"Trevor Rabin Appreciation Thread"

[Architeuthis]

I know he's been talked about in the Yes thread and his great contributions to the band, but I feel he is more than worthy of his own thread.
Trevor Rabin is a monster musician and has made a lot of accomplishments outside of Yes. I finally bought his other solo album Jacaranda and was quite impressed with his versatility and insane chops on the guitar and piano. It's a mostly instrumental album with a lot of jazz, fusion, classical to middle eastern elements and some rock.
If you haven't heard this, it's kind of like his version of LTE.  Highly recommended!

His other solo album "Can't Look Away" is also really good. It's more of a rock album with vocals and catchy songs with some prog.
He's also done many movie scores, and I can't name them all. Deep Blue Sea and Armageddon come to mind. Trevor was also in other bands before Yes.  What are your thoughts on TR? 

[gazinwales]

A big fan of TR, he is the reason that I got into his era of Yes, never liked the 1970's sound (mainly the guitars of Steve Howe).
I read in an interview that he is working on a new solo album with vocals, which was due at the end of the year.

[KevShmev]

Trevor actually did three solo studio albums before 90125, so he has five proper solo albums.  The first two - self-titled and Face to Face - are both good, with some really good songs and some that haven't aged well.  His gift for crafting great melodies was there from the start, for sure.

Anyway, I have long been a fan of Trevor, as a solo artist and when he was in Yes.  I will come back to this thread when I have more time, as I will have much appreciation for Mr. Rabin.

[HOF]

Big fan of the 90810 album, have never really heard anything else from Rabin (Big Generator too I guess, which I didn't care for). I think I listened to some of Jacarando a while back and it didn't grab me. May need to check that out again.

[romdrums]

I would rather hear Trevor Rabin play Steve Howe's parts than the other way around.  In fact, I would have loved to hear what Trevor would have done with songs like Machine Messiah and Tempus Fugit. 

If Union had never happened, it would have been interesting to see Yes continue with Billy Sherwood joining as a vocalist and instrumentalist, perhaps trading Tony Kaye for Rick Wakeman or something like that.  A lineup of Rabin, Squire, White, Sherwood, and Wakeman would have been very interesting to me.

[Stadler]

OOOH, Romdrums, that's an interesting combo you've laid out there.  I'm a fan of both Rabin and Sherwood, and would have liked that.

I'm a full-on Yes fan, meaning, I like almost everything from Yes to ...  well, I didn't like Heaven And Earth" at all, but I loved Fly From Here.   I even like Tormato; the only other album that is for me unredeeming is Open Your Eyes.

I've found that the 3 1/2 Rabin albums - 90210, Big Penetrator, Talk and his pieces on Onion - seem to hold up better.  The highs may not be quite that of Going For The One (my favorite album of all time by any band), but there is nothing in the Rabin Years that approaches the depths of Open Your Eyes, Heaven And Earth, "Circus Of Heaven", or "Arriving UFO". 

His solo stuff is more hit or miss, but I LOVE Jacaranda. 

[King Postwhore]

Rabin and Sherwood did not get along.  It's documented.

[HOF]

Rabin and Sherwood did not get along.  It's documented.

Ironic, because Robin and Sherwood got along quite well.

[Stadler]

Rabin and Sherwood did not get along.  It's documented.

Really?  I find that surprising; not in a "I don't believe you" kind of way, but I would have thought that Billy would be okay with letting Rabin run the show.  Though, having typed that, I have a couple CDs where Billy does everything from playing to singing to getting coffee at break, so maybe he's a control freak that couldn't make room for another strong personality.  Rabin seems to be the de facto leader of whatever band he's in, at least musically (though, having typed THAT, Squire was no pushover either).

Who knows.   

[Architeuthis]

On the TALK tour,  Rabin was just as much the frontman as Anderson. Billy Sherwood was mainly a background guy strumming an acoustic, hardly noticeable.. 
What a great album and tour though!
Trevor wrote his prog masterpiece "Endless Dream" which is one of my favorite songs of all time. 

[ytserush]

I'm a fan of 90124, a lot of his soundtrack work and much of the stuff he did from the '90s onward.

[KevShmev]

It wouldn't be the same as it would have been had they done it years ago when Chris Squire was still alive, but I really would love to get at least one studio album where Rabin, Anderson and Wakeman all work together.  Sadly, I fear that ship has sailed.

[Stadler]

It wouldn't be the same as it would have been had they done it years ago when Chris Squire was still alive, but I really would love to get at least one studio album where Rabin, Anderson and Wakeman all work together.  Sadly, I fear that ship has sailed.

That was the huge crime of the Union cycle.   Those ABWH songs ached for Squire's muscular bass and angelic vocals (though we got a little taste on "I Would Have Waited Forever"). 

[romdrums]

Rabin and Sherwood did not get along.  It's documented.

Most of the things I've read have said the opposite.  In fact, until he replaced Chris Squire, it seems he and Steve Howe were the ones that didn't get along last time he was in the band.  Then again, who does Steve get along with?

[Architeuthis]

On 90124 in the linear notes, Trevor was talking about the song "Would You Feel My Love". He said him and Jon Anderson really liked the song, but after listening to it I sure am glad it didn't make the cut to 90125.  lol!

[ytserush]

It wouldn't be the same as it would have been had they done it years ago when Chris Squire was still alive, but I really would love to get at least one studio album where Rabin, Anderson and Wakeman all work together.  Sadly, I fear that ship has sailed.

That was the huge crime of the Union cycle.   Those ABWH songs ached for Squire's muscular bass and angelic vocals (though we got a little taste on "I Would Have Waited Forever").

