TORMATO

Now in 1978, veteran prog bands were proposed two choices: stay relevant and adapt or disappear!!Even YES one of the main prog band and the most successful one knew it was no longer the time to produce 3 songs album , not to mention 4 -20mn epics on a double album. So where do we go from here? We release TORMATO!!!

So what is there in ''Tormato''? a mixed bag of goodies , bad stuff and some average music. The longer track lasts less than 8 mns and almost all the tracks are in the 4-5 mns range; this is like going back to ''Time and a Word'' minus the innocence. And by looking at the cover artwork with futuristic graphics with our musicians all wearing sunglasses, you know you are not going to hear ''The revealing science of god'' part 2 anytime soon

What was side 1 definitely stinks , big time for some songs! Have you ever listened lately to ''Future Times'' and the horrible ''Release, Release'', maybe the worst YES song ever recorded (i know, many more to come!) Terrible songwriting, terrible WAKEMAN synths sounding and for the first time, The vocals of JON ANDERSON sound forced and are getting on my nerves rapidly. Only the ballad ''Madrigal' and to a lesser extent the cheesy ''don't kill the whale'' save the side 1 from total disaster.

Ex-Side 2 redeem the album somehow, but by no stretch it is a return to glory. Wakeman still sounds horrible on ''Arriving Ufo'', but Steve HOWE is still on fire and the song is not bad. After that comes a kiddie song where Jon ANDERSON is joined by.... his young son. Actually it's not bad, a little bit corny for sure, But ANDERSON delivers another beautiful melody , only him can come up with and the lush instrumentation brings some fresh air after a kind of rough beginning. And guess what, more good things to come: maybe the highlight of the album , a beautiful ballad ''Onward'' penned by CHRIS SQUIRE, almost as good as 'Soon'' from ''Relayer''.A real treat! The album ends with the longest track album ''on the silent wings of freedom'', not bad, not great YESsong, pleasant but you will never find this title on any YES 'best of'' albums. I don't if it's me but it sounds like ANDERSON, HOWE and WAKEMAN are forcing a little bit, they are sometimes trying too hard and they are way over the top by overplaying or singing. Sometimes less is more.

I have a problem giving stars to this album: 2 or 3 stars. As i have been maybe generous for some other recordings from YES, i'll go with 2 stars; we have to be honest; even when you like a band, you have to admit when it stinks. 2 stars.

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