of Love" has an annoying sound-effect introduction before dissolving into clunky new wave; "Hearts" rambles on with no clear purpose. This isn't Close to the Edge; Fragile or Relayer, but it's a very solid '80s pop album just the same. September 13, 2007

 All true Yes fans love (at least like) this record.
When Jon Anderson departed from Yes, their fanbase backstabbed them, deciding their career was over. However, he later returned to make 90125, which marked a noticeable change in the band's sound. Keyboardist Tony Kaye, who left after The Yes Album, also returned. I believe this is also the first album with guitarist Trevor Rabin. Anyway, 90125 shows Yes aiming for a more commercial sound, with shorter songs (which actually started with Tormato), and it definitely worked for them. It went platinum and earned them a grammy thanks to Owner of A Lonely Heart. While most true Yes fans enjoyed the record, some deemed them sellouts. These "fans" finally showed their true faces: Close-minded individuals who obviously don't know the meaning of prog rock: To PROGRESS. This album may be more crowd-pleasing than previous records, but that doesn't mean their lyrics or musicianship is any less powerful. The lyrics are still great, as well as the musicianship. Besides, Rush also started commericalizing their sound with Permanent Waves, and no one seems to be complaining about that!

Well, enough of that rant, onto the album. The synth on 90125 sounds very 80s like, but in a good way, not in a Godawful techno pop synth way. And it works very well for the album, so never fear. The album kicks off with Owner of a Lonely Heart, which is one of those hit songs that never gets old, like Roundabout. Truly a great song, despite its poppier undertone. The lyrics are about taking risks in life without thinking of the consequences. I also love the track It Can Happen, with its sitar intro and insightful lyrics. In fact, I believe this is the very first song I heard from Yes. Probably my 2nd favorite off the album, right next to OOALH. Other great tracks include the instrumental Cinema and the unabashed love song Hearts, which I actually really like, though most fans seem to hate it. I personally love the zylophone in the beginning and Jon's voice sounds very distant, which creates a really cool atmosphere to the song. However, like I said before, any true Yes fan should like the whole CD.

Ok, so maybe I write this review with bias, since Yes is my favorite band and listen to at least 1 CD by them almost every day. But at the same time, I sincerely feel 90125 is a great record, despite what any of the purists out there may think. If you can embrace the concept behind the word progressive rock, I highly recommend you buy this CD. But if you believe that the only way to be progressive is by making 20-minute songs and include long keyboard solos in songs (2 things which are by no means bad. Those are what made Yes so great in the first place anyway), this CD is your cancer. July 21, 2007

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