TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS

Tales From Topographic Oceans is the most ambitious album ever done by Yes or perhaps any band ever. Making four extended epic pieces of music is not only demanding of the musicians involved but for the listener as well. I think this is where alot of the critizism by listeners and even band members stems from. Taking the concept of making an epic record with song writing revolving around a religious text in mind, I have to ask myself did Yes succeed to create something great with that concept? I have to say Yes.

Tales From Topographic Oceans was a departure from the accessibilty of the albums that came before it and even after it. To me this makes the album very unique and has not been attempted by any band since, at least in that type of magnitude. Tales From Topographic Oceans is a musical journey with many peaks and valleys along the way but it is those peaks and valleys that make the pieces of music interesting. I gave Tales From Topographic Oceans five stars not on accessibility but on realization of ambition.