TORMATO

Yes' entry into the rather depressing 1978 sweepstakes among long time prog groups is situated in the middle of the pack. Flashes of former brilliance are not hard to find, but they may be somewhat outnumbered by failed attempts to adapt to the scene inundated by punk and then new wave.

The album begins relatively strongly with "Future Times/Rejoice" and "Don't Kill the Whale". Particularly in the latter, all members rock out convincingly in an ode to conservation. Wakeman even approximates whale sounds on his solo, and if you were studying biology back then you would have been impressed that the group at least knows the scientific classification for these beasts. One of the other strengths of "Tormato" is the variety of tempos, with pleasing mellower cuts like the entirely acoustic "Madrigal" and the romantic "Onward" contrasting with the generally high pitched activity.

On the downsides, some of the melodies could use a little work, like "Release Release" and "Approaching UFO", and "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" should have stayed instrumental throughout its length, as it simply doesn't stand as a song. Also, and this is sort of an insult and a compliment to both bands, but the tinny synthesizer slapstick, apart from sounding uncomfortably like contemporary STYX, remind me of ELOY on their backsliding 1983 album "Performance". In other words, it took ELOY 5 more years to succumb to the vagaries of the times, but when they did they did so by adapting 1978 YES!

Not quite the attack of the killer tormatoes some would have you believe, this YES release is a very weak 3 star effort.