TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS

This album is rather divisive in the Yes fandom and I'm firmly in the "masterpiece" camp. This one and "Relayer" were my first exposure to Yes and TFTO took me quite a while to get into. When I've grasped the structure, the melodies and overall mood I'have been hooked for life. It's mainly Steve Howe show. I don not want to rob the others from their work as the whole band is amazing, but Howe seems like the most busy person here. Of course there is Anderson with his heavenly melodies. Wakeman, although not so fond of this album at the time, provided some of the most beautiful parts, especialy on the piano and mellotron. White seems to play more with Squire than on his own as was often with Bruford. It's not a bad thing as White and Squire are both responsible for some of the most quirky rhytm fiqures in the whole Yes catalogue and it means something. There are large gentle parts of music with sublime vocal parts , but there is always something going on under the surface (as was typical for Yes at the time). There are also some really maverick parts full of all the virtuosos interplay. One of the most amazing parts is the drum pandemonium on the last track, when Yes basicaly pre-dates industrial and manages to pull it off as the integral part of their style. Prog gods at their peak. I don't understand how anybody calling himself a prog fan may dislike it, for me this album is the essence of prog - adventurous, innovative, complex, multilayared, brilliant. 6 stars ;)