Band members
Jon Anderson – vocals
Trevor Rabin – guitars, keyboards, vocals
Chris Squire – bass guitars, vocals
Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals, Fairlight CMI
Tony Kaye – keyboards
Songs / Tracks Listing
1. Owner Of A Lonely Heart (4:27)
2. Hold On (5:15)
3. It Can Happen (5:39)
4. Changes (6:16)
5. Cinema (2:09)
6. Leave It (4:10)
7. Our Song (4:16)
8. City Of Love (4:48)
9. Hearts (7:34)
90125 is the eleventh studio album by the progressive rock band Yes. The nine track record was released on November 7, 1983 and was produced by Trevor Horn.The album 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 chart.
Too this day 90125 is one of my “go to” albums when I am in the mood for some 80s pop-rock music.
By now we all know that the groups eleventh studio album represented a considerable musical shift. The band's signature sweeping, complex and lengthy arrangements, were replaced with a collection of well-crafted hard rock/ prog- tinged pop songs.
While 90125 may not be as ambitious as Fragile or Close to the Edge, it is still a very well produced album with just enough prog-rock detours to keep the listener engaged from beginning to end.
Look at the album opener and # 1 hit single Owner of a Lonely Heart. The song kicks off with one of most recognizable guitar riffs of that era, and then goes into an orchestral break that has been relentlessly sampled by rappers ever since. Then there’s Hold On; a bluesy Clapton-esque rocker with some great harmonies and a head turning acapella break. The third track It Can Happen is an ambitious trippy pop song that successful weaves an electric sitar into main riff. Drawing inspiration from its title is the albums fourth track,Changes.The song starts off with a furious, rhythmic, marimba/xylophone-led instrumental, gradually shifting gears into a monster power chord rocker. Leave It is an intricately produced track, capturing one of the most draw dropping harmonies to ever be recorded. Then there is the album closer Hearts, a sweeping seven and half minute-long track which is the closet that we get to the band’s vintage prog roots.
The Bottom Line
It may not have been the record that long time Yes fans wanted,but the band pulled off one of the most successful comebacks in rock history. The album introduced a whole new generation of listeners to the band, securing their legacy into the 80s and beyond.
Yes (pardon the pun),90125 does sounds slightly dated , but that shouldn’t stop you from listening to one of the best albums to ever come out of the 80s.
