Maybe I'm finally starting to "get" Yes' TFTO.
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Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
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Printed Date: July 19 2025 at 23:51
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Topic: Maybe I'm finally starting to "get" Yes' TFTO.
Posted By: ProgSword
Subject: Maybe I'm finally starting to "get" Yes' TFTO.
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 01:17
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I could never get through all of The Revealing Science of God. Still can't. Love skipping to Wakeman's kickass synth solo though. And The Remembering totally alienates me too. Those two songs have pretty much been my experience with the album. But finally giving the second-half of the album a chance, and wow. The Ancient and Ritual sound amazing! Can't believe I've put them off for so long. Maybe it's only a matter of time before the other two songs begin to click. Anyone else still give TFTO a crack from time to time hoping that it will finally be appealing? The decent rating this album has on PA always makes me feel guilty about not liking it...
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Replies:
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 01:20
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Congratulations, it's a treasure chest that takes awhile to unpack. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Skullhead
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 01:33
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It's not a chops album. If you are looking for just that, go somewhere else. This is a feel album, and a great one. It's trying to connect visual images and metaphysical concepts through sound and music. The lyrics are critical to the listening and also the way they are articulated. There are just so many aspects to this album and I think it is one of the greatest constructions of music from any genre. If it's not moving you emotionally, you probably need to read or study more philosophy, history and anthropology. This isn't just a music album. For some it's more like a religious experience or portal to a more enlightened state of consciousness. It doesn't just come to you, you have to come to it equally. |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 01:44
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Interesting, I've always had the opposite experience (love Sides 1 and 2, don't care as much for Side 3, and took forever to finally absorb Side 4). However, after 40 years of listening to TFTO, I quite appreciate the entire work! |
Posted By: ProgSword
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 01:48
Haha, this reminds me of the infamous Tool post on the Gamefaqs rock board. Goes like this: "When you're listening to Tool, just remember that they're not like other bands. Their music is incredibly artistic, almost to the point where you have to be paying complete attention to them to even remotely understand them. I remember listening to a song on Lateralus (though I can't remember what it was), where I thought a song was absolute bollocks during the listen. Then, I closed my eyes for a second, and all of a sudden the song had an entirely new meaning. It was insane the way Tool could just become something so different when you take a look into the music. Another thing you should note about Tool is that it's easy to get a headache listening to them. Not because they're a bad band, but because of how many ideas their music is riddled with and how complex they are. Soon enough your head will fill to the brim and the rest will just sound like noise to you. Just turn it off and give it a listen the next day. If you don't like the music, you'll definitely at least enjoy reading through the lyrics, and picking apart the song itself and all of the artistic values that go into making it the complexity that it is." I agree that TFTO is definitely a "feels" album. However, my problem has always been the amount of padding in the music. Wakeman even mentioned that this was the case because they were stuck between two mediums: didn't have enough material for a consistent double album, but had too much for a regular LP. I think most modern Prog bands make a mistake in trying to fill out the CD to like 69-72 minutes, but trimming TFTO to that level might have made it a little more consistent.
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Skullhead wrote:Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 02:09
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Uh-oh, the padding debate. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 08:30
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I have liked it all from the first time. I can't get into Relayer, instead. ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 08:36
pfff.. padding my ass. Critics...that good half ass critique for trying to legitimize a critique something one simply doesn't like They are 4 rock symphonies full of colors, moods, soundscapes, and imagery. Padding?... yeah... sure. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 08:41
it will... if you cracked The Ancient.. the rest is a piece of cake. That is almost universally considered the make or break movement (side) of the album. Those that miss the album often point to it, those that ADORE the album point to it. Brilliant IMO but yes, it took years before I finally 'got' that one piece of music. It isn't easy listening.. the way a really good prog rock should be, it challenging a listener. Because it does, and is the highest expression ever made of prog rock, it was bound to lose some listeners. It was a risk to make, it was progressive rock. So progressive it even lost some 'fans' of it. Keep listening to what you haven't caught yet... it eventually will.. and your life will be better for it.  ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 08:47
Nice line David!  Just played Ritual last night in the car, always fantastic on the dark interstate at top speed with lights flashing by. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 08:55
I also agree with the OP, the second half is the best one IMO, especially 'The Ancient'  |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 08:58
 I suddenly have the urge to get back at my neighbors who decided to have a drunken party late last night.The Ancient... ON HIGH at 10 in the morning!! ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 09:07
well said--I love the album flaws and all---The Ancient is an amazing piece of symphonic prog---deep complex avant garde---it took a while for me to get that but if in the mood to listen to it---it can blow you away--Steve is such an original player and can do it all---I love Ritual but there is a section where Jon is singing too much for me ----but the end is one of my fav endings---especially STeve's rousing and moving guitar solo
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Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 09:11
Is there any other way to listen  |
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 09:12
Yes, quite nice. And it's true. I love the album. It took me a tiny bit of time to sink in, starting already from side 1. But I was quick in liking it afterwards. First side 1 and 4. Not very long after that side 2 and 3.
