Love for Tales from Topographic Oceans
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Topic: Love for Tales from Topographic Oceans
Posted By: Josh18293
Subject: Love for Tales from Topographic Oceans
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 16:19
| Is this fabulous Yes album anyone else's favorite? |
Replies:
Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 16:33
I have a story of love and hate with that album. I bought it and sold it five times. Yesterday I ordered the Rhino Remastering. Once again I'm dying to meet my new fiancee.  
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Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 16:40
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You'll find lots of it from me. Greatest album ever made. ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: Josef_K
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 17:05
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I love the album like nothing else. It quite recently took over the #1 spot for me from Rainbow's "Rising". My favorite song would be "The Remembering" but they are all great. I love the lyrics, the artwork, the gatefold sleeve with all the pictures in between the lyrics and the little story from Jon where he also writes a bit about each song... It's just such an amazing piece of work, really one prime example of an album that NEEDS to be in a physical package to really work as a product and a piece of art. ------------- Leave the past to burn, At least that's been his own - Peter Hammill |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 17:22
Glad to see some love for this often-trashed piece of majesty. To me, "Close to the Edge" pales compared to the glory of "The Remembering." ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Josef_K wrote:Posted By: Raccoon
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 18:04
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I find it unbelievable that Going For The One is rated higher than Topographic. Not that Going is bad, but doesn't compare in the slightest to Topographic! Many people can't listen through the entire album, but once I start it, I MUST listen to the entire thing. My favorite song probably is Close To The Edge, but Tales From Topographic Oceans is easily my favorite album by Yes  ------------- Check out my FREE album: A one-man project The Distant Dynasty |
Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 18:14
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It's probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite Yes album, after Close to the Edge and (maybe) Relayer. I don't fully understand the spiritual principles behind it, but the spirituality itself comes through beautifully, making it a sublimely serene album, something that grows on me more and more with age. I count "Revealing Science of God" among my very favorite Yes songs.
------------- My other avatar is a Porsche It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran |
Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 18:20
... of all time, across all genres ... or 2nd greatest ... I still can't decide. Took me about two-three listens to finally dig it.
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Posted By: Josh18293
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 18:26
Listening to that right now! I remastered to 1 whole track with proper noise elimination and slight compression and equalizing. Doesn't take away from the original though! Running at 1411 kbps!
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Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 18:40
| It's a contender for my favorite album of all, but certainly and by far my favorite Yes album......I love every second of it. As I've said before, 30 some years of playing it and I still don't have it fully assimilated.....something deep in there manages to surprise and delight me each time. It always was the best album for spiriting me away to the world of Roger Dean's art.....as a teen I would close my eyes, lay in bed, and drift away to this album. It is deeply engrained, but unlike so many other albums, it never lost the magic. |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 18:44
Great post Jim. Thanks for sharing. ------------- “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: hobocamp
Date Posted: September 24 2012 at 19:13
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Like other ambitious albums (A Passion Play and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway spring to mind), the musical grandeur of creative genius falls flat on a stage accustomed to the pablum of radio friendly hooks, and lies bleeding from the mouth to an empty theater. Pity, that.
My absolute fav from Yes.
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Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 01:51
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Not my favorite album, but definitely one of my favorite Yes albums. All 4 tracks have a lot to offer.
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Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 01:56
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Sublime.. ------------- ...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR] |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 02:58
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possibly prog's finest moment |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 03:09
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Without Tales from Topographic Oceans, Yes should have created an unbroken chain of masterpieces from The Yes Album to Going for the One.
