Comments for Yes, Tales From Topographic Oceans

Well... The most controversial album from their Golden Age ('70-'79). I'm inclined to stand definitely on Rick Wakeman's side on this. It's not wrong at all the idea of 4 full-lenght suites, but I think they have partly lost this ambitious challenge, mainly because of Jon Anderson and his "...great possibilities of major scales..." The music is far from the epics "Close to the edge" and "Gates of Delirium", and doesn't sound able to keep the listener's attention alive all the time... great melodic lines (hear Ritual), good interlocking among the songs, religious emphasis, but nothing tremendously catching, at last. I'm not sure that if one likes Relayer, he so easily likes Topographic Oceans, too. GL

GREAT, my favorite from Yes!!

INSPIRATION is what "YES" is all about, the great unique rock and roll is a bonus and one of the manifestations of that inspiration. Like "Yes", my primary source of inspiration is the GREAT SPIRIT potentially inside all of us. Among my finest influences in reaching some of that spiritual potential have been the great rock & roll group "Yes", and the spiritually inspiring books written by "KEN CAREY". How do you rate inspiration, "Yes" & "Ken Carey" get 10's on my subjective chart. -Ed McConnell

I love Relayer, but not this. It's okay for fans, as its an example of the musicians stretching out (and stretching all of the music out as well) and providing a certain ambiance but it's not really in line with the more intricate and developed music which preceded this and came after this.

I tried hard to like this pretentious double album. I heard it several times alone in the dark, sometimes even with headphones. But I still find it as boring as on the first listening. Some nice melodies (Nous Sommes Du Soleil, Leaves Of Green) are stretched to unbearable length. Nothing of the greatness of "Close To The Edge", "Awaken", "The Gates Of Delirium" or "Endless Dream" (Raise deflector shields!).Even as a single album this would have been too long.

This album is the Ÿes's "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Genesis). jcvzla

I only glanced at others' comments on "Tales," because I have strong feelings about it. I think this double-album is/was a true work of musical art. You'd be hard-pressed to find this kind of effort from any other rock musicians. Yes (no pun intended), other groups have done double-albums, but has anyone been able to create such a lengthy piece with such imagination, energy, complexity while basing it solely on four themes? If you read the liner notes, you'll see just how strong Jon Anderson's (and to a degree Steve Howe's) spirituality has played a part in his music. It's funny that Rick Wakeman's dissatisfaction with this album was so strong and highly publicized, since he obviously has since turned around on the subject -- they played "Revealing Science of God" at the San Luis Obispo concerts in March '96, and this appears on the Keys to Ascension Vol. 1 album. It's wonderful, as is "Tales." There's so much music here! - Thanks.

I have mixed feelings about "Tales". The energy on this album was low whereas the filler was high. Its no surprise that Wakeman was upset by this "opus". Ideas should be worked on in a practice studio, not a recording studio. But overall, for an album that was "winged" it is not terribly bad. "The Revealing Science Of God" is a great brain massage. "Ritual" is an interesting musical story. The rest is forgettable ramblings from the land of the lost. "Tales" is pleasant fare but is not something intended to 'Awaken' (pun intended) or keep one awake.

This is My MOST favorite YES album. The second one is RELAYER. Listening this music in the silent morning is great.

This is My MOST favorite YES album. The second one is RELAYER. Listening this music in the silent morning is great.

Absolutely, my favorite Yes studio cd! It is still as amazing to me now as it was when I first heard it over 16 years ago. A cd which becomes better and better, like wine over time! True, it may have seemed a bit pretentious, but overall wow! some truly amazing music can be found throughout! My second favorite Yes cd! It rates a 9/10!

my personal favorite Yes album, and in my opinion the most beautiful 80 minutes of prog rock i''ll ever hear. I''ve always wondered how it would''ve turned out if Bill didn''t quit, because on this album Alan is competent but not really spectacular, which Bill had become over the course of the 1st 5 Yes albums. The lyrics here are Jon at his most positive, and most obscure. Unlike Fragile, the solo excursions here (Steve in "The Ancient", Rick in "The Remembering") work incredibly well at showcasing their skills, and there''s not a dull moment AT ALL during their beautiful instumental breaks. Truly a flawless album.

This is the most progressive of any Yes album, bar none.A two disc set, one song per side (for those of us whoremember vinyl :-)), it was an opus. Best listened to inthe dark with perhaps a color organ or black light. Whichis not to say it`s disco - far from it. This work is atrip in the most metaphysical sense of the word. If youliked Relayer, you`ll love this. Strongly recommended forthose who enjoy the "old" Yes.Rick Schofield

It's 2:08 A.M., and I'm dousing the lights and putting on what has been one of my favorite albums since I first heard it in 1974 . This 2-disc set is for experiencing , not analyizing . It's been called everything from " Brilliant " to " Pompous Tripe " and everything in between , but if you want an example of a great artist ( Yes ) pouring out all thier soul and talent , this album is great....and I can think of no better CD to thread through the night to the dawn with.............

I love Tales - all four sides. I can see the problems people may have with this album, but I think it's a great four sides. It could have been much better I admit if they'd practiced the material more and given it more time to develop as well as recorded it properly. I find the recording to be lacking sometimes. That said, one of my favorite, classic Yes albums is what it amounts to.

When I first heard this, at 14, I was overwhelmed enough to feel that the song worked as a unity. I still feel some parts are absolutely beautiful and others intriguing as soundscapes (and I *love* the colouring of this whole album with mellotron, "windy" sounds and unpredictable rhythms) but these days I feel that the part from, roughly, "Send out poison/cast-iron leader" to the return of "Getting over overhanging trees" is disjointed, if at some points beautiful, and that it should have been welded into another song.

Tales from Topographic Oceans is the only true rock symphony, composed in a thoroughly classical manner, and complete with recurring themes, intros, expositions, developments, codas, etc. Whereas virtually all other "classic" progressive rock of the early 70s falls short with respect to form (by either not breaking out of song form, or settling for a more baroque style of short but not really related material collected into a longer whole, simply noodling without any thematic glue), Tales grapples with (and in my opinion completely succeeds with) the longer symphonic form of the 19th century. People have called this album "overblown", "pretentious", "padded", etc. (and, in fact, Rick Wakeman himself recently told me that his original opinion of the album as beautiful bits connected with needless filler still stands). However, they're all wrong. Just listen to it! The guy who said that Tales gets better with age like fine wine was right on the money! Many classical symphonies are boring, too, if one is not in the right frame of mind. Music in long form such as this simply can't all be completely INTENSE, all the time. This sort of music has to breathe! This is not music for people with short attention spans (such as critics, apparently)! Tales represented rock music trying to in the context of the symphonic tradition of 19th (and 20th) century Europe. The world just wasn't ready for it. However, seeing as how the world hasn't really forgotten it (based on a cursory websearch, the title pops up in all sorts of unexpected places) and also seeing as how the new remastered edition (which sounds brilliant, BTW) is selling like hotcakes, I think that one day a larger public may just realize what it had back in 1974.