TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS

Tales From Topographic Oceans is the longest and weakest album from Yes' period of great music (The Yes Album to Going for the One). With that said, it is still a decent album. If you listen to it for the first time, and are familiar with Yes' music, then you will not be surprised by what you here in the first two songs. Both the Revealing Science of God and The Remebering have great melodies, changing tempos, mystical lyrics, etc. Each song is about 20 minutes, but does not carry the impact that other Yes epics do, such as Close to the Edge and Awaken.

As for the second disc, songs 3 and 4, it is really a let down. The Ancient is barely music until the last 5 or 6 minutes of the song, and then it is a simple acoustic number which is really nothing special. Finally, Ritual starts out good and stays good for about 10 minutes. It sounds similar to the first two songs, but then it turns into crap. There are completely random changes between drumming (not really a drum solo), and dissonant guitar and keyboard. The last couple minutes of the song try to be melodic and bombastic, but it doesn't fit in after all that noise. Basically, the second disc sounds like it has a lot of filler.

I think that this album would have been a lot better if the tracks were all shorter and more focused. The first two songs are good, but not as good as other Yes songs. The last two songs are barely enjoyable. Definitely the worst of the best Yes albums. Get it for the first two songs if you enjoy Yes' music.