Trevor RABIN
90124
(2003)
1. Hold On 6'19 (Trevor Rabin)
2. Changes 3'11
3. Moving In 5'32
4. Would You Feel My Love 5'00
5. Where Will You Be 5'07
6. Owner Of A Lonely Heart 7'02
7. Walls 4'20
8. Promenade 1'44
9. Love Will Find A Way 3'30
10. Miracle Of Life 6'57
11. Cinema 4'31
Total Time: 53:13
When YES unveiled their new album 90125 in 1983,
it was hailed as a masterpiece. The long established supergroup had entered the modern era armed with brilliant songs,
dazzling sounds and a hi-tech production.
90125 was a huge success and showcased "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" an irresistible anthem that became the band's first Number One smash hit.
Yet Trevor Rabin, the supremely talented young musician who wrote the song, had only recently joined.
His impact on YES was immediate and profound.
A masterful guitarist, keyboard player, singer and composer,
Rabin's skills blossomed within a band that had once appeared on the verge of extinction.
After huge success throughout the Seventies, the supergroup had been stymied by the mood of the post-punk era.
YES had broken up after their 1980 album Drama and the various members became involved in different projects.
Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums) were left looking for new musical partners.
They conceived the idea of a vehicle for song writing and live performance.
There was talk of collaborating with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
They also met with Trevor Rabin, which turned out to be the perfect match.
His songs complemented the band's progressive style, while making their music relevant in a style decade.
This was the beginning of "Cinema".
Later "Cinema" was reborn as YES when Jon Anderson returned to the fold.
The new album 90125, (named after a catalogue number), was produced by Trevor Horn,
who had become an Indie label boss and much sought after technocrat.
Horn and Rabin would become crucial to the new sound.
Alan White remembers how he and Chris Squire met Rabin in London in 1982.
"We'd heard a tape of his and Atlantic Records said we should get together.
We had some food in a Japanese restaurant and then went down to Chris's house and jammed all night.
That was the beginning of the new YES.
We changed the direction of the music mainly because of Trevor's influence.
"Owner Of A Lonely Heart" was the most successful song the band ever had and gave them their first multi-platinum album.
We kept a lot of stalwart YES fans and we made a lot new of ones as well."
The story of how Trevor Rabin injected new life into the old warhorse can now be deduced from this unique CD,
that unveils the brush strokes and musical sketches which lay behind the finished portrait.
90124, shows the work that Trevor had already done on such songs as "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", "Hold On", and "Changes",
originally conceived for a solo album.
Trevor Rabin started his career as a rock musician in the biggest band in the history of South Africa.
He later became a top session guitarist and by the end of the Seventies,
had moved to England, where he established himself on the studio scene and toured with his own band.
After a few years he moved on to Los Angeles.
Explains Trevor David Geffen was planning to sign Manfred Mann, who I was producing at the time but it didn't work out between Geffen and Manfred.
Geffen then asked me if I'd like to go out to LA to write some songs for an album.
I wrote what eventually landed up on 90125.
Ironically Trevor was later dropped by Geffen. I found myself searching for a record deal and got a couple of offers,
but they didn't work out.
Trevor's tapes then went to Atlantic who thought it was interesting stuff.
They told me Chris Squire and Alan White wanted to work with me and also mentioned a project with Jack Bruce and Keith Emerson.
I didn't really want to do anything other than a solo album, but they flew me to London to have lunch with Chris and Alan,
Atlantic Records had sent them the tape.
Then Chris Squire and Alan White and I got together for a play.
It was rough but it had potential. YES had broken up and it was just going to be me, Chris, Alan and Tony Kaye doing the songs I'd written,
then Trevor Horn came in as the producer. All the songs had been recorded when Jon Anderson came in right at the end and it became Yes.
In fact I sang a percentage of the songs on the album.
It was fun to make and it was the first time I used a Fairlight Computer I'd had something like it on the original demos,
but not exactly the same sounds.
It's now twenty years since the release of 90125 and at the suggestion of Rob Ayling of VoicePrint,
Trevor retrieved his demos from the archives and restored them for this album.