... but why not give it a listen once again? ------------- 
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Posted By: Glucose
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 03:13
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My 4th most favorite Yes album, but i love it with Relayer, CTTE and Fragile almost the same way. Tales are great and beautiful. It's a long album so I listen to it only on special situations :) ------------- Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground 
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Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 03:15
| After years of overdosing on Close To The Edge, Fragile, The Yes Album, etc, and knowing them back to front, `Topo' is the Yes album where there's still endless things to discover, even after a ton of listens. An album to spend a lifetime getting your head around and learning to appreciate. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 03:46
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Second only to Relayer. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Einsetumadur
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 05:43
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"Getting over overhanging trees" (...) Doubtlessly one of the most beautiful melodies progressive rock has ever produced. ------------- All in all each man in all men |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 06:03
Right. With lots of classic albums, I don't even need to play them, because I can hear every note in my head. I "know" them start to finish. I can listen to the whole album in my head. Topographic never became like that. These days I don't play it much because I like to keep the experience something special. I esp love "The Ancient" these days. |
Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 06:26
------------- My other avatar is a Porsche It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran |
Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 06:38
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Tales....Often used by a lot of non proggers as a prime example of up-their-own-arse pomposity by one of the monster bands of the early seventies. Even a lot of Yes fans (not the true - hard core proggers here I think) went to see the 1973 tour and didn't enjoy getting the new opus played to them in it's entirety - a lot wanted to hear the old favourites...And of course the in-band squabbling - esp by R.C.Wakeman didn't help either - I reckon that his nose was put out of joint because most of the track was layed out in nightime jams between Howe/Anderson...and he felt that his input was negligable in a writing perspective....Funnily enough , this magnificent example of Symphonic progressive rock (a blue print for all to try and reproduce it's majesty and pomposity) - has become a more consistent seller than "The yes Album" for instance.....In prog circles - I think that TFTO has to be in the top 10 epic compositions of all time - I'd put it into the top five actually....And the Yes CD i've played most in the past 5 years.. One word - Genius.------------- Play me my song.....Here it comes again....... |
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 07:13
| I think it is my third favorite Yes album, after Going For The One and Relayer, and I like it much better than Close To The Edge. |
Posted By: Sagichim
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 07:46
| I like this thread but actually I find Tales..to be too long for no reason. I loose my interset in every song at some point. I have rated it with 3 stars, and found out that if I listen to it in two parts I like it better. |
Posted By: thellama73
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 07:55
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I love it as well, although I rarely have time to listen to all of it in one sitting these days. It has so many great moments, but I particularly love that cray percussion solo section. ------------- 
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Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 08:11
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I will have to say that this is YES's most techical album they have ever made. The song arrangements are incredibly complex. You must have a clear head space listening to this massive masterpiece. I find it incredibly layered. Amazing ART WORK as well! 5/5 😁 ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 08:23
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I have an obvious YES favourite and it is CLOSE TO THE EDGE. It's a freakin MASTERPIECE and I don't even really love YES like crazy or anything, but it's a Dam good album. I believe it's the highest rated album on prog archives. ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: npjnpj
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 10:56
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My second favourite Yes album after Relayer. One strange thing about it though: Any other Yes album I can just put on and listen to, but Tales is slightly different in that it seems slightly intimidating and requires just that little extra effort, almost inner preparation, to actually start playing it. |
Posted By: Smurph
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 11:01
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I would say they had the opportunity to make it their greatest album but they didn't. I feel like each of the songs could have been trimmed down about 2-4 minutes. (Except for the last track.) ------------- http://pseudosentai.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - http://pseudosentai.bandcamp.com/ wtf |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 13:11
Greatest rock symphony ever written is how I describe it ... sorry Beethoven, I know you had 9, but so what? And I was lucky to catch this on their tour at the Long Beach Arena then ... it was magnificent! It really was! ... and in many ways, this was much more exciting than The Wall later, or Dark Side of the Moon ... why? ... because you knew on that day -- after you saw this -- that it was the last time you would EVER see a true symphonic work by a rock band ... that was trashed by rock'n'roll critics senseless to the point where even Rick Wakeman used to trash it ijn his words, although these days, he has gotten way kinder and nicer about it.
------------- 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: Padraic
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 13:26
| I have much love. |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 19:53
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moshkito's post made me think of this: If Beethoven or someone earlier could hear Tales from Topographic Oceans, what might they think? A spiritual incantation initially- but what then? ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 20:09
TRUE GOD, THEN THAT IS ELECTRICITY ! 
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Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 25 2012 at 23:45
Great discussion! I think Bach & Beethoven would have especially loved "Revealing Science of God," Brahms or Handel would have liked "The Remembering," Mahler and Holst the bombastic "The Ancient," and perhaps a Russian like Tchaikovsky "Ritual" for its grand dramatic elements! We could discuss this for days over drinks! I think they would have particularly been impressed by the amount of music that five fellows could generate with the technology! Imagine any of the classical composers with a Mellotron!!
