Yes made an adventurous advance and breached the gates of delirium with the progressive jazz fusion of this symphonic sound chaser. Although their double album 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' had been criticized as overindulgent, it still was a hit with the fans. After the tour, keyboardist Rick Wakeman left the group over creative differences. The band auditioned several people to replace him, including Jean Roussel, Eddie Jobson, and Vangelis Papathanassiou before settling on Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz of Refugee.
'Relayer' was recorded at a converted garage in Squire's home in Virginia Water, Surrey with Eddy Offord engineering and co-producing with the band. The sessions featured Jon Anderson on lead vocals; Steve Howe on acoustic and electric guitars, and vocals; Patrick Moraz on keyboards; Chris Squire on bass guitar and vocals; and Alan White on drums and percussion. The album was mixed at Advision Studios in London. As with their previous four albums ('Fragile', 'Close to the Edge', 'Yessongs', and 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' ), Roger Dean did the sleeve design and illustration.
All tracks written and arranged by Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White and Patrick Moraz. side one 1 The Gates Of Delirium 0:00 side two 2 Sound Chaser 21:56 3 To Be Over 31:23
'90125' was recorded at Sarm Studios in London with Jon Anderson on vocals; Tony Kaye on keyboards; Trevor Rabin on guitars, vocals, and additional keyboards; Chris Squire on bass and vocals; and Alan White on drums, percussion, and backing vocals; with Trevor Horn on production and backing vocals; J.J. Jeczalik and Dave Lawson on keyboard programming; Deepak Khazanchi on sitar and tambura on "It Can Happen"; and Graham Preskett on violin on "Leave It". The album went to twenty-seven in Australia, sixteen in the UK, nine in Austria, eight in Norway, seven in Sweden, five in the US, three in Switzerland, and number two in the Netherlands. '90125' became the band's biggest album, selling over eight million copies and going triple platinum in the US, double platinum in Canada, and gold in the UK. The title comes from its Atco Records catalogue number.
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" became the biggest hit of Yes' career, going to twenty-eight in the UK, twenty-five in Australia, eleven in Switzerland, nine in Austria, seven in the Netherlands, six in Norway, four in Sweden, and number one in the US. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpmmeT69cE
'90125'full album Side one 1."Owner of a Lonely Heart"Trevor Rabin, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Trevor Horn4:27 2."Hold On" Rabin, Anderson, Squire5:15 3."It Can Happen"Squire, Anderson, Rabin5:39 4."Changes" Rabin, Anderson, Alan White6:16 Side two 1."Cinema" Squire, Rabin, White, Tony Kaye2:09 2."Leave It" Squire, Rabin, Horn4:10 3."Our Song"Anderson, Squire, Rabin, White4:16 4."City of Love"Rabin, Anderson4:48 5."Hearts"Anderson, Squire, Rabin, White, Kaye7:34
Yes took their classic lineup in a constant vogue of triumphs to the progressive precipice with this mystical musical landmark. 'Close to the Edge' was recorded with the same lineup as 'Fragile' with Jon Anderson on vocals, Steve Howe on guitars and vocals, Chris Squire on bass and vocals, Rick Wakeman on keyboards, and Bill Bruford on drums and percussion. The band produced the sessions with Eddie Offord at Advision Studios in London.
'Close to the Edge'went to number four in the UK, three in the US, and number one in the Netherlands. It has been certified platinum in Canada, the UK, and the US.
Yes coalesced into their classic lineup and produced their big commercial breakthrough with this expansive progressive rock masterwork. Original keyboardist Tony Kaye refused to play the synthesizer that the rest of the band wanted and quit early in the sessions, paving the way for multi-instrumentalist session man Rick Wakeman to fill in on Hammond organ, piano, RMI 368 Electra-Piano and Harpsichord, Mellotron, as well as the disputed Moog synthesizer. Wakeman remembers: "I had heard Yes live, as Strawbs had supported them at a gig in Hull. I thought they were amazing – incredibly different. When they asked me to join, I said 'no' initially, as I had decided to go back to just doing sessions. But after going along to one rehearsal, I was sold instantly. I wanted to add orchestral sounds in the keyboard department, and that’s exactly what Yes wanted. A match made in Heaven!"