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Posted By: micky
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 09:34
I suppose there a more than a few ways.. and states.. one can listen. We'll leave that one alone. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 10:02
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As I've said many times before, Tales from Topographic Oceans is my all time favorite album. From the first enchanting syllables, I knew there was something special about this one. "The Revealing Science of God" introduces us to several themes, and each passage moves into the next with an imperceptible fluidity. In its grittier moments, it pays tribute to the coda of "Siberian Khatru," while the Mellotron offers a refreshing sense of beauty. The Remembering" shows Yes at their most bucolic and redolent. Although the title of the piece speaks of remembering, the work gives us glimpses into the future ("Remember the Future?"); for example, triumphantly proclaiming the title of their next album, "Relayer!" During "The Ancient," you will hear Howe wink at earlier phrases, such as how he sneaks in the main guitar motif from "Siberian Khatru" or how, during his classical guitar excursion, he includes the opening guitar riff from "Close to the Edge." "Ritual" is a bright and uplifting contrast to the murky mystery of the third movement. As the tension mounts in the middle, you will hear a reprise of the main melody from "The Remembering," and at the finale, there's the main theme from "The Revealing Science of God," only transformed into a minor key. ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 10:20
I'm not sure that you can get anything, from this or anything else, when all it is for you is ... "a synth solo".
What's the point in music, if all you want is a solo? Why even consider listening to TFTO, instead of Stairway to Heaven? ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 10:30
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I noticed something on my most current listening that is perhaps just silly, but I have no problem embarrassing myself This time through it, I paid even less attention to lyrics than I normally do, just focusing on the music. I'm not saying this was intentional by the band, but, the album sort of "feels" like it is mirroring the life cycle. RSoG has these beautiful somewhat nostalgic melodies that evoke the feelings of childhood to me, wonder, naivety, innocence, mystery. The Remembering would be young adulthood, adventure, falling in love. In the Ancient the first half sounds like the stresses of midlife, sometimes jagged and painful while the lovely acoustic in the second half balances it out with what we love about our life. And in Ritual we begin with that warmth that suggests an elder in a life well lived. In the middle there is a break and then suddenly the harsh dissonance (by Yes standards anyway) of the percussion/breath sounds which could be representation of suffering and death. Then breaking from that and closing melodically into the beyond/afterlife. Again, not saying this was a theme of the bands, just saying that for me as a listener it works as a subplot. And whenever artists are asked what their albums "mean", many dodge the question by saying variations of "it means whatever it means to our fans." So I guess we're entitled to wonder about subplots. Anyway, sorry for that.  Ducking the tomatoes now------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 10:34
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Hi,
That's actually rather close to what I see and have pictured for 40 some years ... but I keep a lot of that imagery and poetry hidden, and not published on purpose. And if I have a reason for it, is because there are too many cynics around, that are incapable of reading and appreciating someone's point of view.
Very nice description and view of it all, and I tend to agree on a subliminal level that the aetheric lyrics have a tendency to hide a lot of this and not make it as clear as it could be ... but then, if it were clear, not one would know anything about it, right? All music that has some sort of imagery for me, and this is the reason why at times, vocals don't do it for me. The vocals are merely another "instrument" in the wholeness of the piece, and today, we think that some lyrics tells us the story, and they don't! More often than not, the lyrics are not on par with the music itself. The early "progressive" music had the lyrics very well tuned to the work, but as things got on later, it became just another story and this and that, and the meaning was supposed to be there, but was in the mind of the author, a lot more than it was in the work itself ... and this is the magic that a lot of folks do not understand ... the best works are not in the "mind of the author", but they touch you endlessly and even confuse you ... and that author does not have to tell you anything ... he/she can just float on their vision ... and this is the difference between most work and visionary stuff.
