Issue 2024-067
Stephen Lambe — Rock Classics: Yes - 90125
Hot on the tails of Geoffrey Feakes' book on Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf comes Sonicbond Publishing's own Stephen Lambe with an exemplary take on one of the finest Yes albums ever recorded. The 1983 released 90125 which, massively supported by their timeless hit single Owner Of A Lonely Heart, not only by some considerable margin became the band's biggest selling effort of all time. It also saved them from a dramatic prog-exit and injected the band with a new lease on life into the 1980s. And beyond...
Inspired upon his own article on 90125 for Prog magazine, Lambe takes it upon him to in detail explore the reasons and circumstances on how this came to be. Doing so with enthusiasm, engagingly phrased vocabulary and extensive knowledge of the band, which between the lines fully assures me that 90125 is part of Lambe's "desert island" collection, he has been able to create a marvellously informative and fascinating read that's incredibly hard to put down. One that at the same time offers a perfect template for future Rock Classic writers.
This essentially comes down to avoiding extensive chapter-long introductions leading up to the matter/album at hand, but instead start of with two brilliantly sentenced pages that take a quick glance at what happened before. An achievement in itself considering Lambe has to quickly address classics like Fragile, Close To The Edge, and Relayer. Having done so, the story then takes of at exactly the right time when in 1981 there effectively is no Yes and only split-up fractions consisting out of Squire/White, Howe/Downes and Trevor Horn remained.
With Lambe's in depth storytelling strength coming to full bloom he then starts to abundantly reconstruct and unfold the history of Chris Squire and Alan White's eventual teaming up with South-Africa born solo artist Trevor Rabin. Who to my ignorant surprise in a series of subsequent events had just turned down an offer to join Asia and received a letter of rejection by a major record label who felt his song (Owner Of A Lonely Heart) is "too left field for the marketplace today". I bet someone had quite a few sleepless nights over that decision.
Rich in detail and substantiated with quotes and selections of personally conducted interviews with Rabin, Lambe goes on to introduce Kaye after which Cinema (the band, not the song!) is finally born in 1982. Together with the featured segments of interviews conducted with Tony Kaye, Jon Anderson, Billy Sherwood and former Atlantic executive Phil Carson, this gives great authenticity to the book.
Whetting everyone's appetite through the mentioning of unreleased tracks, the most frequently named one being the notorious lost epic Time, Lambe's narrative then gradually shifts towards the actual album recordings. Still without a record deal it is in this turbulent period Cinema affirmatively change into Yes, Trevor Horn steps in as producer, Jon Anderson rejoins their ranks, and Tony Kaye leaves and returns while being temporarily replaced by Eddie Jobson of UK (who can actually be seen in the official video for Owner Of A Lonely Heart). 90125 is finally released on the 7th of November 1983, to massive critical acclaim.
True to style, Lambe's full assessment on the album 90125 is a delight to read and quickly nudged me towards my own collection in order to once again enjoy the musical marvels of such personal favourites like Changes and Hold On. Thereby not forgetting to reacquaint myself again with the formidable fourth CD of the YesYears box set which includes the magnificent Make It Easy. One of three known contemporary recordings that Lambe, with full archivist devotion, effortlessly weaves into his exciting tale.
Continuing to view the album extensively from every angle possible in terms of reception, legacy, its accompanying videos, the successful subsequent tour which resulted in the also heralded live registration of 9012live The Solos, and supplying a nicely detailed insight into when songs that make up the album were actually performed, it's entirely safe and accurate to say that Lambe's archaeological all-encompassing approach towards the prog classic 90125 is one of masterful class.
So after a clear and concise chapter on what happened next, and a final agreeable conclusion that the splendid 90125 is one of the best album's of the 1980s, I have no hesitation whatsoever towards my own final conclusion. If you like prog then by all means make it easy for yourself and get a copy of this excellently told page-turner of a book. Fan of Yes? Then why are you still reading my words!? Go grab a copy as soon as possible and enjoy those of Lambe instead, because this is simply put an outright must-have. Crank up the album while you're at it.
Scott Meze — On Track... Procol Harum
This feels like an odd addition to Sonicbond's On Track series because, though it does have some focus on the music produced by Procol Harum, author Scott Meze seems to have far more interest in the psychedelic (and often bonkers) lyrics of Keith Reid. I wonder if Jon Anderson (Yes) is a fan of Reid's lyrical poetry?
Scott Meze has had two well received books reviewed on DPRP: on Nektar and Soft Machine and is something of a psychedelic music obsessive (his bio-description). In this trawl though the extensive back catalogue of Procol Harum, Scott Meze seems to think that the band only rarely ever matched up to the heights achieved by their debut single release, A Whiter Shade Of Pale.
With Pale, as he refers to it, becoming a millstone for the band very quickly after its release and phenomenal initial success. Though as the video below will show there was more to the band, who were hampered by the general record buying public's indifference to almost after Pale. They soon became a cult band with a devoted but not widespread following.
The book itself is well up to the standards set by the Sonicbond imprint. Well written, thoroughly researched and comprehensive. If you are a fan of late 1960s / 70s psychedelia or just a fan of the band then this is a must-have. For those with a more casual interest in those topic and the band, like myself, may want to approach Scott Meze's On Track... Procol Harum with a modicum of caution.
Kev Rowland — The Progressive Underground Vol. 5
The 5th volume in an excellent series of books. What can we say that has not been said before on The Progressive Underground by Kev Rowland?
Volume 5 covers Rowland's writings from 2014 to 2018, ordered alphabetically, and per band chronologically. It's lovely to see how taste can change a bit or how bands evolve. For example, reviewing Epica's Retrospect in January 2014, Rowland closes with "even though I prefer Nightwish" and in March 2017, when comparing the bands again, he says "In many ways, I actually prefer Epica". That's not an error, that's how things change. And it's a wonderful thing to, in hindsight of course, witness this.
Talking about errors, if I remember correctly this is the first time I did find an error in the book. "Keyboard player Karl Groom" (in Galahad — Sleepers)? A minor thing, especially considering the enormous contents of this book and the whole series.
After the four previous volumes, I was becoming used to and looking forward to the now familiar feeling of catching up on albums I had forgotten about, share my thoughts on albums I do remember, and learn about albums I have not heard before. I have to admit that in this volume there were more albums that I had not heard than in the previous ones. That has mostly to do with my taste shifting and showing more interest in heavier music and post-rock and post-metal for those years of 2014 - 2018 when these reviews were written.
Getting to know a reviewer's taste is a good thing. As a reader I can get a better picture of the music being described. You can compare your own taste to their taste, so even when they do not match at all, then you can feel that when they don't like something, you actually might. Now Rowland's taste and mine have a big overlap so that makes it easier, but it is not necessary. When you realise this, you know that even a negative review can give you a lot of information. I hope our readers do the same and try and get a feeling of each reviewer's taste.
With that in mind, this is an excellent book of reference. People who have the previous ones won't have to think twice about ordering this volume as well, so I am not writing this for them. For others however, let this review be another way of telling you why a series of books of reviews can be an important item on your shelves. Again wrapped in a cover with lovely artwork by Martin Springett, so it looks great as well.
