Tales From Topographic Oceans

dwill123 wrote: Four album sides of noise.  Bill Bruford got out while the getting was good.

Bill Bruford got out because the thought of touring the world playing CTTE was too much for him. The group composition dynamic just about drove him CTTE of madness. Eddie Offord passing out / falling asleep  over long 24/ 7 periods as tapes were wound, rewound, edited, spliced, re-edited... then they had to learn to play it! Thankfully the result was pretty good.

Tales was a longer effort done more quickly as they had more experience plus Howe and Anderson knew what they wanted. Perhaps the writing / royalty side of things may offer a perspective.

But Tales was so much of a challenge to an audience that was still a rock crowd (woo-ooh, yeah, right on) etc.

I must admit I'd like to hear orchestral arrangements of the piece. The Remembering would work very well in this context.

Now there are longer CD albums (I do think attention spans can be governed by format) how does it stand up in the context of the longer prog albums now?

CTTE might be seen as more of an intro number to Tales' full development. Oh, and CTTE is really only regarded as side 1 or the four parts of the suite (20 mins) unlike the more full on Tales (80 mins).

Then when Yes do their synth rock era in the 80s they were blasted for making accessible pop rock - after having done inaccessible prog rock. Can't win can they?

Interlude ....Maybe one day we'll have cogent arguments as to the "better" Fly From Here - with Trevor Horn on vocals (The Word Is Live) or Benoit David (Fly From Here)...

Frankly many things Yes do are challenging, but the trouble with being "progressive" is that it (should) say more more about the audience than it's performers.

Tales is a great Yes album, a great prog album, highly challenging rock album (though me getting through say, an ACDC album is a real challenge for me). That classical version .. that could be interesting. The atmospheres for orchestral settings are there.

uduwudu wrote: dwill123 wrote: Four album sides of noise.  Bill Bruford got out while the getting was good. Bill Bruford got out because the thought of touring the world playing CTTE was too much for him. The group composition dynamic just about drove him CTTE of madness. Eddie Offord passing out / falling asleep  over long 24/ 7 periods as tapes were wound, rewound, edited, spliced, re-edited... then they had to learn to play it! Thankfully the result was pretty good.Tales was a longer effort done more quickly as they had more experience plus Howe and Anderson knew what they wanted. Perhaps the writing / royalty side of things may offer a perspective.But Tales was so much of a challenge to an audience that was still a rock crowd (woo-ooh, yeah, right on) etc. I must admit I'd like to hear orchestral arrangements of the piece. The Remembering would work very well in this context. Now there are longer CD albums (I do think attention spans can be governed by format) how does it stand up in the context of the longer prog albums now?CTTE might be seen as more of an intro number to Tales' full development. Oh, and CTTE is really only regarded as side 1 or the four parts of the suite (20 mins) unlike the more full on Tales (80 mins). Then when Yes do their synth rock era in the 80s they were blasted for making accessible pop rock - after having done inaccessible prog rock. Can't win can they? Interlude ....Maybe one day we'll have cogent arguments as to the "better" Fly From Here - with Trevor Horn on vocals (The Word Is Live) or Benoit David (Fly From Here)... Frankly many things Yes do are challenging, but the trouble with being "progressive" is that it (should) say more more about the audience than it's performers. Tales is a great Yes album, a great prog album, highly challenging rock album (though me getting through say, an ACDC album is a real challenge for me). That classical version .. that could be interesting. The atmospheres for orchestral settings are there.

I thought I had read that Bruford left Yes because he thought that what was done with "Close to the Edge" could not be improved, so there was nothing more to achieve with the band... though perhaps that was his polite way of saying it. As for a symphonic version of the songs on Topographic Oceans, well, at least there is Ritual on the Symphonic live album.

For me, Tales has always been the perfect escape. There are certainly moments that I consider more brilliant than others, such as the opening on the first track and the build up halfway through Ritual. This album is aptly named and I think should be approached as the vast sea of progressive rock music that it is. It's always fun to get lost in its depths and let the mind wander.

What's all the fuss? Four "Close to the Edges" on one album. One of my favorite albums ever, regardless of genre. No more "filler" or "noise" than the aforementioned darling of Progarchives either, to my ear.

TFTO was one of the first prog vinyls that I owned as a little kid. TFTO was printed, under license, at one of former Yugoslavia's major labels - PGP RTB . I remember the day when I put it on my turntable; it was deep, instant acceptance.

siLLy puPPy wrote: Finnforest wrote: Polymorphia wrote: Finnforest wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote:     Something happened though after a gazillion listens. It's like the secrets magically unveiled themselves. I'm not making this up. There is something about this album that you either feel or not. After coming to this album from a different mentality i realize that the repetitive parts are meant to be meditative in nature. The album is based on Hindu scripture and makes sense based upon that. An easy listen? Absolutely not. Will it ever be universally loved? I doubt it. I'm only speaking for myself and my experience with this album. There is no way in hell i would have declared this a masterpiece even 10 years ago, but like i said one day it took on a new feel to the whole thing. Once that happened i listened to it again and again and saw it in a completely new light. I first got the album in the 90s so it has taken a good 20 years for this album to come to me in this way. I'm not looking to convince anyone one way or the other. Everyone's opinion on this album or any other is completely legit, but i do want to share my evolution of understanding this album and to state that what you may think about something today does not necessarily mean that it will remain that way forever. Totally understand Silly Puppy.  I feel the spirituality of the album and it is really the only one that hasn't lost something over 32 years since I've first heard it.  It is the one that gets better, thank God Anderson pushed so hard.  New discoveries come out of the woodwork.  It has a depth and mystery to it, and it is not easily assimilated which is why it never gets boring.  It also feels like a "winter" album to me...every time I walk out into a cold winter night and look at the moon, i hear strains of Revealing Science in my head.  Crazy maybe, but it is a pure joy in my life.  None of their other albums comes close imo.  These are my exact sentiments toward the album. There's something that's way more focused aesthetically than the other albums, even though one might claim that the song forms are not as focused. It's like all the things that made Yes interesting are brought to the forefront for a highly meditative, personal, and vivid experience.   Very well said...it is more focused as a work like you say, despite the irony of many who think it an unfocused mess.  Their other albums are rock albums.  Tales is like a High Mass or some ritual experience.  A complete event. It's quite like the Ghost "live nippon" album although that one is more sounds than melodies.  Very well said indeed. This is the kind of album that strikes you on a higher level than most music. You really have to put your head in another musical world. I don't know why for me this got better over countless listens and for some they never like it. It is as mysterious as the Topographic Seas themselves. For me originally being mostly a metalhead this was one of those albums that forced me to view the world and music in a totally different way and i'm much better for having done so

hobocamp wrote: What's all the fuss? Four "Close to the Edges" on one album. One of my favorite albums ever, regardless of genre. No more "filler" or "noise" than the aforementioned darling of Progarchives either, to my ear.

Exactly my feelings.

i do love this album, though i used to have mixed opinions of it at first

moshkito wrote:   I've been saying all this for 30 years ... to the point where I just call the whole thing a symphony, which of course at least one person thinks is an insult to the word, and I don't believe it is. He just doesn't believe a symphony can be done electrically and created by our own generation! That is my opinion by the way ...

Come on, it is a f**king awesome album. How can one not like it? Insane parts together with beautiful ones. It is only Prog Rock and I like it.