For example, and you might check my review of the ITKOTKC album, and then notice that it is an album (for me) that is the best snapshot of the time and place when things happened. Right or wrong, the albums after it by KC did not have that power and strength and connection to the world around them ... but it did have other things, more intuitive than otherwise.
It's hard to describe these things, because many folks, even here, have a dependency on having to agree with their friends and top ten, and a different view, understanding and words, is almost, exclusively, a threat to their intelligence, but it's hard to tell them ... it has nothing to do with intelligence ... it has to do with something else ... and you either want to live/visit/love it ... or you don't! End of story! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 11:27
Perhaps you might try listening to it while appreciating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_Life" rel="nofollow - Thomas Cole's famous series:     ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 11:40
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Pedro, yes, we're on the same page. Vocals are an instrument and I've always said that to people who question why I love RPI so much when I have no idea what the words mean. I've always felt that way about lyrics and about music's power to draw me in and be largely indifferent to whatever the vocalist is going on about. If I want to concentrate on words I'll read a book. Music is something different for me. The most "special" albums are the ones that transport me somewhere and Tales does. Rob, thanks so much for posting those. Wonderful. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 15:17
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As I have said Love Tales--a very special album---love this website but can't believe that Tales is not considered at top 100 prog album but a lot of the stuff that is on there---including stuff in the Top 10---I wouldn't even consider worth more than a few listens---but taste is random. And enjoyed your early post about the music Epignoisis.
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Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 15:41
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Because of this thread I have yet again put TFTO on my iPod, in the hope that this time I will get it without having to be Dean Martin drunk. Normally when I put it on, I only enjoy the first cut. From there on it all gets a little too messy (a connotation I usually go for in regards to music, but here it just doesn't seem to work (unless Dean Martin has possessed my brain). ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 16:00
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TFTO is the closest thing to an actual symphony to be found in prog rock. In other words, it demands you sit, listen, and experience it. I can't do Tales in passive way. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 16:02
excellent point ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 16:08
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You should never start to finally get an album. Either you appreciated when you first heard it or your didn't. The worst thing you can to is to try and force yourself to appreciate any album that doesn't suit your ears... ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: micky
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 16:26
sexactly. Same school of thought that you should never listen to anything that takes 18 minutes to say what you could have said and made easily digestible in 3 minutes 30...------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: The.Crimson.King
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 17:42
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I've loved Tales since the moment I first dropped the needle on side 1. Back in '75 my 1st Yes album was CttE, a couple months later I moved on to Relayer, then about 5 months later I bought Tales. I still consider it one of the great prog accomplishments of all time. ------------- https://wytchcrypt.wixsite.com/mutiny-in-jonestown" rel="nofollow - Mutiny in Jonestown : Progressive Rock Since 1987 |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 18:10
Can't agree with that one I'm afraid. There are a fair number of albums over the years that I did not appreciate on the first listen, and they ended up being albums I love. Just me I guess, but sometimes it takes me time to warm up to certain albums. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 18:14
That's me as well Jim. Some of my most beloved albums are ones I didn't get at all when I first started out listening to them. Some I even hated.....which also is why I'm continuing to give this album a chance. Heck, when I first span Igor Wakhevitch I felt like screaming and jumping out the window Now I love the guy. All it took was 6 months, a beach and waves.------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 21:53
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^ right, I can't imagine tossing an album aside after one or two spins.....lots of "growers" out there. One suggestions I would make David, forgive me if I'm repeating myself on this.....if you're having some trouble getting into Tales....try listening to only a side at a time. Instead of all in an 80 minute block. That's my normal way of listening to it now and I think it has made me appreciate it even more. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 23:02
I too have many albums/songs/bands I have needed to listen to several times in order to get into them. If I hadn't presisted, then I would never have gotten into Pink Floyd, Rick Wakeman, Yes, etc, and thus I would never have gotten into prog. However, there seems to be something that compells me to return to the music even if I didn't like it so much at first listen (I particularly remember this with my first listens of Yes, with Fragile and CttE). |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 17 2015 at 23:06
Even though I have actually not yet been able to fully get into this album (the only song I really love is Revealing Science of God), usually when this threads about the album appear I feel like wantint to give the album another spin, and usually I want to give it a listen to the whole of it at once, mainly not doing anything else so I can concentrate on it (which makes it sort of difficult to dedicate the time to it), and I feel that's the way I can better apreciate this album as a whole. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 18 2015 at 10:26
This is one of my pet peeves ... too many reviews of albums are not full listens! Just needle remarks, like the old days in radio! It sounds like ... because all hits have to sound the same! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 18 2015 at 22:26
I had a friend who was a classically trained musician who listened to it and said the same thing---he actually admired it in many ways----but he was a classical listener 100%---rock not his thing but like most classical music does it all grab you? No but it takes you along for a complete experience.
