TORMATO

A rotten Tomato? After creating the superbly well produced Going For The One album you would have thought Yes would continue that streamlined and powerful sound on the follow up Tormato album. Unfortunately instead they fell into their old habits of cluttering up the recording with overtly complicted playing often playing over the top of each other (take a bow Howe and Wakeman) which detracted from the songs. Wakeman also introduced two new keyboards to the mix namely the Polymoog and the Biotron and there is certainly less of the big fat Hammond organ fans were used to .I personally quite like the new flavours these synths provide but they tend to lack sonic power. Also, if ever there is a case for a producer being essential to bringing out the best of a band then this album is proof. Eddy Offord was unavailable so they produced themselves and well-Tormato is the result. Having said all that I actually really enjoy this album a lot .The opening track "Future Times/Rejoice" is one of my favourite Yes songs."Don't Kill The Whale" shows again that Yes could produce a great Pop single and "Madrigal is also a very pretty song featuring some lovely harpsichord. The closing track one side one "Release Release" is a great little rocker. Side two starts well with the delightfully quirky "Arriving UFO" although the keyboards really do sound thin here. Anderson's "Circus of Heaven" is just too twee for words and I really can never get used to English Prog groups bringing in cod Reggae rhythms as is the case here, Squire's "Onwards" however is an absolutely gorgeous tune and features a particularly exquisite orchestral backing. Ironically the track I have the most problem with is the closing near eight minute closer "On The Silent Wings Of Freedom". I say "ironically" because "Epics" are what Yes supposedly do best but here the track just seems to take forever to get started with endless jamming mainly featuring Squire's insistent bass riiff. When it does get going, everyone seems to be playing over each other and the track comes to a sudden stop as if they had run out of tape. It is a shame because there are some great moments on it and it really could have been another Yes Classic. Tormato is one of those albums that seems to have been the subject of ever growing hostility among fans and critics alike over the years which seems odd to me because I remember when it came out it got generally favourable reviews. Of course the cover art doe not help with the squashed tomatoes on the cover as if the band themselves were saying "We hate the album too so we are throwing tomatoes at it!"As with ELP's Love beach so much negative comments about this album on the internet seems to stem from the reaction to the cover which is pretty stupid when you think about it. Overall while I definitely have problems with the production, Tormato is actually one of my favourite Yes albums.

Four tomatoes