Chris Squire says, "Yes has had quite a few changes over the years. Every time someone new has come in they’ve obviously injected more energy or new energy into the band and changed the sound a bit, and the approach, etc., depending on how much input the new member has had." Wakeman's contributions went uncredited, due to contractual obligations. Jon Anderson recalls: “Those songs still stand the test of time for sure. Steve and Rick added amazing amounts of different styles, music, new chords, new ideas. It was that perfect storm of energy that created 'Fragile'.”
Wakeman says, "Yes were always prepared before we went into the studio. The studio is not the place to write. You need to be seventy-five percent ready when you go into the studio, and then the music can develop to the next stage. The studio is the end of the assembly line. David Bowie taught me this. It’s a lesson I never forgot and will be eternally grateful for."
Steve Howe explains the band's differing methods of recording: "There are two schools of thought. In one, you start making an album, and then you never stop until you completely finish it. The opposite of that is you do tracks, and then you come back to them. You do some more tracks, and then you come back even later to the mixing. So, you’re always thinking fresh. You’re not thinking, 'God, I’ve been on this record for three months. I just want to stop hearing it!' This is how we made our earlier records, and it may prove to be a much better way. In the early days, we could never have one period of total immersion, until we did 'Topographic Oceans'. That was the first time we said, 'Okay, life stops until we finish this record.' But the records made before that were made around, and involved, life. 'Close to the Edge', 'Fragile', and 'The Yes Album' were made as we lived and toured, and stopped and started. I think, most probably, they were better because of it. They benefitted from renewing that fresh approach."
Squire ponders the band's influences and contemporaries: "Strange enough, around that time that you start realizing that you’ve got a band that could work and could become popular—and of course you see that in growing audiences, etc.—you don’t really listen to necessarily people who say you’re from the same country or whatever. In fact, I probably listened to Crosby, Stills and Nash more than I listened to Led Zeppelin in those formative years. Because that was more what Yes was about; a band that had great vocal harmonies. So, of course, I was influenced by Simon and Garfunkel and bands with great vocals. And of course we wanted to be band who were good instrumentalists as well, and Bill Bruford, our original drummer, was of course very influenced by jazz. So that was another element that was sewn into the makeup of Yes. We were kind of eclectic really. We kind of stood slightly aside from other acts."
Bill Bruford reminisces: “If you say to people that rock music is made up of three chords, there will always be guys, especially in the UK, who say, ‘What if we added a fourth chord and put it into 5/4?’ Those people fell into something called progressive rock. The British working class guys who assumed that rock ’n’ roll was their property got very pissed off at these art school guys who brought in all the nuts and bolts of progressive rock and added classical music, vocal harmony, poetry, and art. The Black Sabbaths of the world were very pissed off, and then the punks came and trashed it. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an era where everything went on. It was great. People even cared what the drummer thought!”
Anderson elaborates: "Each person in the band was great at what he did. Bill had that jazz-rock style, Chris Squire was of course a great bass player, Rick Wakeman was classically trained, and of course Steve Howe was terrific. There was so much talent, at a variety of levels. I was sort of the musical director, the person who decided which direction we should go with an idea. I might bring in a song and say, 'I don’t want you to simply play the chords. Why don’t you play some unusual figures, and jump around within the song?' Oftentimes the song might be very simple, so I wanted everyone to come up with music that would be entertaining for them to play. That’s how 'Long Distance Runaround' and 'Roundabout' were written. They were variations on the idea of, 'You find what you like playing, and let’s make it all work together.' Pulling those elements together is what created that unique sound. Everyone is playing his unique part, but we somehow made it all fit."
An edited version of 'Roundabout' made it to number twenty seven in the Netherlands and number thirteen in the US. “It was written on the way from Aberdeen to Glasgow in Scotland, and we went through so many roundabouts (traffic circles on Scottish roadways), maybe 40 or so. It has a Scottish feel about it. Just listen to the solo, just like a ‘reel’. It changed everything. 'Roundabout' was a hit! And that’s what the band needed.”
