Listening to YES: Tales From Topographic Oceans Side 4 

Thanks Jim. It takes time. 48 years I’ve been listening to this symphony. Side 1 was always a masterpiece. Side 2 had a slower consciousness. Side 3 was padded with random ideas until Leaves of Green appeared at the end. Side 4 was a mental clusterbang of deja vu . Now after all these years and listenings I wouldn’t touch a note, a measure, a word. Even Mr Wakeman has come around. I am ready to be GOING FOR THE ONE.

'Too many notes, dear Mozart, too many notes' is what Emperor Joseph II supposedly said after the first performance of the Entfuhrung aus dem Serail in Vienna's old Burgtheater. Mozart's reply was: 'Just as many as necessary, Your Majesty.

While The Ritual is playing I would like to take this time to thank Jim for taking the time not only to listen to Tales, but also for sharing his thoughts and expertise with all of us. I really appreciate it. I believe Jim has become a YES fan and I know there will be many more reactions to come. Can't wait for what's to come. So many more incredible albums to be enjoyed with Jim! So once again I thank you my friend and may all your journeys be pleasant ones.😎

It took me YEARS to truly appreciate the full album. It's one of my favorites now and yes Sides 1 and 4 are the best but I love the whole (padded) album.

Jon is the only singer who gets away with singing 'at all' 11 times in a row. Great closing song of this album.

My final comment on Tales. This goes out to all YES fans. Doesn't matter if you like one song or all four, TFTO is a phenomenal album by a phenomenal band. Not only my opinion but from music critics for decades, Tales From Topograghic Oceans is a prog masterpiece and has been for nearly 50 years. FOREVER YES!!!❤😎

Alan White is an absolute powerhouse on this track. Such an underrated drummer.

The dvd YES SYMPHONIC LIVE where YES plays with an orchestra in Amsterdam. The Ritual is a MUST see. PHENOMENAL!!!😎

I think what many don't realize or think about is this is Alan's first Yes album which is original to him. Having come from the plastic ono band to Yes was such a change in music and style...shows just how good he reslly was. He had big shoes to fill with Bills departure, but he more than owned that seat for 49 yesrs. Rip Alan.

In 1973 this album became my Bible and I played it a multitude of times. I love it and it never gets old. Thanks for choosing this Jim.

The finale! Here we go Jim. God I love this band!!😎

One of the three endings of YES songs that i love so much. "Würm" from "Starship Trooper", the last 10 minutes of "The Gates Of Delirium" and "Nous Sommes Du Soleil" from "The Ritual". Absolute unbelieveable great music.

Sat in a field in Reading August 1975 overwhelmed at this magical symphony ' We must have waited all our lives for this moment '. Jim, you're a legend 🎶

Just remember that this is the first album that Alan White played on as a contributor to the writing.

The more you listen, the more you appreciate the space and time used by Yes.

When the band finished the album and did all the mixdowns, they were in a hurry to get the 2-channel masters to the pressing plant, bleary-eyed after the all night session. Getting ready to pile into a car, Chris placed the master tapes on the car roof while fiddling to find his keys. They drove off with the tapes on the roof. In heavy traffic, they turned a corner and the tapes slid off the roof, with a loaded double decker bus not far behind them. Anderson jumped out of the car and stopped the omnibus byy a sheer act of will, picked up the tapes and all proceeded on their ways. So this music was very nearly run over by a bus.

like Mozart said to the king of Austria"what notes would you like me to remove"

When this side starts I'm like "did I ever like this side?" And then I remember it's second best to side one for me. But that side one is a huge favorite.

Saw yes for.thefirst time in Cardiff capital 1975 and this piece of music has stayed with me

You can sort of see how "Ritual" provided the blueprint for "Gate of Delirium": big setup -> manic chaos -> peaceful resolution. Plus a great Chris Squire solo! And yeah, Tales is a LOT to take in on first sitting. It's understandably very daunting and took most of us many, many listens to fully digest it all. There's enough meat on the bones that it stays with you and you'll find yourself enjoying it more each time.

Hi Jim. Side 1 and Side 4 have been the strongest musically for the past decades according to a lot of people. My first Yes concert was the Tales of Topographic Oceans Tour in Southampton England.. I can only hope that you get more and more enjoyment from the Yes catalugue as you go through it. This will please me no end.....another Yes fan xx

Thank you for this reaction. Haven't heard Tales a long time now and always i stuck in Ritual, which is the best song on this album and one of the best Yes ever written. Greetings from Germany

Fantastic track from a brilliant album. The whole album definitely needs multiple plays to fully appreciate the musicality on it

Ritual is a fantastic song to see them play live. Jon is an integral part of the keyboards and percussion when being performed live. No time for tea!