I liked Union a lot more before I found out how it was made. At least the tour was great. Probably still better than Tormato and Open Your Eyes.

[Architeuthis]

Tevors songs on Union are really great tracks. Shock to the System, Lift Me Up, Saving My Heart, Miracle of Life, The More We Live, Let Go. 

[KevShmev]

Shock to the System is an ABWH song, but I agree that most of the best songs from Union are the ones with the Rabin lineup.  Lift Me Up and Miracle of Life are both very good tunes.

[Architeuthis]

Thanks for the correction. I assumed that Shock To The System was a Rabin song based on the heavier main riff. 

[Architeuthis]

Shock to the System is an ABWH song, but I agree that most of the best songs from Union are the ones with the Rabin lineup.  Lift Me Up and Miracle of Life are both very good tunes.

Wait a minute, are you sure about that? I have the ABWH album and STTS is not on there.  It's on the Union album and the main riff sounds more like Rabin, but the solos and acoustic sections sound like Howe.   Now I'm all confused.. 

[Stadler]

Shock to the System is an ABWH song, but I agree that most of the best songs from Union are the ones with the Rabin lineup.  Lift Me Up and Miracle of Life are both very good tunes.

Wait a minute, are you sure about that? I have the ABWH album and STTS is not on there.  It's on the Union album and the main riff sounds more like Rabin, but the solos and acoustic sections sound like Howe.   Now I'm all confused.. 

Shock.... is on Onion.  I think the reference to "ABWH" is that Onion is made up of 14 tracks, roughly 4 of which came from either Rabin or Squire (in "YesWest" at the time) and the rest from what was up until that time, "ABWH".   I don't think it's literally that clear, because there was some material written with Anderson and Jonathan Elias, the butcher that "produced" the record, but the reference to "ABWH" is not the album, but the people that played on it.   A far as I know, none of the tracks on the album contain the full eight-member version of Yes.  That only happened "live". 

[KevShmev]

Yeah, sorry for any confusion I might have caused.  I meant that Shock to the System was by the ABWH part of the Union lineup (loosely, since who in the hell knows what outside musicians they used on what?), not that it was on the ABWH record from the late 80's.

[Stadler]

It's over and done with now, for obvious reasons, but if ever an album screamed for a redo, it was that one.  The songs weren't bad (in fact, I love all the YesWest songs as they are) but needed that "Yes" spice (which is a euphemism for "Chris Squire", since that's my criticism of ABWH as well). 

[Architeuthis]

Stadler and KevShmev, thanks for clarifying. 
It's ironic that the band is bitter towards Union and even call it Onion,  yet that was the album that got me into Yes in the first place.
I Would Have Waited Forever, Shock, Lift Me Up etc are all excellent songs.  I remember reading a interview with Trevor Rabin where he referred to that album as the "disastrous Union project".  I had no idea the band hated that album before that.  Trevor and the Yes-west line-up came back with a bang when the TALK album came out. I wish we could have gotton a couple more albums with that  line-up before they returned to classic Yes.

[Stadler]

The sad thing is that the live shows were largely pretty good. I think I saw three shows on that tour.   It wasn't perfect - you could smell Steve Howe's contempt for the whole thing from the 10th row - but Rabin was on fire, Bruford looked like he was having fun (all things being relative) and Squire was as Squire always was, a beast.   

[KevShmev]

In all fairness, does Steve Howe ever look like he's having a good time?

[King Postwhore]

I saw 2 legs of that show and you could tell that Steve Howe did not gel well with them originally.  They did not feel off each other.  The second leg was much different and they seems to get along onstage better, feeding off each other.

[Architeuthis]

I still have kick marks on me to this day for missing the Union tour.  I was stuck working washing dishes in a Italian restaurant that night.  I heard reviews all over the radio saying how phenomenal the Seattle show was when I got off work.
It sounds like that concert would have been worth quitting my job for,, literally!   
At least I got redemption seeing the TALK tour in 94. 

[ytserush]

In all fairness, does Steve Howe ever look like he's having a good time?

When he's in Asia.

[ytserush]

I saw 2 legs of that show and you could tell that Steve Howe did not gel well with them originally.  They did not feel off each other.  The second leg was much different and they seems to get along onstage better, feeding off each other.

I'd have to check the stub, but I must have seen them on the first leg then. Howe spent most of the show sitting on a stool  hunched over his guitar not looking the least bit happy. Most everyone else seemed to be having a blast even Doc Severensen errrr....Tony Kaye.

[Stadler]

In all fairness, does Steve Howe ever look like he's having a good time?

When he's in Asia.

Not even then for me; I saw the original band in...2012 and it wasn't Howe's finest hour. 

[Architeuthis]

Howe looked like he was having fun on the 35th anniversary tour. I was lucky enough to score 3rd row seats for the Seattle show. It was the same arena tour where the Songs From Tsongas dvd came out.

Rabin was out of the picture at that time doing movie scores, that's probably why Howe was happy. It was quite intersting seeing his take on the Rabin era songs, such as Rhythm of Love, and Owner of a Lonely Heart.  His tone just didn't cut it from those Fender Tweeds.. 

[devieira73]

Rabin new song:
https://open.spotify.com/track/3f5MFKBb6aRheW6IpSn5qw?si=YnvytRl0TammmGd1vINtQA
Reminds me Talk era

[romdrums]

Rabin new song:
https://open.spotify.com/track/3f5MFKBb6aRheW6IpSn5qw?si=YnvytRl0TammmGd1vINtQA
Reminds me Talk era

Yep, only with a warmer, more natural mix.  I dig it!!

[King Postwhore]

Looking forward to the whole album.