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JoeyPS 
Forum Newbie
Joined: September 26 2012
Location: Texas, USA
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Points: 3
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 Posted: September 26 2012 at 11:36 |
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I love this album. Didn't take me near as many listens as I thought it would to grasp it and start to become familiar with each track. It ranks very high in my list of all-time favorite albums actually.
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zumacraig
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 10 2011
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Points: 1301
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 11:53 |
tried to listen to this the other night. i always considered a favorite, but man, it does not hold up at all. i'd love to see a remixed version of this making each song about 10 minutes shorter. sorry, i know that's sacrilege.
the cover art is in my top 10, easily.
Edited by zumacraig - September 26 2012 at 11:54
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moshkito
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Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Online
Points: 17510
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 14:42 |
 Moogtron III wrote:
... Right, I can picture someone like Mahler wanting to have 10 mellotrons in his orchestra. Then the world would have had a bombast - bombardment  |
Nooooo ... this would be Wagner ... and then you get one of those super voices over it ... and it becomes a bigger, better and louder version of The Ring. Of course, if your name is Puccini, that just means a much bigger orchestra and even more instruments, so that the whole thing is such a loud cacophony, that you can't help thinking it's good ... (... wait ... doesn't rock music do that? ... ) ... and, above all, important!
cstack3 wrote:
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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! ... |
Love this ... but all in all, when you consider the musicianship and professors in many music schools across the world, you know that some in Berlin were aware of these things and heard it. We know for sure, via some of the CAN folks that a couple of those folks KNEW music very well, including some of the more modern stuff, up to and including rock and jazz. Even Peter Michael Hamel states that on his book, though he also mentions that most of it is not that good or important music from a very academic point of view that was rather annoying considering his own beginnings in music ... but then he was smarter than us ... he got the school to pay for them to travel around and play music! I do not consider any of this stuff any different than classical music, and I think this is where a lot of my "ideas" come from that some rock/prog folks don't like!
Edited by moshkito - September 26 2012 at 14:47
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
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Catcher10
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Points: 17846
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 14:47 |
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All 4 sides are amazing.....Fantastic work by Yes...For me it flip-flops with CTTE as my fav Yes album. The gatefold is just brilliant too.....
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HarbouringTheSoul
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 21 2010
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Points: 1199
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 15:48 |
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Ehn, it's okay. Sometimes I quite enjoy it, other times it feels like the silliest album ever recorded. I feel that this a good record for people who just want to get lost in the sound, but I'm not really one of those people. This is also the album where they started to become quite messy sound-wise, which is kind of a bummer considering they were the tightest band on earth just one year prior. I blame the absence of Bill Bruford, who seemed to keep the other guys' meanderings in check.
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moshkito
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Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Online
Points: 17510
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 16:08 |
HarbouringTheSoul wrote:
Ehn, it's okay. Sometimes I quite enjoy it, other times it feels like the silliest album ever recorded. I feel that this a good record for people who just want to get lost in the sound, but I'm not really one of those people. This is also the album where they started to become quite messy sound-wise, which is kind of a bummer considering they were the tightest band on earth just one year prior. I blame the absence of Bill Bruford, who seemed to keep the other guys' meanderings in check.