When they did this live, during the percussion section, they rolled out a double tympani and Squire played that

This is and will always remain my desert album. I hope you sit and listen to this, away from these cameras, follow the storyline in the lyrics, and hopefully find more. Thanks for sharing your journey.

This was my first yes album, which I bought on 8-track at age 13 while looking for something that might sound like Nektar. At the time I didn't respond to it at all. It wasn't until many years later, listening to it four times in a row on a long drive when I had nothing else in the car, that it became one of my favorites. Just as with you, Jim, it took me longest to warm to sides 2 and 3.

Said it before and I’ll say it again: Tales is my favorite album ever!!! There is NO FAT on Tales. Every note matters…

I grew up with that album, 4 SIDES, 4 SONGS!!! LOVE THE COVER ART!!!! ITS THERE BEST ONE I THINK!!!!!👍

Based on this you are going to freaking love Awaken aswell!

There is a beautiful rendition of RITUAL on the YES SYMPHONIC LIVE concert video DVD or bluray. You need to see them playing it to truly enjoy it to the max. and the sound quality is excellent. Just mind blowing.

CHRIS Squire makes that bass talk..👍

12:30 begins the part of the song in which each player in the band gets to shine. First Chris on bass, then Steve on lead guitar, then Alan on drums, and finally Rick on synth effects. (After Jon has already had a vocal workout, of course.) And most of it is in a major key, expressing the track's sun-shiny positivity, which is harder to pull off in rock music than doing it all in dramatic minor chords. Until Rick comes in and makes it all dark and scary, that is, before the sun finally bursts through again. The placid end part is our musical reward for making it through such a difficult musical journey, although things turn ominous yet again at the very end. I do agree that you are being utterly sacrilegious in your low estimation of sides 2 and 3. But overall I enjoyed your taking on this monumental double album.

This is one of those albums that grows on you over the decades. I first heard it in 1973 and loved the first 2 sides but felt sides 3 and 4 were full of padding. I now listen to the whole album in one hit and it never ceases to amaze me. You must take into account that I was into the Stones before this and Yes were breaking new ground. It must be so different for someone like yourself going back in time and discovering this album with about 50 years worth of new music genres after it to draw a comparison with, we didn't have that.

I am a huge Yes Fan and I love this album I have never understood the reaction from other Yes fans on it. Realy enjoyed your reactions to it Jim. And all the other Yes Reactions.

Masters of transition and contrast.

DON'T FORGET YES' A M E R I C A COVER on the *Yesterdays* album. With Tales, you're already past the *Fragile/The Yes Album* time when it was recorded (featured Bill Bruford). It's 100% Pure YES Ear Candy!!

19:50 Check out their live performances of each of these tracks. Jon is quite busy on this track, but often he just sways back and forth &/or plays his tambourine or strums an acoustic guitar. That's usually what he does 🙂

Thank you for sharing. Love the music for what it is, something different for each of us given by artists who loved and enjoyed their craft. I always try to keep judgment out of the art...just enjoy...still a fan

Ritual is my favorite yes song you must give it a listen on Yesshows live at cobo Hall, it is the best rendition I've ever heard

I'll apologize up front if this gets long-winded... I've been a Yes fan starting in '71 when my older brother came home for Thanksgiving from college with Fragile. I believe Yes Album through Relayer to be the Golden Age. Tales is my all time favorite, was so with first listen, was blown away by the complexity, always get something new with each listen, which side I like the best has changed several times, but side 4 is the least favored. To all who proclaim Close the best or Relayer or Tales or whichever, I like to think all of them akin to Symphonies, ala Beethoven. Close is like the 5th, dynamic, pulsing, adventurous; Relayer like the 9th epic, sublime, all encompassing; and Tales is like the 6th, brooding, melancholic, pastoral, chamber like, a series of tone poems. And maybe the Yes album like the 3rd, experimental and a harbinger of things to come. Funny thing, if you order them up properly, they occur in proper sequence just like Beethoven. And thanks to Jim for listening to them all in order! And reacting honestly. Hope you give sides 2 and 3 more listens and don't be surprised if your opinion changes. You may come round to thinking they're just right. These guys were always editing...no padding in any of these songs. And they were light-years ahead of anyone else at the time.

This is an album that you have to invest in . The more you listen the more becomes apparent. It is a daunting first listen and by the end you remember nothing that happened . After a few runs through things become clearer.

This song has a beautiful moment where the guitar pierces though the cacophony of the drums like a sunbeam through storm clouds. You have to give side 2 a couple more (dozen?) listens and you will likely get how great it is.