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Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 01:49
Right, I can picture someone like Mahler wanting to have 10 mellotrons in his orchestra. Then the world would have had a bombast - bombardment
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 01:55
| Wakeman had a problem with so called 'padding' and recently said the vinyl format menat that the four tracks had to be all about 20 mins long while if recorded now one could be 12 minutes , another 27 minutes and so on. He has a point I think. Still you have to take it for what it is. A unique slab of seventies prog.Sometimes I enjoy it , sometimes it bores me rigid. |
Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 06:56
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😁 it's true. This album is every bit as layered as a classical symphony. I mean it's as I said, you gotta be in the right head space to listen to it. You drift off here or there you'll get lost and it may ending up just sounding like complex noise. I recommend LSD if your a person who has trouble focasing. Close your eyes and the music will help you see some pretty amazing things....I am not kidding. ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 06:57
Grey Boynton was the keyboardist I think.... ------------- Play me my song.....Here it comes again....... |
Posted By: Chozal
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 07:40
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Not my fav Yes record, but I was quite impressed with the constant quality of the songs (except Nous Sommes du Soleil, I was a bit bored by it). Count me in with the TfTO lovers :)
------------- https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Infinite-Progability-Drive/141225469388975" rel="nofollow - The Infinite Progability Drive , feeding you daily progressive/weird music for just a like <3 |
Posted By: JoeyPS
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 11:36
| I love this album. Didn't take me near as many listens as I thought it would to grasp it and start to become familiar with each track. It ranks very high in my list of all-time favorite albums actually. |
Posted By: zumacraig
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 11:53
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tried to listen to this the other night. i always considered a favorite, but man, it does not hold up at all. i'd love to see a remixed version of this making each song about 10 minutes shorter. sorry, i know that's sacrilege.
the cover art is in my top 10, easily.
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 14:42
Nooooo ... this would be Wagner ... and then you get one of those super voices over it ... and it becomes a bigger, better and louder version of The Ring. Of course, if your name is Puccini, that just means a much bigger orchestra and even more instruments, so that the whole thing is such a loud cacophony, that you can't help thinking it's good ... (... wait ... doesn't rock music do that? ... ) ... and, above all, important!
Love this ... but all in all, when you consider the musicianship and professors in many music schools across the world, you know that some in Berlin were aware of these things and heard it. We know for sure, via some of the CAN folks that a couple of those folks KNEW music very well, including some of the more modern stuff, up to and including rock and jazz. Even Peter Michael Hamel states that on his book, though he also mentions that most of it is not that good or important music from a very academic point of view that was rather annoying considering his own beginnings in music ... but then he was smarter than us ... he got the school to pay for them to travel around and play music! I do not consider any of this stuff any different than classical music, and I think this is where a lot of my "ideas" come from that some rock/prog folks don't like!
------------- 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: Catcher10
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 14:47
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All 4 sides are amazing.....Fantastic work by Yes...For me it flip-flops with CTTE as my fav Yes album. The gatefold is just brilliant too..... -------------   
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Posted By: HarbouringTheSoul
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 15:48
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Ehn, it's okay. Sometimes I quite enjoy it, other times it feels like the silliest album ever recorded. I feel that this a good record for people who just want to get lost in the sound, but I'm not really one of those people. This is also the album where they started to become quite messy sound-wise, which is kind of a bummer considering they were the tightest band on earth just one year prior. I blame the absence of Bill Bruford, who seemed to keep the other guys' meanderings in check. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 16:08
Not sure about that meandering thing ... specially these days, Bill's material has a lot of meandering ... and so did King Crimson, and so did Absolute Elsewhere ... and many other things. I'm not sure that "meandering" is not a part of music and specially what became known as "progressive" ... and the same thing was also told to Tchaikovsky 200 years ago, when he wrote a "pastoral" symphony that many people thought was boring, because it was meandering with the orchestra ... and heck, he wrote several other symphonies and none of us is calling that meandering boring. Well, not sure that "progressive" or "rock's top ten" audiences will ever listen to Tchaikovsky! Btw, this always brings me up to the cover of Ummagumma! ... yeah ... lots of meandering! Jazz, specially, does a lot more meandering and some of it is much less inventive, and sometimes it is strictly around the chord or note! ... and that is not as interesting, sometimes, unless that person's fingers has the "feel" to take your imagination somewhere else. I would like to suggest that too much of our opinions are colored by "pop music" and "top ten" ... with a mentality that has a tendency to lower its ability and expression to something that we can recognize and (supposedly) understand ... and that is bizarre! The history of music is all about changes ... and that includes instruments ... and here we are saying that it should not be done, and can not be done, or can not be enjoyed! In the studies of a lot of classical music there are a lot of long passages (check out Wagner!) that are to be "descriptive" of the scenery and the "story" ... and basically you are stating that this is not allowed in "progressive" music or that YES, specially abused the priviledge! TFTO is just NOT a pop song! If song is what you want ... ciao baby! YES will never be for you except for 2 or 3 songs! ... and honestly? ... that's not progressive at all! ------------- 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: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 17:26
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20-min quality experience forever! 
