TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS

This album should have been much better than it actually turned out. Coming off of the creation of a masterpiece of progressive rock ("Close To The Edge"), Some of the members of Yes wanted to try to outdo that gem (particularly Jon Anderson and Steve Howe). Unfortunately, the rest of the band didn't seem too keen on the idea. Bill Bruford, one of the best drummers of the seventies, left to play in King Crimson, and poor Alan White, a fine drummer, but no Bruford by any means, had to fill his shoes, or stool, at least. Rick Wakeman and Chris Squire gamely tried to make their mark, but, for the most part, fall flat.

Each of the four album-side long songs has some good sections, but each is also marred by connecting sections of meandering guitar licks. The better parts are where the tempo picks up, and some energy is pushed into the music. In fact, it seems like much of the rest of the music is somewhat lifeless. If you listen to the more recent live versions of songs from this album, you can hear what the pieces could be with the full band playing wholeheartedly.

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