90125: Weakest Link

[Homemade Parachute]

Over on the Steve Hoffman forums this week, voting and discussion on everyone’s favourite prog reinvention album. Shame the cover isn’t included as an option, I’d like to see how long it could last…

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-weakest-link-yes-90125-round-1.1174607/

[Enlighten]

Cinema is in the top two right now, how lame is that? It sounds the most like Yes and was nominated for a Grammy. So much for polls.

[pjt]

So is The Singular Heart quite up with 20+%. Maybe the same reason I don't vote on hip hop and country polls.

[Sharp On Attack]

City of Love for me but I see Our Song (one of my favourites on this album) is not doing great...

[TerryTT]

For me 90125 is a album with no weak tracks. I can play the whole thing with a big grin on my face and not skip a track.

[luna65]

Yeah my ambiguous feeling for "Our Song" makes me feel like a pariah sometimes...it's the one I would be likely to skip if I did skip anything in a listen.

[Homemade Parachute]

90125 and Close to the Edge mostly flip flop for my favourite Yes album — in very different ways, they’re each all killah, no fillah… But I’ll be interested to see how far the best track, “It Can Happen”, makes in this week: all the way? Or are there too many wrong people out there?

[clos2thedge]

Well, if I had to pick 2, City of Love and Our Song.

[Mr. Holland]

90125, weak link??🤷♂️

[Enlighten]

90125, weak link??🤷♂️

What an 80’s boy you are. I remember when I first heard 90125 in college, I thought to myself, what is this crap? It all sounded like crap to me, with the exception of Cinema. When your first exposure to the band was their 70’s era music, 90125 was quite a jolt.

[Homemade Parachute]

90125, weak link??🤷♂️

I know, I can't think of one either! I really had to think hard about "weakER", and work down from there. I mean, every so often one of the kids asks who's my favourite, and, well, I gotta answer one way or the other, don't I…?

[luna65]

When your first exposure to the band was their 70’s era music, 90125 was quite a jolt.

But some of us loved it just as much.

[pjt]

What an 80’s boy you are. I remember when I first heard 90125 in college, I thought to myself, what is this crap? It all sounded like crap to me, with the exception of Cinema. When your first exposure to the band was their 70’s era music, 90125 was quite a jolt.

I just can't take that poll seriously with Cinema at 37.5%, and the misspelled Heart at 23%

If I had to pick a track, then its City of Love I like the least, but overall it's one of those albums I like as a whole. And there are not many since Tormato.

[Gtkgasman]

90125: No weak link for me. This is an excellent lp, from beginning to end.

I am never even close to be inclined to skip any track.

Yep - I grew up on and love 70’s yes. Yep - I still love this lp.

[Soundwaveseeker]

No real weak moments on this vibrant, lively, atmospheric and engaging album. If I had to choose one, I'd go City Of Love because of it being a more simpler, hard rock kinda thing, or Owner due to overexposure. Next up for me would probably be Cinema (it's like an intro for something, it could have been placed at the beginning of side one as an overture but it ain't that kinda album), Hold On (see 'City Of Love'), and Our Song (which is actually one of two traditional Yes sounding tracks on 90125). Then we go up from there, Leave It, then Changes, and fighting for top spot are It Can Happen (love Chris' writing) and Hearts (a GFTO album style song).

So I vote City Of Love since it's the least Yes sounding track on there and could have come from a 1982 AOR/pomp rock band from Illinois (not that there's anything wrong from AOR/pomp rock bands from Illinois) with Pac Man/Tron graphics on their album cover. But I love 90125 as much as any Yes album, since it was the third album of theirs I bought (after Drama and then Fragile).