TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS

An ambitious album to say the least. Four songs that last about 20 minutes each. You will find great YES material in between lots of filler. If this were a single album, it would work better. The 2 songs I would choose to make it a single album would be "The Revealing Science Of God: Dance Of The Dawn" and "Ritual: Nous Sommes Du Soleil".

This album is often the main subject of abuse in the prog world. It is unfairly criticized for being representative of everything that is overblown and self indulgent about progressive rock. As it is a double album, it requires patience to sit through, but good music can be found here.

Parts of it could have been left out. I actually quite like "The Remembering: High The Memory", although it would have benefitted from less repetition. "The Ancient: Giants Under The Sun" is the only one that seems to meander to me. Check out Relayer for a shorter and more cohesive record.