Saturday 17 August 2019

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of 1990?

What was the best Yes-related album of 1990? I asked and (67 of) you answered:

1. Asia: Then & Now (w/ Downes, Howe): 36 votes, 54%
2. David Torn: Door X (w/ Bruford): 11 votes, 16%
3. National Health: Complete (w/ Bruford): 7 votes, 10%
4. Rick Wakeman: Night Airs: 5 votes, 7%
5. Mike Makhalemele: Mind Games - A Jazz Celebration of John Lennon (w/ Rabin): 4 votes, 6%
6. Rock Aid Armenia: The Earthquake Album (w/ Downes, Squire): 2 votes, 3%
7= Rick Wakeman: In the Beginning: 1 vote, 1%
7= Rick Wakeman: Aspirant Sunrise: 1 vote, 1%
9. Rick Wakeman: Phantom Powers: 0 votes, 0%

... which took me by surprise. I didn't think Then & Now was much loved: 4 new songs constitute the 'Now', with just Wetton and Downes as the core of the band, to 6 hits as the 'Then'. And those new songs are Asia at their most pop, two with outside writers. But then I do like the new songs! So congratulations to this, the last Asia studio material with Wetton until Phoenix in 2008.

Maybe the competition in 1990 wasn't that strong. Complete, which I voted for, was a great release, bringing together everything National Health had released, but Bruford only appears on it courtesy of a sliver of previously unreleased material, so I didn't expect it to win. Wakeman was churning out the solo albums, but it was quantity over quality, with four combined only getting as many votes as Complete.

Mind Games did well given its obscurity: it's still unavailable on CD, although it did get a digital release a year ago: see Amazon UK or Amazon US.