TOPOGRAPHIC DRAMA: LIVE ACROSS AMERICA

With all that's happened to Yes, it's amazing that they are still a touring band. It's been a few years since Jon Anderson was pushed out of the band, and with Chris Squire's passing, the group now has none of their founding members. Yet this year (2018 if you are reading this review some time in the future) marks a half century since the group was first formed.

I'll admit that I've not been to a Yes concert in many years, as I have been fearful of watching these pioneers of prog rock succumb to the ravages of time. But as the members of the band have proclaimed publicly, Yes is an evolving entity that may survive past all of its members of the seventies.

I was intrigued to hear what the band would sound like without the signature Squire bass sound, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Billy Sherwood does a masterful job of recreating the power and the glory of the old bass lines. In fact, he's so good that I have to say that his playing is, to me, the highlight of the two complete songs from Tales From Topographic Oceans on this disk.

The first disk is mostly comprised of a performance of the entire Drama album. They are performed very well, but it reminds me (as I am reminded by the original Drama album each time I revisit it), that it is a step below the classic Yes albums. The songs are good, but mostly lacking something. I especially never liked the way Alan White was limited (probably a record company executive's decision) to pedestrian drum beats, except for parts of Machine Messiah and Tempus Fugit (by far the best song on Drama).

And the TFTO renditions here just might be the best versions I've ever heard. This Yes seems to do the most with the dynamics of these compositions, sounding equally as comfortable with the pastoral passages as they are with the bombastic. I only wish they had performed the entire album.

The remaining tracks, And You And I, Heart Of The Sunrise, Roundabout and Starship Trooper are all well played.

I have been listening to this album repeatedly since purchasing it last fall, and my enjoyment of it is still not receding.

Dramatic tales

Topographic Drama is the latest live offering from Yes, and the first one recorded after the tragic loss of Chris Squire. Like the title implies, the set focuses on material from Tales From Topographic Oceans and Drama. In the case of Drama, the entire album is performed, and is for me the highlight of this double CD/triple LP. Drama is one of my favourite Yes albums, and songs from this album have rarely been played live or featured on live records. Given that Geoff Downes is now back in the band, Drama was an obvious choice among albums to be performed in its entirety, much more so than the older albums that were featured on the two Like It Is releases. Also, vocalist Jon Davison's voice compares better to Trevor Horn's than to that of Jon Anderson, adding further weight to Drama being the perfect choice to get the full live treatment. The result is strong, with Billy Sherwood doing a fantasic job, nailing Squire's parts and backing vocals.

When it comes to Tales From Topographic Oceans, not the whole album is included, but more than half of it is, with The Revealing Science Of God and Ritual in full, with Leaves Of Green from The Ancient in between. These versions are strong, and it is especially interesting to hear Downes' take on Wakeman's parts.

The rest of the songs have been done a vast number of times, but the band is a well-oiled machine and these versions sound great. Overall, Topographic Drama is a better live album than either of the Like It Is albums, and also better than In the Present, making this the best Yes live album in some time. Also from a visual perspective it is a nice one, with a lovely Roger Dean art work.

This double album is either a latter-day triumph or a ridiculous piece of nonsense, depending on how you want to view it. As a veteran Yes fan with a clear preference for the band's classic era (1971-1974) and with a love of DRAMA, I was curious to find out how the band managed to play the old 'Buggles' album AND more than half of TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS as late as 2017. I was not disappointed. Despite slowish speeds, both 'The Revealing Science of God' and 'Ritual' are performed with an eye for detail and with great sensitivity. Steve Howe's contributions are as masterly as ever, Billy Sherwood is a first-class replacement for Chris Squire, Geoff Downes does what he needs to do on keyboards, Jay Schellen takes care of all the drum parts Alan White can no longer reach, and (dare I say it) Jon Davison sings even better than the one performer who really ought to be here, Jon Anderson. (Although that Davison does sound a little bloodless at times.) And DRAMA must have been real fun to play; as a listener you can tell!

So why the 'ridiculous piece of nonsense'? Well, the entire album sounds suspiciously as if it was recorded during a soundcheck or rehearsal. There's no indication as to which gigs it derives from. Audience noises were pasted on long after the fact and pop up at the most inopportune moments. In my opinion it's completely unthinkable that today's largely middle-aged, sit-down audiences would start cheering and clapping at least FIFTEEN times during a twenty-two minute piece of music, as they do here. Sometimes the mechanical cheering gets really annoying: in the Disc Two drum workout some anonymous male voice keeps shouting 'Oh yeah! Oh yeah!' as if he was in a cheap porn flick. As for the familiar 'extras' , I tried 'Heart of the Sunrise' and 'Starship Trooper'. The latter (probably my favourite Yes tune) sounds lifeless and far too slow, so I gave 'And You And I' and 'Roundabout' a miss.

So how to grade this? Worth hearing, perhaps, but definitely not essential.

Yes was the first symphonic progressive rock band I ever heard as a fragile high school teenager, and the group's magic effect has lingered in my mind during all days of aging. My truest interest to the orchestra lies in their early material ending up quite much to the 1980 "Drama" studio album, but have verified some of their later records, which have offered sometimes real enjoyment.

Bought this album in wake of 2021 released "The Quest", and had some expectations as liked both "Drama" and "Tales from Topographic Orchestra". Sadly the triple vinyl album was quite disappointment to me, possibly partly due both expectations and relation to the 70's and 80's performances. When compared for example to the 2015 remastered live recordings of "Progeny 1972" CD box or vinyl compilation, the band lacks power and even sounds do not feel so vivid. Though picking up mistakes on playing is a vicious way of listening, can't avoid uneasy feelings when hearing the clumsy parts for example on songs "And You and I" or "The Revealing Science of God". As the personal favorite versions of these compositions do not escape my mind, I'll get the same experiences of unhappiness when local Finnish opera singers go for the classic I always compare those sung by Gigli, Flagstad or Chaliapin. So the set up seems unfair. Also the LP covers or the photo booklet do not shine similar wonder as

There are some moments which worked well, like the selection of "Leaves of Green" from "The Ancient - Giants Under The Sun", and the performance of "Into The Lens", maybe due it's nostalgic theme characterizing the band institution where its classic musicians are nearly all disappeared. This kind of concept bands where original members are replaced with young musicians is not totally wrong, but actually enchanting; It kind of proves the meaning of the classic sound and concept of the group for musicians and audience. Also I think it proves the uniqueness of the band's sound and compositions they have created during the decades. As an example from other kind of art rock the long continuation of Pärson Sound - (International) Harvester - Träd, Gräs och Stenar - Träden shows how amazingly well a music group can survive and does not die with their core members.

Also contemplation of the passing of time whilst the vinyl sides spin brings its own element to this listening experience. I believe if You were on the concerts preserved here or as a younger person have found this band later, You most possibly experience this music totally differently. I remember few times Yes visited my country in early 21st century, and the magic was really powerful, denying all my criticism to sound or playing details totally. Thus can understand the potential of this album which did not totally enjoy myself however.