I think 90124 is interesting for people who like 90125,
it shows where it all came from.
At first I thought it might just sound like work in progress,
Then a friend of mine played me a tape of John Lennon writing "Strawberry Fields Forever",
It's just him sitting with an acoustic guitar and singing.
I was totally enthralled and so interested in hearing the creative process.
For people who are interested in 90125 guess there's something here.
Trevor's original demos were mainly done on four track recorders.
One or two were done on a 24 track, some were done on a 16 track Fostex,
and others were put down on a 4- track Teac.
The around. He says the acoustic intro to "Hold On" was done in a flat in London while he was still working on 90125.
I used an old Revox on that one, but it's pretty good quality. All these tracks are very much demos, but there is an attempt to suggest what they might ultimately sound like.
It was very early days with all the songs, I'd record a couple of tracks and bounce it down.
We used these demos as guides and 90125, was close to finished by the time Jon Anderson got involved. Trevor says that while not all of the songs on this CD made it onto 90125 they still show insight into his work with Yes. When Rob Ayling suggested the 90124 idea I thought was quite a laugh, however some of the songs were also demos for Big Generator, Talk, and Union, the Yes albums I worked on later. So these songs represent much of my history with the band. In fact I've got demos of everything, but these are the ones especially chosen for this CD.
The version of "Pictures At An Exhibition" was something Rabin did during the time he was writing the Big Generator album in 1987, it's by my favourite composer, Mussorgsky.
I thought it would be fun to do a new interpretation. Once I'd finished it I realized it wasn't right for a YES album.
It was a bit of self-indulgence, However I thought it was appropriate to put it on here.
"Changes" was done for 90125 and this version sounds like typical 1980s rock.
Unfortunately most connotations about Eighties music aren't very good.
There were all those awful big hair bands from LA.
It was a weird time to try and break through with something that was hopefully a bit more creative.
Trevor put "Moving In" on this CD together with "Hold On" to show how he came up with the final version of "Hold On".
The latter was ultimately a combination of both songs and says the composer:
They are two bites of the same pie. I wrote "Would You Feel My Love" for 90125 but it didn't make it onto the album.
I was always kind of happy with that song both lyrically and melodically and funnily enough Jon Anderson always wanted to do it.
It has a strong Beatles influence.
The acoustic version of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" shows how I wrote the final melody for the song.
One of the people who had the most input into the song apart from as writer, was Trevor Horn.
He had total belief in the song and allowed it to blossom. I had such an amazing time with him, of course we argued and fought a lot.
I'd say much of the time it was just me and Trevor in the studio working on 90125.
Although we had disagreements we became very
real stuff. One of the strongest features of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" was the brass-like stabs, that proved such refreshing surprise to listeners used to mainstream rock music chugging away steadily without a break.
Says Trevor: There are none of those stabs on my first version of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart".
There is actually another version, done in a much coarser way, but I couldn't find that for this CD.
The original stabs sounded totally different and were too loud.
That was because I'd bounced them down on the tape and I couldn't go back.
When Trevor heard them he said "that's great" we should do something like that.
Incidentally the track "Don't Give In" became the intro for the live version of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart".
There are many great performances here including the songs that got away.
Adds Trevor: I wasn't sure about putting "I'm With You" on this CD.
The only reason I thought it was appropriate was because it was one of the songs me,
Chris, Alan and Tony Kaye rehearsed for seven months in London when the band was still called "Cinema".
We played that song a lot and it sound really good.
But we ended up not putting it on 90125.
After recording the Union and Talk albums
Trevor Rabin left YES in 1994 and has since concentrated on writing music for Hollywood block buster films such as "Armageddon", "Enemy Of the State", "Deep Blue Sea",
"Remember the Titans" and "Gone in 60 Seconds", to date a total of twenty films.
He's also busy recording at his home studios and producing his own music.
By delving into the archives for 90124, Trevor has given us unique insight into his working methods.
From the first electrifying moments of "Hold On" and "Changes" you can sense something big about to happen.
Just how big would one day become the stuff of rock legend.
Chris Welch, London, England April 2003
Many Thanks To:
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