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Not sure about that meandering thing ... specially these days, Bill's material has a lot of meandering ... and so did King Crimson, and so did Absolute Elsewhere ... and many other things. I'm not sure that "meandering" is not a part of music and specially what became known as "progressive" ... and the same thing was also told to Tchaikovsky 200 years ago, when he wrote a "pastoral" symphony that many people thought was boring, because it was meandering with the orchestra ... and heck, he wrote several other symphonies and none of us is calling that meandering boring. Well, not sure that "progressive" or "rock's top ten" audiences will ever listen to Tchaikovsky! Btw, this always brings me up to the cover of Ummagumma! ... yeah ... lots of meandering! Jazz, specially, does a lot more meandering and some of it is much less inventive, and sometimes it is strictly around the chord or note! ... and that is not as interesting, sometimes, unless that person's fingers has the "feel" to take your imagination somewhere else. I would like to suggest that too much of our opinions are colored by "pop music" and "top ten" ... with a mentality that has a tendency to lower its ability and expression to something that we can recognize and (supposedly) understand ... and that is bizarre! The history of music is all about changes ... and that includes instruments ... and here we are saying that it should not be done, and can not be done, or can not be enjoyed! In the studies of a lot of classical music there are a lot of long passages (check out Wagner!) that are to be "descriptive" of the scenery and the "story" ... and basically you are stating that this is not allowed in "progressive" music or that YES, specially abused the priviledge! TFTO is just NOT a pop song! If song is what you want ... ciao baby! YES will never be for you except for 2 or 3 songs! ... and honestly? ... that's not progressive at all!
Edited by moshkito - September 26 2012 at 16:12
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
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Dayvenkirq
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Joined: May 25 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Points: 10970
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 17:26 |
20-min quality experience forever! 
Einsetumadur wrote:
"Getting over overhanging trees" (...)
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"Thoughts would send our fusion. Clearly to be home." Right there. ... .
Einsetumadur wrote:
Doubtlessly one of the most beautiful melodies progressive rock has ever produced. |
On the album, yes, that is a grand possibility. In all of prog, ... hard to tell.
moshkito wrote:
TFTO is just NOT a pop song! If song is what you want ... ciao baby! YES will never be for you except for 2 or 3 songs! ... and honestly? ... that's not progressive at all! |
I have to ask: How is that?
Edited by Dayvenkirq - September 26 2012 at 17:31
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thellama73
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Joined: May 29 2006
Location: United States
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 17:39 |
Dayvenkirq wrote:
.
moshkito wrote:
TFTO is just NOT a pop song! If song is what you want ... ciao baby! YES will never be for you except for 2 or 3 songs! ... and honestly? ... that's not progressive at all! |
I have to ask: How is that? |
I would really advise you not to waste your time, Dayve. I have tried to have discussions with Moshkito before.
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Ambient Hurricanes
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Joined: December 25 2011
Location: internet
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Points: 2549
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 19:03 |
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I'm just listening to it for the first time right now, and enjoying it quite a bit.
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I love dogs, I've always loved dogs
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Epignosis
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Joined: December 30 2007
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 19:04 |
Ambient Hurricanes wrote:
I'm just listening to it for the first time right now, and enjoying it quite a bit.
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dennismoore
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 21:23 |
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I bought it in 1975, I have played it a thousand times(no exaggeration) and it is more and more precious every time I hear it. It is not a perfect record, but the band took on a work so grand in scope that what YES pulled off on this album, many major bands never equal in their entire careers. Don't get me started on Tales....
What a gift & treasure!
If any record should be remixed into 5.1 it would be Tales.
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"Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire
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TODDLER
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Location: Vineland, N.J.
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 21:54 |
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I love the guitar solo Steve Howe plays on "The Ancient" where he is using a Classical nylon string guitar. I believe it is one of his most creative solos. For years I found myself listening to all 4 sides of Topographic during snow blizzards. It seemed very fitting when I was trapped in a house, a Holiday Inn, or using headphones when riding on a bus. I remember sitting by a window watching the snow pound and letting the album play. It was an amazing experience. I always tried to imagine what Vangelis would have added to the project. Although Rick Wakeman did a fine job with atmospheric sounds ...I still wanted to hear what Vangelis would have chosen to add into the compositions.
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Ambient Hurricanes
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Joined: December 25 2011
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 00:24 |
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I love dogs, I've always loved dogs
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 28029
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 01:46 |
M27Barney wrote:
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.... |
I seem to remember Daga Band vaguely although I don't think I've seen them live. I have seen Noddy's Puncture who had a keyboard player that dressed like Keith Emerson circa 1970. They were quite fun.
