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Finnforest View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 06:03
Originally posted by Aussie-Byrd-Brother Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote:

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.


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.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 06:26
Originally posted by hobocamp hobocamp wrote:

......and lies bleeding from the mouth to an empty theater. Pity, that. . 
Just thought this line was worth repeating.  Far out.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 06:38

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.
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Direct Link To This Post 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.
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Direct Link To This Post 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.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 07:55
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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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 08:11
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!!! 🎧🤣
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 08:23
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!!! 🎧🤣
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 10:56
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.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 11:01
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.)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 13:11
Originally posted by Epignosis Epignosis wrote:

You'll find lots of it from me.

Greatest album ever made.
 
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.


Edited by moshkito - September 25 2012 at 13:20
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 13:26
I have much love.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 19:53
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? 


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 20:09
TRUE GOD, THEN THAT IS ELECTRICITY ! Lamp
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2012 at 23:45
Originally posted by Epignosis Epignosis wrote:

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? 



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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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2012 at 01:49
Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Originally posted by Epignosis Epignosis wrote:

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? 



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!!

Right, I can picture someone like Mahler wanting to have 10 mellotrons in his orchestra. Then the world would have had a bombast - bombardment LOL
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Direct Link To This Post 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.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2012 at 06:56
😁 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!!! 🎧🤣
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2012 at 06:57
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

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.
I think...it's about time someone did a re-vam and extend it out to two CD's worth (160 mins)...I once went to see a prog band called "Daga-band" - sort of ELP outfit - They opened with a 30 minute organ/mellotron/moog jam that lasted 30 mins - called "paraplasma" I recall....Thats prog.....
Grey Boynton was the keyboardist I think....
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2012 at 07:40
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 :)
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