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Posted By: Skullhead
Date Posted: January 18 2015 at 23:11
Epignosis, Congratulations! You are a true listener and appreciator of music. So many here seem hell bent on spouting their opinions about an album "I don't like this part, can't get into that part, doesn't do it for me, Jon sings too much, too much padding, etc... One would be better to examine a work such as Tales and maybe ask questions and or try to learn something about it. There was a great book called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" That book and "Tales from Topographic Oceans" are both monumental steps in the understanding of philosophy and music of that era. Tales is not about whether "you" like it. It's a historical musical document that reflects upon a much deeper connection to the times, the past, the then present and future. It's literature as much as music. If one doesn't get Tales, that is more a reflection on the listener than the body of work and one's feelings and understanding of quality itself. No doubt it won't work for everyone, nor is it supposed to. |
Posted By: LearsFool
Date Posted: January 18 2015 at 23:35
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^ Not quite, in any way, shape, or form. Tales is not about whether people like it or not? Wrong. Jon Anderson wanted to share music and philosophies with people, so people being able to enjoy it matters. Since half the people who listen to this, even big time Yes fans such as myself, dislike large portions of the album, Anderson is already a partial failure. Yes were not Liars. They wrote for an audience, not independent of them. The biggest failure, though, is Anderson's lyrics. He wanted each side to paint various Hindu scriptures... but he never read a word of them. He just got the idea from a footnote from Yogananda's autobiography. He also wrote in his main mode of writing for the music, not to actually actively share the less then half-cooked ideas he had. It does not have the insight of Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; there is simply nothing of substance in the lyrics at all. This album, theme-wise, is really a reflection of the side of hippie culture that completely failed to actually grasp Eastern spirituality. Anderson didn't even try here. And as a final note, the problem musically isn't always filler but poor playing. After Wakeman's key theme earlier on in "The Revealing Science of God", for instance, Howe's guitar noodling is just not quite right. If it were better, than the first third of the track would be perfect. But something went horribly wrong for Yes in 1973, it seems, as right as much of the record is.
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Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 04:05
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Worse than a toothache. ------------- |
Posted By: TradeMark0
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 04:43
| Its not bad, but there aren't any moments on it that I find particularly interesting. Its a typical yes album. |
Posted By: Argonaught
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 04:51
| I am afraid I have never been able to "get" the TFTO. It feels like one of those stereograms that you can spend hours staring into and see only motley blobs of color. |
Posted By: tamijo
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 06:39
^^ this,
Can enjoy Relayer, but only in a very special mood, TFTO is one of my favorite Yes albums.
I loved it from the first day, everything is beautiful about the album, including the cover if you got it back in vinyl days. ------------- Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 06:49
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I've never been able to sit through the entire work. Large sections of the last two parts in particular seem like filler to me, and for the most part sound quite annoying. It sounds like they were determined to make a double album regardless of whether or not they had enough good material. The Revealing Science of God, however is among their best work. For me it gives CTTE a run for its money. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 07:14
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I could "get" about 3/4 of the album quite easily. Not quite my favourite, but on the positive side I can say that it does sound like a Yes album. The Revealing Science of God has some good moments, as shining gems trapped in concrete. The vocal intro is beautiful. Too bad that later releases have added two minutes of crap before it, with ruinous effect. The Remembering is rather boring, but I like the middle section (9-14 minutes). The Ancient is imho the best of the bunch. My major problem with this album is Ritual. I could never get into this one even 38 years after I first heard it. And even if I live long enough to become ancient, I never will. To my ears it sounds utterly pointless; it comes from nowhere and it goes nowhere. I have developed a particular dislike against this track. ------------- 
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 08:10
Finn ... he's right ... same thing with a woman that was not suited for you in the first place!