"Thoughts would send our fusion. Clearly to be home." Right there. ... .
On the album, yes, that is a grand possibility. In all of prog, ... hard to tell.
I have to ask: How is that? |
Posted By: thellama73
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 17:39
I would really advise you not to waste your time, Dayve. I have tried to have discussions with Moshkito before. -------------
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Posted By: Ambient Hurricanes
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 19:03
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I'm just listening to it for the first time right now, and enjoying it quite a bit.
------------- I love dogs, I've always loved dogs |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 19:04
  ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 21:23
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I bought it in 1975, I have played it a thousand times(no exaggeration) and it is more and more precious every time I hear it. It is not a perfect record, but the band took on a work so grand in scope that what YES pulled off on this album, many major bands never equal in their entire careers. Don't get me started on Tales.... What a gift & treasure! If any record should be remixed into 5.1 it would be Tales. ------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire |
Posted By: TODDLER
Date Posted: September 26 2012 at 21:54
| I love the guitar solo Steve Howe plays on "The Ancient" where he is using a Classical nylon string guitar. I believe it is one of his most creative solos. For years I found myself listening to all 4 sides of Topographic during snow blizzards. It seemed very fitting when I was trapped in a house, a Holiday Inn, or using headphones when riding on a bus. I remember sitting by a window watching the snow pound and letting the album play. It was an amazing experience. I always tried to imagine what Vangelis would have added to the project. Although Rick Wakeman did a fine job with atmospheric sounds ...I still wanted to hear what Vangelis would have chosen to add into the compositions. |
Posted By: Ambient Hurricanes
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 00:24
I'm finished with it now. The Ancient is incredible. After finally listening to that, I think I better understand what one of the members of Yes (can't remember who) meant when he said that Yes was like what Stravinsky would have done as a rock musician. The album is at the avant-garde end of the symphonic spectrum, really. ------------- I love dogs, I've always loved dogs |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 01:46
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Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 02:40
This was your first time? ...
... and thou shalt hear it again.  ...  |
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 02:44
Wagner, of course! I could picture Ring des Mellotronen or something like that
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Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 04:40
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I like it. Third fave yes album after CTTE and GFTO.
The Revealing Science of God is arguably the best thing they ever composed. The rest of the work is pretty patchy in my opinion, but it's been a long time since I have listened to the whole thing as one work. I'll try and schedule that into my life soon... 
------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 06:18
| Sorry, but I can't do a link between this album and the music of Beethoven, Mahler or Wagner. Yet I remember that a few years ago, I thought that the pagan poetry of the beginning of CTTE looked like "The rite of spring" by stravinsky. But it was only a fleeting thought. |
Posted By: HarbouringTheSoul
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 06:42
And that's your fallacy right there. Just because I don't like something, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done or isn't "allowed". Musicians are free to make whatever music they want to, just as I'm free to like or dislike any of it. I don't have anything against long, ambient, "descriptive" or whatever passages per se, but like with anything they have to have something that interests me. A lot of TFTO, whether it be the sung parts or the instrumental parts, doesn't have that. That doesn't mean I don't understand it, I think I understand it just fine. Unfortunately that doesn't guarantee I will enjoy it.
