Big Eclipse on Monday! Tons of hype building up. I even took the day off, thinking about heading out to the desert (but ended up snowboarding instead.)
But unfortunately...man, what a let down THAT was! It wasn't particularly cloudy or anything. But, unless you had those semi-opaque polarizing glasses, there was no way you could even tell it was happening. It even didn't get noticeably darker. Maybe it did somewhat, but it was really subtle, like you were wearing sunglasses even if you weren't. But certainly nothing like the one last October, where you experienced this eerie, creepy twilight at mid-day. There were no crescent shadows, like before, no "ring of fire," and the only thing that was sort of cool was looking through the polarized glasses and seeing a "bite" out of the sun. Now, granted many other people, living in the deep south and parts of the East Coast, did get quite a show. That must have been awesome. But here it was kind of, well, nothing too special. That's okay though. The one we experianced last October was pretty awesome, and we had one in 2017 that was pretty spectacular as well.
Nothing too interesting going on in my personal life either. Just...this feeling of too many hands on my time and not enough time on my hands. You get involved in things, hobbies and what not, and people you are involved with start wanting you to pull more weight. I guess that's only fair. So maybe I'll do a Music Corner. Haven't talked about music in a while....
MUSIC CORNER: YES "90215"
The 80's were a pretty down time for mainstream rock. Sure, there was plenty of cool interesting stuff bubbling in the underground music scene at the time, but from around 1983 to around 1987 or so, it was mostly keyboard driven synth junk, which wasn't my thing at all. Remember, this was the era of Depeche Mode- and sadly I, uh, just never liked Depeche Mode (sorry.) So anyway, about three years after Yes had broken up, they reform and release this, an 80's mainstream rock album. This almost didn't get released as a Yes album at all. It started as a joint musical project with guitarist Trevor Rabin and Yes's former rhythm section Chris Squire and Alan White, and the band was to be called "Cinema." It was only after they brought former Yes vocalist/guitarist John Anderson and keyboardist Tony Kaye , that the band decided, "Well, let's go ahead and just call it Yes. At least people know that name."
So anyway, Yes were known for some pretty intricate and long compositions over the years. Some would even say, pretentious and self-indulgent, and I won't disagree, but yet- many of those old tracks were just brilliant nonetheless. Instantly memorable and classic tunes that defied all pop conventions and evoked dream-like soundscapes with sweeping melodies and brilliant musicianship. However, "90215" does away with all the long, pretentious stuff that typified their past albums and focuses on shorter, hook laden pop songs. And, pop music or not, it's still brilliant, in every way. First of all, the musicianship is still top notch, and the songwriting is better than ever. The hooks work, the melodies still dream-like and moving, it has an aura of class and elegance that most 80's pop simply doesn't have. For example, listen to the instrumental opening of "Changes," and the interplay of Chris Squire's bass, Tony Kaye's keyboards, and the flourishes of Rabin's guitar work, and, even though it's still a pop song, this is clearly on a higher level than most pop songs. Another thing about this album: Both Trevor Rabin and John Anderson share lead vocals, and in fact most of the tracks are sung as a duet between the two. The other three also contribute backing vocals and choruses here and there, (for example, on "It can Happen," Chris Squire sings several lines) but the point is: It's all seamless. If you paid attention you can easily tell who is singing which part; Anderson's high-register vocals are far more distinctive than Rabin's mid-range vocals, but you get so carried away by the music that usually, you DON'T pay attention- and that is the point, that's why it worked so well.
Overall, I love this album. It's beautiful, elegant, perfectly executed, has awesome musicianship, and is one of the best rock albums of the 80s. And this is coming from a guy who listened mostly to heavy rock, metal and punk back then- which obviously Yes were not. It is for good reason that so many songs off of this will be instantly recognizable to people who were around back then.
Anyway, thanks for reading "That's about it, see ya."