I always thought that RELAYER was more of a reaction to the fans and media responses to TFTO. And there are times when the artist has a right to tell either his audience or critics to get f**ked! Plain and simple! I honestly think that the majority of the long piece is that ... and after that a sort of apology but that God's children are also sacred, even after their opinions.
My time with YES ended with TFTO, but I do have Relayer. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 15:08
headache maybe? or an itch you can't scratch?
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Posted By: Skullhead
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 22:25
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It's amazing really how few here really get this album that was so groundbreaking at the time. I remember having really in depth, deep conversations about it with contemporaries of that time. If it doesn't find an audience here, where does it? Are people in general more closed minded than they were 40 years ago? It sure seems like it. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 22:40
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^ I don't know, I didn't appreciate Tales when I was young and first getting into Yes. On the other hand, with all the interest here in avant-garde and myriad other forms of challenging music, I understand your perplexity. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Skullhead
Date Posted: January 19 2015 at 23:20
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Steve Howe playing side 3 on acoustic guitar. Still don't get it? http://www.tubechop.com/watch/4496574 |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 06:49
It's got plenty of appreciators here, just perhaps not as many as CTTE. It polarises opinion among fans, and also among the band members. Commercially it did really well, but it was riding on the coat tails of CTTE and despite it's high chart positions was given a luke warm response by critics and many fans at the time. There are moments of greatness, but for me they are mostly condensed into the first side. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 08:21
Agree it's almost crazy---the album was taught in colleges and discussed ----the hate for the album is weird but so is the over the top love for all things VDGG---but it is what it is.
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 08:24
Not really. But there are more people that are so stuck on the top ten mentality that they have no idea what they are saying and why.
It was just as bad then, even in Santa Barbara! The "interest" in the street, was just about the same as it is here, up to and including the fashionistas and the club'istas, and idiot'istas, and rock'ist'as and the dark'istas! Of course, we're the prog'istas! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Walton Street
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 08:34
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I don't think being close minded is a proper term to use if the people in question listened to the album and didn't like it. Close minded is appropriate if they wont give the album a chance - refuse to listen to it. Once you do listen to something a few times and still can't connect with it - that's just chemistry. ------------- "I know one thing: that I know nothing" - SpongeBob Socrates |
Posted By: tamijo
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 08:43
 Good and fair observation, we like what we like.------------- Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 08:54
I don't know about that! In those days, that blonde sure looked nice and it wasn't about the chemistry ... it was about the third leg! Sometimes a thing or two clicked, but I did not have any girlfriends at the time that enjoyed YES, or PINK FLOYD for that matter! But mention some dancing or disco? ... they were all there!
Sometimes the music doesn't click. And at other times, people imagine its meanings ... (Stairway to Heaven is perfect example!) ... and they think they are onto something glorious ... there is a side to that which is good ... but there is another side which is not ... deception, it's called and by the time you find out, it's too late!
I have an idea of what Jon is doing in that piece ... but I know one thing ... it's extremely honest and caring ... and I find that very strong, and above and beyond a lot of rock music out there! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 09:18
| I know I can get into it. I know I can get into it. I know I can get into it. I know I can get into it ... |
Posted By: 'PiphanyRambler
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 10:14
I agree with this, but I'd like to say that some albums are far more difficult to connect with than others. For some albums I had to spend much more time than others before beginning to like them, because I knew too little music (I still do).
