The greatest day in prog history?

I'm listening to the album right now. My copy sounds amazing

Nowadays I hardly listen to it and definitely in the camp of it having too much padding. They were coming off Fragile and CTTE which were and still are massive statements of prog perfection. My enduring feeling is that Yes reached their pinnacle with the Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, Bruford line up and nothing is going to change that. 

All Things considered, for me, this is one of the top albums ever. It's sad that folks do not seem to consider it a "symphony" in 4 parts, which would better describe the whole work and perhaps give it a better standing, but it seems to me that the preference for rock music is to NOT do anything that is more "classical" in form, instead of being more song oriented.

I don't think the idea that Rick mentioned was a good idea. I think it is excellent as it is, although some folks do not seem to like Side 3 of the double album, but in my book, all of it stands out for something that rock musicians can do that ... in some ways ... they are too lazy to do, and will often select the easiest path and cheapest design. 

I have always looked at a lot of these musicians as the classical musicians of our time, and in all honesty I have this bit of stomach noise when folks want to see it brought down to the level of a song, albeit a long song, which should have been broken up. I, for one, am glad it stood out in one piece, and 50 years later, it still lives as one of the greatest achievements with rock musicians.

The concert I saw at the Long Beach Arena, was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. It was a magical concert and it was really beautiful and 10 years later I heard a bootleg and it was indeed a well played show .... with one sad moment. The audience did not wake up until after their break at the end of TFTO. The next section started with Roundabout if I remember correctly, and from then on the audience was on fire.

I left the show crying. Some of the prettiest and best playing by folks my age, was not appreciated, and only applauded when the "hit song" came on, which already tells you what the business was about at the time ... it was very sad, because you knew that this piece was gonna get trashed for a long time ... and I'm just happy that 50 years later ... all those haters, lost ... the piece is remembered more than ever and will continue to be so!

Hi,

I think that DSOTM succeeded because of the light show and combination of the band with the lights and the various films and bits. No other band was doing anything as adventurous and interesting, even though bands like Nektar had what was known as "Light Theater" by a man whose history in the annals of rock music is legendary. But, sadly enough, a lot of the "light show" thing had lost is fun, and folks were less interested in closing their eyes and tripping along, hoping to cheer for their favorite hit or piece of music. AND, it should be mentioned that PF was doing these in a glorious QUADRAPHONIC sound, that no one else was even trying, except maybe The Grateful Dead that had the best sound system of all bands EVER.

All in all, it was at this time that the "show" lost a lot of its design and ideas, and most bands just stuck to the worst lighting shows possible, not to mention the cheapest and to make it look like the music was better than it really was. In fact, it often hid how bad the music was!

But somethings stick to your imagination. Seeing Gentle Giant do an encore with all members switching roles, so everyone played drums, guitar, keyboards, you name it, for me made it all so much better. You knew the musicianship in GG was superior to a lot of bands, and was worth seeing. I do not know how many times they did that kind of ending to a show, but it was neat.

What brought "progressive" to the front was its incredible touch and the atmosphere created for that moment ... it was a veritable 2001 opening for many rock fans, a moment that you always remembered, specially if you were in LA and got to see the stuff at the Cinerama Dome and then the Aquarius (old) theater. (They were next to each other!).

A few years later, seeing Genesis, was boring. There was no "show" ... it was just an over done thing making it look like all the songs were majestic and important. The "important" part of the band left with PG, and he was able to continue with the thoughts and ideas he had mentioned in the MM interview about his leaving Genesis. He forgot the idea and concept and only did songs since then, and even today, it is grossly over rated and not really great or as important and valuable as things were at the time. 

TFTO, will likely be played by a Symphony in the future in its entirety and will still be appreciated. And hopefully the rock audience with no taste, will learn to appreciate music long after its time, as so many composers have enjoyed for many centuries. I don't think that "songs" will have as long a time span!

After completing both ELP's BSS and Yes' TFTO I have to say, Tales really left me wanting.

Wanting a shorter album and a better ending.

Of the first six Yes albums, I might have to put it around number six.

So do I. Because it's over. Like other overlong rock outings, it is a grand 1 record album that unfortunately is strung out to a 2 record length. 

It's like a suites within a suite if that makes sense. A symphony of 4 movements, i see it that way, but i only ever listen to it all at once rarely

Some days it's even my favorite of the four sides. 

Hi,

Part of the "progressive" movement, at the time, was that ... the fans ... did not control the music at that time, and many things were done that we appreciate a heck of a lot from it, and often go around saying that progressive music died, when the record companies came back en force with the Great Corporate Rape into the 80's when all those independent FM stations were bought out to have that independent and different music taken off the air ... which happened ... and today, it is STILL called "classic radio" ... and I'm tired of listening to some of that stuff for the 156th time ... c'mon ... when can you say enough is enough?

PF, to their credit, took their sound effects to their maximum conclusion, which was The Wall ... when all the "vignettes" (so to speak) became the story and carried the music, or if we like the music created the story. Both work.

In the early days, prior to the DSOTM thing, PF had sound effects running through between each piece, and I can not specify if there was a reason (setup some equipment parameters for example which were not as fast as today!), or just some fun ideas ... that eventually ate up the dragon! 

The big problem  has been the since 1990, with the advent of the Internet, the "fans" think they own the music and the artist, and they will kill artists for it. I will live and die for the artist, my friend, and you know that, just like I do all the other arts, and specially film.

I got the album when I was first married and we lived in a cold, drafty house.  I had to make do with a space heater while I wrote.  I drank gin and tonics and TFTO was my constant companion on those cold days.

I never tired of it.

The only thing I ever disliked about the original album is that the mastering was muddy. The Steven Wilson DVD remix, however, is revelatory, the clarity is exceptional, and the detail and thunder in Squiire’s bass playing knocks me out and makes my 2,700 watt subwoofer smile. 

I listen to a lot of symphonies, particularly Mahler, Bruckner, Scriabin, Shostakovich, etc., and TFTO provides the same level of satisfaction for me. This is such a unique album, and I’m extremely thankful that Yes had the vision to make it. I had only seen Ritual performed live until the Drama-TFTO tour of 2017 when I saw them in Pampano Beach. It was an exceptional concert.

It’s hard to believe the album is >50 years old, and I’ll still be playing it regularly 50 years from now when I’m 113.

Any band.

Any genre.

Any era.

Hi,

For someone that knows classical music history and has heard a lot of it, to say that something is drawn out and bleeds too much, would without a doubt, suggest that RW has never heard classical music for the past 600 years or so. That comment is off base, in regards to "interpretation" of many things, and to suggest that the wind only has one kind of movement, is just bizarre and more than likely a comment that would suggest he was not someone that knew what composing was really about beyond throwing notes on the staff, or just adding notes to his other fingers!

It's not like his own solo things are not drawn out ... with different keyboards doing the same kind of thing and solo .... and the bleeding? I think even the emperor would have said "too many notes" ... which really was more of a comment about the music not expressing something that was more "visible" and easier to "understand" rather than just hundreds of notes in so many minutes. RW would make the worst soundtrack music writer, because he has no "emotional feeling" beyond his curry and his fingers over playing any material! Can he eat that curry that fast?