TORMATO

Well, I really don´t agree with the low grades most of people here gave Tormato. I remember when it came out and I just loved the album then, as most of my friends did. Today I hear it again and I still think it´s fine 70´s Yes. Ok, ok, it is nothing like their classic trilogy (The Yes Album - Fragile - Close To The Edge), but I like it more than Tales From Topographic Oceans or even Relayer. At least it is not as pretentious and unreasonably complicated as those two mastodons.

Like the album before, Going For The One, the group seemed to be looking for a more simple approach to music and in my opinion they quite succeeded. There are a bunch of fine songs here and most of them work pretty well after all those years. It is only a pity that Anderson and Wakeman left not long after Tormato was completed. I wonder how good Drama could have been WITH them... But., alas, this was not to be. Anyway, Tormato is still classic Yes with all its glory with shorter songs. The very last Yes studio album that sounds to me like the classic progressive Yes I knew and loved when I was a teenager. Of course they´d release some good stuff after that, but things were never the same again.

Highlights: Future Times, Don´t Kill The Whale (always a favorite), On The Silent Wings Of Freedom.

Contrary to what some reviewer said, I like to hear this album from start to finish. If not all the songs are of the same category as others, there is no real weak track either. Even the somewhat silly (and nice!) Circus Of Heaven or the romantic Onward have their merit and still sound good to me

Tormato was released at a time when prog music was treated as a joke by critics, press and general public. It was a bold move and they came out with their heads held high. I loved it then, I loved it today. If you´re a real Yes fan, this is a must have.

Rating: maybe it should get 3.5 stars compared to their classic stuff, really, but I´ll round up to four to counterbalance the much unfair beatings this album had received here.