TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS

One can only wonder what went through the head of Bill Bruford when he first listened to "Tales From Topographic Oceans", if he listened to it at all.

Most definitely, Yes' most controversial album, "Tales" has split Yes fans since its release. It is certainly highly ambitious as it is closely related to to Eastern religions and philosophy. Anderson and Howe had a strong vision but unfortunately, it never accomplishes what they set out to do. They overextended themselves and tried to force it to be much much bigger than it needed to be. It would be like an artist who created the most beautiful painting and then realized it only took up 1/5 of the canvas. Rather than changing it or redoing it on a smaller canvas, he desperately paints around it with bland colors that do nothing but fill up the empty space. Some of Yes' best and most beautiful music is to be found here. The acoustic sections are particularly splendid. The problem is they are surrounded by far too much clutter. Had they spent more time refining the album and had it been about half in length, it would have worked much better.

Rating: 2.5 Stars/ just did not come anywhere near it's potential as a creative and interesting concept.