Album: 90124
Artist: Trevor Rabin
2003 Voiceprint
CD: VP263CD

Tracks:
1. Hold on (Demo 1981) [Rabin] (6:19)
2. Changes (Demo 1981) [Rabin] (3:11)
3. Moving in [Rabin] (5:32)
4. Would You Feel My Love [Rabin] (5:00)
5. Where will You be (Demo 1991) [Rabin] (5:07)
6. Owner of a Lonely Heart (Demo 1981) [Rabin] (7:02)
7. Walls (Demo 1990) [Rabin] (4:20)
8. Promenade [Mussorgsky/Rabin traditional arr.] (1:44)
9. Love will Find a Way [Rabin] (3:30)
10. Miracle of Life [Rabin] (6:57)
11. Don't Give in [Rabin] (4:31)
 

Notes: Another Voiceprint release, another minimal and error-ridden set of liner notes. Track 11 is billed as 'Cinema (Demo 1981)' on the track listing, but is clearly the song described in the liner notes as "Don't Give in" (an alternate version of "Make It Easy" on YesYears, which formed a live intro to "Owner of a Lonely Heart"). No details are given as to who performed on these tracks—presumably it's mostly Rabin—nor much on when these tracks date from.

The liner notes by Chris Welch have been appallingly sub-edited. They are in four panels, but words appear to have been lost as they do not read continuously. They are partly based on an interview with Rabin, but it is hard to tell when Rabin's words end and Welch's begin. They refer to material not included on the album ("I'm with You"—described by Rabin as "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 [sic] really good.")

The name and cover reference 90125 and this album was originally announced with a largely different track list seemingly based on Rabin's album's worth of demos in 1981, which formed the basis for that album (and here represented by tracks 1-4, 6, 11). (Original track list: "One Track Mind", "Hold On", "It's Enough", "Changes", "Love Ain't Easy", "Moving In", "Who were You with Last Night?", "Baby I'm Easy", "Would You Feel My Love?", "Tonight's Our Night", "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "I'm With You", "Must be Love", "Don't Give in".) However, the final track list mixes numerous demos by Rabin from different time periods, nearly all of which became Yes songs.

(1) seems to be an edit of two sources: a demo with just Rabin singing and on acoustic guitar and then a fuller version, possibly from 1981 sessions with Mark Andes (bass) and Frankie Banali (drums). The same applies to (6). (2) and (3) seem to be from this latter source. Yes's "Hold on" incorporated elements from both the original "Hold on" and "Moving in".

(4) again seems to come from the more developed sessions. Rabin: "I wrote [it] for 90125 [...] 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."

(5) is an instrumental demo and sounds pretty close to the final version on Talk, as does (7). (7) should be co-credited to Roger Hodgson, who seems to be on backing vocals.

Rabin recorded (8) in 1987, but decided it wasn't right for a Yes album (it would have gone on Big Generator). (9) sounds complete too and close to Yes's version on Big Generator. This is presumably the demo (or close to the demo) that Stevie Nicks and Alan White heard. (10) is also close to Yes's version on Union, should be co-credited to Mark Mancina and may also feature him performing.

The idea for (and the name of) the album came from Rob Ayling, Voiceprint President, when he visited Rabin's studio to discuss the release of Live in LA. Rabin describes putting the album together in a late 2003 interview with Anil Prasad for Innerviews:

I was a little apprehensive at first. I’m certainly much more positive about it now that it’s finished. I was apprehensive about the idea of putting out something that’s so brutally honest and real, because when you’re doing stuff like that, there’s no concern about making a fool out of yourself. [...] When you write, you have to be as free as possible. So, I don’t care during the initial stages how bad it goes. The important thing is what decision is made once stuff is written and determining if something is really bad and not wanting anyone to hear it. That’s where it was very difficult to put this together. There was clearly a lot of stuff that I would never in a million years put out out as a master. I hope it is very much understood that 90124 represents a brutally honest first draft.
(HP, 5 Aug 03; revised 2 May 04)

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