Hmm, how come then that Close to the Edge is my favorite album of all time and The Yes Album and Fragile are among my favorites as well? It seems that what you're trying to do is argue that because TFTO doesn't follow the traditional form of pop music, it must therefore represent some form of progress, which automatically makes it better. By that logic, I would have to dislike everything that adheres to the standards of pop music and like everything that doesn't. At this point, I would be judging the value of music not by its content but by its form. |
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 07:43
No, I can understand that, since TFTO doesn't have much bombast. Rather it takes its time (probably too much according to Rick Wakeman) and stretches out, is rich in its abundance of melodies and different atmospheres rather than that it's an overpowering explosion of sounds. It floats more than that it erupts. I's more like a lifestyle record as Steve Howe once said. The link could be in the fact that they wanted something that was even bigger than their magnum opus Close To The Edge. With Beethoven, Mahler and Wagner I see a similar kind of ambition of doing something on a grander scale. But soundwise and compositionwise... it's something else completely, I agree. Melodies do come back, but it's something else than the Wagnerian Leitmotifs. Maybe a parallel with Mahler in his first symphony: I remember all kinds of themes coming by, being juxtaposed and connected. But I'm no real expert on any classical composer.
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Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 07:54
| You're right. I must admit that there is a little something of the first movement of the first Mahler's symphony. A perfume, I would say, but nothing more. |
Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 12:28
🙌 has your mind been blown by the technical wizardry?? Be in the right head space to drink that sucker in. Wow ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 15:46
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It's at it's best - Nice warm room, get ready to be relaxed - and lie down (get the room ambiently lit)....Put the two Cd's into the player and set it going - and let the music flow over you - don't forget that it's not that much longer than the whirlwind by Transatlantic.... ------------- Play me my song.....Here it comes again....... |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 08:21
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In many ways, my favorite Yes album. However, I always find it instructional to seek out the thoughts of the band members on TFTO. For example, we know Rick didn't think much of the project from the get-go. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1045969/Yes-original-Spinal-Tap-says-Rick-Wakeman-Seventies-prog-rock-supergroup.html#ixzz1Ss5rspNu" rel="nofollow - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1045969/Yes-original-Spinal-Tap-says-Rick-Wakeman-Seventies-prog-rock-supergroup.html#ixzz1Ss5rspNu Sayeth Rick: "That was not my favourite Yes album and I said so at the time. Maturely, I renamed it Tales From Toby's Graphic Go-Kart." Perhaps Wakeman's lack of interest was a good thing, since the keyboards are not as dominating as on other Wakeman projects. I believe TFTO was primarily a collaboration between Anderson and Howe, and the rest of the band more or less came along. Squire plays fretless bass on "The Remembering," which gives it a very special vibe. Listen for it, he rarely used that instrument to my knowledge.
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Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 19:12
Tales was the fist major challenge for the band and they failed it miserably(with Wakeman leaving) The prior two smash albums, Fragile & CTTE were almost perfectly split among the contributors. Siberian Khatru being a great example of ALL band members contributing, it was inevitable that one or another band member dominate on a future album and that was Tales. Its right on the record that it was almost completely written by Jon & Steve in a hotel suite. Squire didn't seem to mind and he wound up adding some great bass work to the album. Rick's keys were actually some of the greatest orchestral work ever in prog. Obviously Rick didn't dig that Jon & Steve ran the show. Give and take I say, ride whoever has the hot hand, on a later ABW&H record Rick had a big part and the album was very weak, so artists can whine all they want but the music stands on its own. Tales is probably a BiLLION times better than the one ABW&H record which was much more evenly done between band members.... P.S. I am a HUGE Wakey fan , I have all his records & CDs so I am not anti-Wakeman at all....But Wakey should have hung in there like Squire and kept working with the band, I say... What do ya think of that Chuckie??? ------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 23:57
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^Sounds good to me, Dennis! You obviously have thought your response through, and I agree with your analysis!
