Trevor Rabin

Trevor Rabin (born Trevor Charles Rabin on January 13, 1954) is a South African guitarist and film composer, best known for being the guitarist and writer for the band Yes from 1983 - 1995, and since then, as a film composer.

Yes

While in Los Angeles, Trevor Rabin met bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White, who had experienced their own difficulties following the apparent demise of Yes. They began recording as Cinema in 1981, enlisting original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye to complement their live performances. Producer by Trevor Horn, the album would take 8 months to complete. During his searching period, Trevor Rabin had written a catchy riff-oriented song that might have stood out anywhere. Trevor Horn seized upon "Owner of a Lonely Heart" as a potential single, but questioned whether Rabin should sing it. Rabin's voice, although very pleasant, never quite possessed dynamic qualities such as those of Jon Anderson, who was invited to rejoin Yes in 1983 at the closing moments of the recording of 90125. Even so, Rabin's vocal talents remained an asset to the band's history, and he would share lead vocals with Anderson on several songs.

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90125, taken from the Atlantic Records catalog number, sold more copies than any previous Yes album. This success was helped by the number-one smash, "Owner of a Lonely Heart," a melancholy reading by Jon Anderson, backed by Rabin's Kinks-inspired guitar riffs. MTV rotation of "Owner" and its tuneful follow-up "Leave It", carried 90125 to six million sales between 1983-85. Yes also received a Grammy for the instrumental "Cinema", which proved their sterling musicianship also remained a priority.

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The band also toured behind the album, in a series of well-received concerts. In England and North America, some die-hard fans expressed their dislike of Trevor Rabins influence on the band. But, for Rabin's part, he had been reluctant to reform Yes. Moreover, many younger fans were introduced to the earlier Yes catalog because of the success of the 90125 album. Finally, it can be argued that Yes would never have made a comeback in the 1980s without Trevor Rabin.

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In 1986, Yes began recording their next album with Trevor Horn, but the production became bogged down with artistic differences and drugs. Eventually, the Big Generator album debuted in 1987, with Trevor Rabin assuming studio control. The singles "Love Will Find a Way" and "Rhythm of Love" were modest chart hits compared to 90125. Still, this album is considered more 'progressive' by Yes standards, and did sell two million copies, in what would be the band's last commercial success in the rapidly changing musical climate.

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While Yes members, old and new, quarreled over the Yes name in the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe controversy, Trevor Rabin completed his fourth and last to date solo album, Can't Look Away, released in 1989. It featured lead single "Something to Hold On To," which garnered a Grammy for Best Music Video. But, apart from sporadic airplay, neither "Something to Hold on To", nor the anti-apartheid ballad "Sorrow (Your Heart)" managed to crack the fickle American charts. However, Trevor Rabin toured in 1989.. This tour, one of Rabin's favorites, has since been documented by the 2003 Live in L.A. album.

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In 1991, Yes reformed with a short-lived eight-man lineup under the Union album. Arista, the label responsible for ABWH, took on the project. During the prosperous tour, Trevor Rabin shared the stage with Steve Howe, albeit with some tensions between the two guitarists. Union had four songs with Trevor Rabin's credits, including the singles "Lift Me Up" and "Saving My Heart". However, Rabin's best work is represented by the lyrical composition "Miracle of Life", which sounded as if it could have been included on Big Generator.

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1992-93 marked a series of negotiations between the short-lived Victory label and the so-called Yes West. Phil Carson, responsible for Emerson, Lake & Palmer's comeback in 1992, invited the Yes 90125 lineup to record a third album. Trevor Rabin produced Talk, which used an innovative hard-disk recording method now in common use in many recording studios.

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Talk featured the collaboration between Rabin and Jon Anderson, who had hitherto completed the last few albums after the principal writing. With the exception of a couple filler tracks, the album represents a fusion between old and new Yes. Despite the lineup's best performance on tour, Talk failed to sell as expected, because the AOR radio format had become moribund. "The Calling" failed to catch interest as single material, despite its vintage Yes stamp. No videos were made to promote the new album. Many Yes fans, old and new, list Endless Dream (from the "Talk" album), as one of group's best songs.

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