Edited by richardh - September 27 2012 at 01:46
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Dayvenkirq
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Joined: May 25 2011
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 02:40 |
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Moogtron III
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 26 2005
Location: Belgium
Status: Offline
Points: 10616
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 02:44 |
moshkito wrote:
Moogtron III wrote:
... Right, I can picture someone like Mahler wanting to have 10 mellotrons in his orchestra. Then the world would have had a bombast - bombardment |
Nooooo ... this would be Wagner ... and then you get one of those super voices over it ... and it becomes a bigger, better and louder version of The Ring. |
Wagner, of course! I could picture Ring des Mellotronen or something like that |
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 16130
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 04:40 |
I like it. Third fave yes album after CTTE and GFTO.
The Revealing Science of God is arguably the best thing they ever composed. The rest of the work is pretty patchy in my opinion, but it's been a long time since I have listened to the whole thing as one work. I'll try and schedule that into my life soon... 
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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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hellogoodbye
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 06:18 |
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Sorry, but I can't do a link between this album and the music of Beethoven, Mahler or Wagner. Yet I remember that a few years ago, I thought that the pagan poetry of the beginning of CTTE looked like "The rite of spring" by stravinsky. But it was only a fleeting thought.
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HarbouringTheSoul
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 21 2010
Status: Offline
Points: 1199
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 06:42 |
moshkito wrote:
I would like to suggest that too much of our opinions are colored
by "pop music" and "top ten" ... with a mentality that has a tendency to
lower its ability and expression to something that we can recognize and
(supposedly) understand ... and that is bizarre! The history of music
is all about changes ... and that includes instruments ... and here we
are saying that it should not be done, and can not be done, or can not
be enjoyed!
In the studies of a lot of classical music there are a
lot of long passages (check out Wagner!) that are to be "descriptive" of
the scenery and the "story" ... and basically you are stating that this
is not allowed in "progressive" music or that YES, specially abused the
priviledge! |
And that's your fallacy right there. Just because I don't like something, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done or isn't "allowed". Musicians are free to make whatever music they want to, just as I'm free to like or dislike any of it. I don't have anything against long, ambient, "descriptive" or whatever passages per se, but like with anything they have to have something that interests me. A lot of TFTO, whether it be the sung parts or the instrumental parts, doesn't have that. That doesn't mean I don't understand it, I think I understand it just fine. Unfortunately that doesn't guarantee I will enjoy it.
moshkito wrote:
TFTO is just NOT a pop song! If song is what you want ... ciao baby! YES will never be for you except for 2 or 3 songs! ... and honestly? ... that's not progressive at all! |
Hmm, how come then that Close to the Edge is my favorite album of all time and The Yes Album and Fragile are among my favorites as well? It seems that what you're trying to do is argue that because TFTO doesn't follow the traditional form of pop music, it must therefore represent some form of progress, which automatically makes it better. By that logic, I would have to dislike everything that adheres to the standards of pop music and like everything that doesn't. At this point, I would be judging the value of music not by its content but by its form.
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Moogtron III
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 26 2005
Location: Belgium
Status: Offline
Points: 10616
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Posted: September 27 2012 at 07:43 |
hellogoodbye wrote:
Sorry, but I can't do a link between this album and the music of Beethoven, Mahler or Wagner. |
No, I can understand that, since TFTO doesn't have much bombast. Rather it takes its time (probably too much according to Rick Wakeman) and stretches out, is rich in its abundance of melodies and different atmospheres rather than that it's an overpowering explosion of sounds. It floats more than that it erupts. I's more like a lifestyle record as Steve Howe once said.
The link could be in the fact that they wanted something that was even bigger than their magnum opus Close To The Edge. With Beethoven, Mahler and Wagner I see a similar kind of ambition of doing something on a grander scale.
But soundwise and compositionwise... it's something else completely, I agree. Melodies do come back, but it's something else than the Wagnerian Leitmotifs. Maybe a parallel with Mahler in his first symphony: I remember all kinds of themes coming by, being juxtaposed and connected. But I'm no real expert on any classical composer.
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