When I saw Jon Anderson's recent "The Voice of Yes" show, he gave us a treat by performing generous excerpts from "The Revealing Science of God," accompanying himself on a lovely polyphonic synth! Since I never saw the "Tales" tour (grrrrr, due to the oil embargo of that era!), I always enjoyed whenever the band would play some of it live. However, I've only seen "Ritual" in concert, with Moraz as well as with Wakeman. Here's Steve Howe playing "Ritual" on the "Relayer" tour, 14 August, 1976!  |
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: September 29 2012 at 14:50
Haha, you are the ONLY one here who thinks I think anything through, thanks  Isn't that the Steve Howe picture you posted during our picture wars? You never saw Revealing Science live??? They played that in 1996 (I drove to SLO for that one  ) and they played in on the national tour in 1999 I think. I saw that tour in upstate New York of all places....------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: September 29 2012 at 17:31
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Hi, I always think that if the rock "idiot kiss the number one" press had not trashed this thing as they did, that Rick might have appreciated his work in it ... way more than he ever has. The fact that he is seeing the appreciation and fans discussion of that piece, has changed his words quite a bit and he is appreciating "the freedom" that he speaks of, and how much he had when he did that piece of music. One more thing ... you know that one reason why Rick didn't like it, is because it was a nightmare to play live! You also know that Chris, Steve, John and Alan had no issues with it ... so it makes me wonder if his golden hair and long capes were more important than the music! Few pieces of "progressive music" stand out for its 110% integrity ... and continuity ... and work ... and this piece is such. Sorry Rick. ------------- 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: cstack3
Date Posted: September 29 2012 at 17:40
Yes, the same photo! I thought it appropriate to toss it into the discussion. Sadly, on the very same day when Yes were playing in Chicago in 1997 (with Igor on keyboards), my wife and I were flying out of O'Hare Airport on our way to the Virgin Islands to get married! We flew directly over the Rosemont Theater where Yes were playing, and I knew that several of my best friends were at that show! What we must sacrifice for love! They did tell me that Yes played "Revealing Science of God" in that show, GRRRR!! However, these days, there are many good recordings via YouTube, so at least I can see what I missed! And, Ginny more than made up for that missed concert by accompanying me to the 35th Anniversary show in Chicago (where they performed a blazing version of "Ritual"). The band members were attracted to Ginny as you can see! We had a wonderful time at that one. Thanks Dennis! We can't see every single concert we wish we could, but we can try!! Cheers, Chuck p.s. Alan says "Hi!" What a lovely chap he was!! Squire, on the other hand....GRUMP-EE!!  |
Posted By: HarbouringTheSoul
Date Posted: September 29 2012 at 19:12
Must have been a bummer!  |
Posted By: Ambient Hurricanes
Date Posted: September 29 2012 at 19:29
Steve Howe looks like such a beast in that picture. ------------- I love dogs, I've always loved dogs |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 00:17
Tongue in cheek!! However, I DID look at the theater's rooftop as we flew out (the place was right next to Chicago's O'Hare Airport). For your listening pleasure! Hear angel Mellotrons and devil Rickenbackers. You are invited. "The Revealing Science of God" starts at 0:41:18 "The Remembering" starts at 1:01:25 "The Ancient" starts at 1:22:40 "Ritual" starts at 1:44:00 |
Posted By: JeanFrame
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 02:54
| I like YES, Im a fan, but this album is (IMO) complete balderdash. |
Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 03:03
It's not so much the technical wizardry as the music itself and the atmospheres I really dig.
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 11:56
This was a MASSIVE bootleg that was taken out of circulation by the YES management, btw ... and it was 3 LP's and I came close to getting it, but did not have the moolah in those days to spend $75 dollars on it! However, I never made it to Berkeley where I likely would have found this in any of the stores there. I was not, however, aware that a video existed of it ... and yeah ... I would love to get a copy of it! The order appears incorrect since they played TALES first in its entirety, took a break, and then played the other stuff and I believe they did Close to the Edge as an encore at the Long Beach Arena ... don't quote me on that. I was told that the quality of the recording was not great, as it appeared to have been a copy of a copy, but then that's like saying that "Bonzo's Birthday Party" or "Live on Blueberry Hill" had exceptional quality, which they didn't, but the energy and fervor in the music ... was totally out of this world! (that was Led Zeppelin, btw).
------------- 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: cstack3
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 12:38
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^Thanks for the details! I wasn't aware of this boot until I found it on YouTube (and there is no video, just audio). Considering that Yes filmed "Yessongs" and had a decent box-office with both the movie and LP release, I'm surprised that there is no film of the Tales tour! It had massive, Roger Dean sets, and played in huge venues, so it would have been an ideal subject for a documentary. Same for "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." Please take the clip as I presented it, as a snaphot of this band in their prime, performing one of the most remarkable compositions in the prog idiom!
