YES - Tales from Topographic Oceans

Psychedelic Paul wrote: YES Documentary - The Story of Tales from Topographic Oceans

Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: ,,, Obviously the album affected our generation in a spiritual way. I enjoy Topographic Oceans looking out of the window during a snow blizzard. I like sitting by the fireplace listening to it. It has a place in my heart

Intruder wrote: I get off the Yestrain after Bruford left - those first five albums are pure gold.  Tales starts a slippery slope where the boys begin to position their heads firmly up their own arses - it's a suffocating listen.  Anderson and Howe attempted to put six hours of words and music onto four LP sides.  As always with the band, their talent and taste produce some lovely passages, but as a whole, it never seems to hit Yesheights - it's noisy; strangely produced; the drumming doesn't hold up; Wakeman sounds disinterested; the Yesmagic never comes to the fore.  I've spent years and years with Tales and see it as past-their-prime Yes - more in common with Going for the One than Close to the Edge.  Then again, the only post CTTE Yes LPs I really dig are Drama and Squire's FOOW.

It is a challenging listen I will admit.
I think at this point, I agree with you. Then again I haven’t revisited this album in quite some time. I may be a little scared to.

Side one is worth the price of the lp....and the artwork is nice.... I rarely listen to the other sides.

pooch 2 wrote: I remember seeing the Tales of Topographic Oceans show, late 1973 or early 1974 can't remember exactly, and remember being blown away at the musicianship of all the members. I did not own the album yet, I'm not sure it was available yet, so this was all new music to me, and the smoke filled haze that surrounded and filled the venue, it was magical! I've had 2 copies of the vinyl since and it finds a regular listen in my rotation.

Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: ... At times the album felt drawn out....which was what Wakeman complained about or revealed it being somehow connected to his leaving YES . Which eventually he returned out of interest in the band returning to the style of songwriting originally on Fragile and Close To The Edge. ...

Hi,

Interesting thought, however, this would also spell out that 50% of all classical music is "drawn out" in order to give the main themes a chance to be heard again.

I imagine that in those days, without the benefit of the recording and us being able to hear things after the fact, a composer likely had to give a listener a good point in regards the totality of the piece.

The bizarre, and totally stupid, and selfish as his curry, is RW complaining about the music being drawn out, as if rock music only existed for the riff and his solos. The ability to flow and improvise, is not something that RW appreciates, and yet, the biggest names in composition in the 20th century coming from rock music, include the best improvising players ... and we loved them. Keith, Vangelis, Ryuichi ... and they do not have to simply play a different keyboard, which people think makes RW special ... he's a very poor composer since he does not seem to understand that music has a side that simply flows through, and has less to do with RW's ideas about composition, than it does the "visual" side of music for those that live through the images that a lot of music creates. I can safely say, that RW's compositions do not allow for this "visual" content to develop because he immediately changes instruments and sounds on purpose ... this is composition for him ... not anything else!

I just think he is in too much of a hurry to go get his next bite of curry ... and please ... leave the keyboards for someone that appreciates music, instead of just his own "work" ... he won't last long or be remembered long enough for his music. It's too much of just another rock song!

Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: ... Sometimes I thought that Topographic Oceans was just as important as the earlier material all within the power of its representation ... however it became a dinosaur in some people's eyes or a complete disappointment based on its lengthy compositions. Just as Wakeman did ... but I felt it was a important album . ...

For me, this simply shows and states that in general, the majority of folks commenting are not "musicologists" and are simple rock'n'roll fans. These folks, as was the case at the concert I saw at the Long Beach Arena in 1972, are not music fans at all ... they are there for the hits! And as the joke goes, their attention span only goes to about 5 minutes ... so to speak, and that is not to say that they have no taste in music, as much as it is to say that having a slightly better understanding of the history of music, and how it has developed, would help one appreciate some more music, that was not rock song mandated and designed.

RW, is not a composer, and his pieces are more of a bunch of rock song pieces stitched together to make it look like it is valuable, and then using a different keyboard to make it seem more important. If you UNPLUGGED all those keyboards, you would find a lot of repeated riffs ... which he colored with a different keyboard and sound. You know how much talent that takes? Just go to a music store and pick up 10 keyboards (cheap of course) and then do the same thing ... and all of a sudden RW is not that great or important.

And it is bizarre that RW would complaint about the "drawn out" stuff, or at least the compositional level that Jon and Steve used for the most part, which Chris had no issue with whatsoever, and instead of complaining, he augmented the music beautifully.

It just speaks for something that has less to do with the music, than it does someone's ego. I still think he had to make sure people thought his own work was better than TFTO, so people would buy it, and his "leaving" the band would be justified. I didn't bother. I think I got his first album on some used LP store for 50 cents. It was the right price for the music in it.

Edited by moshkito - Yesterday at 08:15

I'm really repsonding to Pedro's nonsense about Rick Wakeman but this may be as far out as anything he has posted on here. If Rick doesn't join Yes then we would probably not even be discussing this album. All musicians and human beings have egos. So what?

richardh wrote: I'm really repsonding to Pedro's nonsense about Rick Wakeman but this may be as far out as anything he has posted on here. If Rick doesn't join Yes then we would probably not even be discussing this album. All musicians and human beings have egos. So what?

I usually keep a large salt-shaker handy when I read Mosh's comments.