I think taste grows with knowledge. If you try to listen to something you're really not accustomed to, you may find it hard to digest. But if you listen to something that's similar but not so far from your tastes, you learn to appreciate it and you'll listen to something slightly different the next time and so on... And that's the reason one could need to return multiple times on a same album (or perhaps that's just me). |
Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 10:15
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Posted By: Walton Street
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 10:54
i know what you're saying - but sometimes it's just going against the grain no matter how you educate yourself. We have personal tastes that are shaped by thousands of experiences and the timing of those experiences as we grow. I think some people can continue to grow and shape their tastes, others cant. It's not a good or bad thing - it's just what it is. put another way - i believe it's the same as imprinting. It mostly happens at a younger age when you're susceptible to it. after time the window closes and the core of your personal tastes have been formed. you can still build on it but for the most part something is locked inside. I think this is what people here flippantly attribute nostalgia to but i think it's more significant than that. i'm obviously simplifying things because it's hard to articulate properly .. and different people have different rates of growth and some people may always be open to impression - that's all part of what makes us different. also - i don't know about everyone else but what i listen to is always determined by my mood. sometimes i am in the mood for the music i rarely listen to .. but mostly not.
------------- "I know one thing: that I know nothing" - SpongeBob Socrates |
Posted By: 'PiphanyRambler
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 11:03
Very interesting, I had never taken the "age factor" in account. It definitely has a big influence.
Yes, I can relate, there are those albums that I feel like listening once in a blue moon. In those particular moments they sound like the most amazing thing ever. The day after I just shrug my shoulders at them.
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 11:47
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Reminds me of a comment that Vangelis made ... to tell a 4 year old child that what he is playing is wrong is "criminal" ... and I think what he is suggesting is that you close down the avenue that the child has that helps create something, be it music or otherwise. I agree to this vehemently, and not suprisingly enough, advanced acting exercises make a point of taking the actors to a "child" stage, as a way to help the actors work around simpler things, and perhaps discover other attitudes and ideas that can be used in acting. Thus, you might even find actors "goof'ing" off as a way to let off steam and add to the work, as well. The harder part of this all, is that as wwe become adults and age, a lot of these things end up "lost" and many folks have a tendency to look back and think a lot of that silly ... but if there is one thing that is strange is finding that musicians are not always ready to have a little fun in rehearsal as a way to learn something new ... it has to be a riff, for example, and that is always a mental exercise, not a true instinct exercise. "Instinct" exercises require a completely different point of view and experiment ... and this is not something everyone is comfortable with all the time. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: LearsFool
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 15:35
Saying TFTO's detractors are "close-minded" is pretty insulting. Not just are tastes subjective, but this album is the work of a band overextending itself, and has nothing to say. The band didn't have enough for the double LP to start with, so they padded. Even before that, they made a few poor choices here and there that already dragged the record down - its good moments aren't worth as much in light of that alone. And, for the last time, Anderson based the entire album around a FOOTNOTE, not any actual scripture! I find it amazing that you found plenty of deep things to say from lyrics so shallow. They have the same worth as those from "Roundabout": vocalised excellently, but meaningless to a fault.
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 20 2015 at 16:32
| People are really tying themselves in knots here. Its 4 very separate pieces of music linked by a common theme. There is no rhyme or reason why you should like all of it less trying to force yourself which is ridiculous. Tracks 1 and 4 work okay for me. I quite like Steve Howe noodling away on acoustic as well. Its a good album for those too lazy to get up and change the CD but still want a decent varied listening experience. |
Posted By: Skullhead
Date Posted: January 21 2015 at 01:13
BINGO!!! |
Posted By: Walton Street
Date Posted: January 21 2015 at 07:21
I think that's mostly BS. define 'knowledge' taste can grow with exposure to different things - some things will stick - others not. I'm not about to learn the piano or take musical theory so I can appreciate 'xyz' learning the theory of something might make me appreciate it more but there is no guarantee i'll like it any more than before. it's quite arrogant to think otherwise ... this can be applied to film and literature as well .. by that logic you're saying that you will love EVERYTHING if you know more about it. Ridiculous. ------------- "I know one thing: that I know nothing" - SpongeBob Socrates |
Posted By: 'PiphanyRambler
Date Posted: January 21 2015 at 08:08
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Ok guys, you showed me how poor my English is. Perhaps I used "knowledge" in the wrong way. I meant to say exactly what you said, ie. exposure. I know absolutely nothing about musical theory. I wanted to say that knowing (being aware that there is) more music can lead to expand one's taste, because it will generate curiosity. Hope it's clear now. |
Posted By: Walton Street
Date Posted: January 21 2015 at 08:18
it can (exposure) - but it might not .. I try new music all the time - some sticks, some gets shoved to the back of the collection. ------------- "I know one thing: that I know nothing" - SpongeBob Socrates |