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Posted By: AEProgman
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 22:11
I was at a 74' show in Roanoke, VA and know they played the entire CTTE and TFTO suites along with a few of the hits of the times, but what I can't remember (seat location and too much youthful activities) is what the set or stage looked like. I do seem to remember (I think) some moving/lighted colorful stage item over some of the band. Does this sound familiar to the TFTO tour? They played the CTTE stuff first, then the TFTO suite. Amazing!
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Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 23:03
Youthful activities, eh? GUILTY! Me, that is!! 8-) Rick's comments on Roger Dean's stage set are priceless: 'Take a left here, Rick, climb over that giant mushroom, past the spaceship and just behind, beyond that cloud, are your keyboards.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1045969/Yes-original-Spinal-Tap-says-Rick-Wakeman-Seventies-prog-rock-supergroup.html#ixzz2815Qde3j" rel="nofollow - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1045969/Yes-original-Spinal-Tap-says-Rick-Wakeman-Seventies-prog-rock-supergroup.html#ixzz2815Qde3j |
Posted By: AEProgman
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 23:21
That was funny and an insightful artilcle to that tour, thanks! That must have been the tour I saw, glad I was half there...
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Posted By: Josef_K
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 08:14
Haha yeah, every time I hear that melody I'm completely astonished that the song could get SO much better from already being so awesome. I keep thinking that "this HAS to be the best song off the album, how can you beat this?". Then "The Remembering" kicks in, and with it the only part of the album better than above mentioned melody. This part would be the transition from the synth playing the melody of the "relayer" part directly over to the "Stand on hills of long forgotten yesterdays". There are much more parts on the album that are just mindblowing though, where I just cannot resist giving the music my complete concentration, no matter if I'm listening with one earphone plugged in at work or from the vinyl at home. ------------- Leave the past to burn, At least that's been his own - Peter Hammill |
Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 08:40
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SET DESIGN!!! Roger Dean can officially be allowed go decorate my apartment
This was a MASSIVE bootleg that was taken out of circulation by the YES management, btw ... and it was 3 LP's and I came close to getting it, but did not have the moolah in those days to spend $75 dollars on it! However, I never made it to Berkeley where I likely would have found this in any of the stores there. I was not, however, aware that a video existed of it ... and yeah ... I would love to get a copy of it! The order appears incorrect since they played TALES first in its entirety, took a break, and then played the other stuff and I believe they did Close to the Edge as an encore at the Long Beach Arena ... don't quote me on that. I was told that the quality of the recording was not great, as it appeared to have been a copy of a copy, but then that's like saying that "Bonzo's Birthday Party" or "Live on Blueberry Hill" had exceptional quality, which they didn't, but the energy and fervor in the music ... was totally out of this world! (that was Led Zeppelin, btw).
[/QUOTE] ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: sigod
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 09:22
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I very much like the version of Ritual on the Yesshows album. It has (like so much of the Yes material) a lot of balls/edge to it live in comparison with the studio recording. Our Mr Squire goes off one one during the middle too which is never a bad thing in my opinion. ------------- I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision. - Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 09:55
That performance is indeed epic.
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Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 10:55
ANOTHER fan of "The Remembering!" Thanks for contributing! I particularly enjoy when the band kicks up the tempo during "Relayer....all the dying cried before you!" I sang that line out loud once in a store, and drew some odd glances..... A friend sent me the latest re-mastered CD version of TFTO, and I've listened to it nearly every day for a month or so, just studying its composition and performance.....an amazing work, period. I wish the original Yes would re-form and tour with this as a "swan song", then retire.
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Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 13:15
Art work is amazing too on the remastered edition. Love Roger Dean's work  ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 14:48
| This was my favorite album for many years. When I came upon it in the mid 90's, no one told me it was bloated, overlong, self indulgent, or everything that was bad about prog (all things I've heard about it since). After about 3 or 4 complete listens, I was completely emotionally tied to the album. I listened to it almost every day, for years. I still can't just listen to a single track from it (other than the live renditions of Revealing and Ritual, of course). I rarely listen to it now, but did pick up the remaster in 2005(?) or so (Relayer too). Relayer and Topographic are my top two Yes album, both being pretty much my favorite thing by them (I can't really pick one over the other). It's not my favorite album of all time anymore, but I'd say it's still easily in the top 10. I can't really pick a track that is my favorite on the album, as I see it as a complete work that needs to be heard in total to really appreciate. Easily my favorite concept album ever. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 15:47
I like the whole piece ... and I still don't know the names of the 4 pieces and I ... don't care! When it goes on my stereo or my car ... it starts at the beginning and ends at the end ... the same thing if I'm going to listen to Eroica or the 9th! ... well, you can go for the "hit" and just listen to the chorale part ... and miss the rest ... what the heck. This is the reason why I do not consider, or do this ... this kind of music, is NOT rock'n'roll, or a "song" ... Stack ... these are the symphonies of our time by our generation ... why degrade them to the level of a "song". Or to the level of pop music ... wow ... and we keep thinking that all this crap means something ... and in the end, we don't even believe it! I'm really bummed and sad right now ... I have never thought of "Passion Play", or "Thick as a Brick", or "TFTO", or "Yeti", or "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" ... and so many other pieces as ... just another song! It defeats the whole point, idea and concept of "progressive" ... ... forget it ... go back to playing 3 and 4 minute songs, mosh!
------------- 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: cstack3
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 21:41
I think "The Remembering" is more of a movement than a song.....
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Posted By: AEProgman
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 21:58
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As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, it is not frequent on the playlist but I hear something new and different every time I listen to it. It is an album that I must listen to beginning to end (if possible) at least once every 3 or 4 months. -------------
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Posted By: Eria Tarka
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 23:28
| I'm seeing all of these positive things being said about this album, now I just really want to listen to it (as I've never fully done before). |
Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: October 02 2012 at 23:52
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^ Ah! The evangelistic peer/"peer" pressure ... unless it's a "Bazinga".
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Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: October 03 2012 at 06:23
[=D>] Nice. It really is. Probably one of the most complex albums with in the progsphere 👊 ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: October 03 2012 at 13:28
But seriously, you shouldn't really push yourself. If you don't like it, then it's probably forever ... like what I have with Genesis' The Lamb.
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Posted By: Eria Tarka
Date Posted: October 03 2012 at 18:00
| ^Well, I listened to it twice and I'll have to say that I really did enjoy a lot of the album. It has been almost a year since last time I tried listening to the album, and since I'm relatively new to prog so that seems like a long time ago. Overall I'm enjoying it but definitely not to the same extent as Relayer or CttE. |
Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: October 03 2012 at 19:06
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You know I gotta say that THE REVEALING SCIENCE OF GOD(DANCE OF THE DAWN) is the best track on the album for me. It is also a true testiment of the sheer skill and keyboard/synth wizardry of Rick Wakeman. He's plays with such grace, feeling and can creat these supernatural ambient soundscapes that can just stay lodged in your mind for days. Beautiful song. It's an incredible epic tale of god and his wonderous creations. I shall dance in the dawn once more... ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: October 03 2012 at 19:34
| I certainly like the album, though I haven't been able to apreciate it to it's full glory yet. Right now I feel like listening to it again (usually I do when I read so many comments about how great the album is). Still, I believe the album would indeed have been better if only Revealing Sience of God had been about 20 min, and the rest of the songs had been reduced to about 10 min. Then it might have been every bit as great as CttE in my book. |
Posted By: The Mystical
Date Posted: February 01 2013 at 22:29
| I truly love "Tales". To me, it stands out as one of the greatest albums of all time. |
Posted By: ProgMetaller2112
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 04:11
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Nous Sommes Du Soleil we love when we play we a hear a sound and alter our returning We drift the shadows and course our way on home Flying home Going home   ------------- “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four "Ignorance and Prejudice and Fear walk Hand in Hand"- Neil Peart |
Posted By: Ajay
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 04:31
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Truly a landmark and an inspiration. Any musician whose hope for their work is flagging could do worse than to remind themselves that a double album of symphonic rock, one track per side, made it to the top of the charts. The structure of the work is inspired, from its scriptural framework to the sectional emphasis on different instruments to the return and development of ideas. My favourite Yes cover design, perfect for someone who was raised on a steady diet of Erich von Daniken and Lyall Watson, and a treat in the days when buying an album meant poring over every detail of the gatefold sleeve while the music thundered in one's headphones. I got this album on vinyl, I got it on CD, I got it as a download. When the next revolution in music media happens, I'll get it again.
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Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 10:58
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^ Alright! I only got it as a download and as a CD. Not thinking about getting it on vinyl because I don't have a gramophone and the cover may not have a newspaper in it.
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