Jim… I think you will enjoy the next album, “Going For The One”! It is more song than sound driven like the previous two albums. However, there is one song off of the Yesterday’s album that you haven’t heard yet that is a must listen. Yes did a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s song America and put it on the Yesterday’s album it be worth it just to do a comparison

More echoes of King Crimson in the massed-drums section, esp. when Alan gets the VCS3 treatment. Live versions of this, as Jim probably knows by now, contain much more quoting/recapitulating.

Way to go. How many other rock bands ask you to listen to a 2 hour work divided in fourths? Tull gave an hour in halves, but this is twice Tull. If all rock songs were an half hour in length, we would not feel the pressure we feel when "challenged" by these outliers. I remember several times during the reading and listening to Finnegans Wake, where I just wanted it to be over, as if having it finished was the point. Alan Watts has some cool words on on music and life, which has been made into at least one RU-vid video, on the subject. "Where does reason stop, and killing just take over? Does a lamb cry out before we shoot it dead?" There will be passages that stay with you always, because we are of the sun. Now that it's all over and done...take the roundabouts in and around the lake, have a spot of tea at Betty's in Harrogate, give my placenames a shout. Then get on back for some more outstanding music and reviews. Cheers!

Seeing Ritual played live is an incredible experience, pretty much the whole band are on percussion at one point and with Jon’s voice coming in on Nous Somme Du Soliel it’s fantastic.

Well done Jim and no Jon doesn't go off for a cup of tea, having been fortunate enough to have seen them many many many times over the last 50 years. Jon is very involved, you will need to watch a DVD . Great show again Jim.

Aha! I like the way you caught that flash of riff from Close to the Edge there, Jim. 😁

Hi Jim. Just wanted to let you know, I watched Chris Squire play out with his pick, the repetitious almost accompany to this song. He never missed a note. Phenomenal. I do believe there are also some live vids of this on RU-vid. What an exceptional musician (not just a bass player)

Hi Jim, credit where credits due, you've gone there and looks like you'll come back so hats off to you mate. I reckon that given 40 more years you'll still be listening to this band 'cause if you get it you keep it. FYI on stage during the solos, Jon can usually be seen to one side of the drum riser with his harp, vibes, tom toms? and a few other bits and bobs on stands which he strums, tinkles and bangs away on where appropriate throughout the song. Fantastic reaction as usual.🙂👍👍👍

Congratulations. You made it to the end! Really enjoyed watching your reactions. There is a fantastic live version of Ritual on the Yesshows album. Tales can be a difficult album to get into but I recommend perseverance. It took a while with me and then it finally clicked and now I rate it along side Close To The Edge and Relayer as my favourite Yes albums. It would be interesting to hear how you feel about this album in a year or two after repeated listens. Alan's contribution on this album is great...

Fantastic Jim, i have always felt that if yes were the beatles, then this track is that influence, lots of moments from the 60s, and yes were much influenced by the fab 4,.

Glad you approved Jim, it’s one of the best pieces ever recorded. IMHO. 😉 You need to see them play it live Jim, both Chris and Jon are very active during the drumming part. Please will you do Dreamtime, from their Magnification album. Chris and Alan are on fire on it, pure energy. 👍

When he's not singing, Jon does actually play tambourine, and other instruments; percussion, acoustic guitar, and harp, to name a few. This album has always been one of my faves, but I can't wait for the next two!

When this album first came out my impressions were exactly as your own, as an overall work it was good but a bit rambling which hides its true greatness. But it continually gets better as thew years go by and you can appreciate how it all hangs together as a tapestry and how good it really is. That said, the first half of side 2 does drag a bit too long but then it depends on your mood at the time of listening. You need to see Yes performing side 4 live in Yes Symphonic 2001, which opens up entire new levels of brilliance.

Glad you gave sides 2 and 3 another chance, the more you recognise the themes the better they get. I can hardly wait for Going For The One now.

You have to relisten this whole ! To really appreciate it. Thank you again. Live the part with the drum solo, they all play on it.

Before you move on to Relayer and Going for the One, two of my absolute favorites, I'd love to get your take on Squire's Fish Out of Water. It came out in 1975, kind of in between Yes albums. And don't forget Anderson, Wakeman, Brueford and Howe. It may not be Yes canon but I count it as a Yes album and one of the best at that.

Hey Jim just watched all four reactions in a row. You did good kid. Drama!

I remember buying & listening to a bunch of yes in the summer of 81 trying to find tempus fugit (not knowing the name) buying everything yes in sight. This is a beast of an album. Only later learning to listen to Chris's bass through all of their stuff. Awesome trip down memory lane... keep it up bro!

For the die hard Yes fan, this album and Close To The Edge are the masterpieces. Relayer as well. Represented their peak. The Yes Album and Fragile are of course massively important in their growth, but Tales and Edge just peak! Keep listening my friend...each time you listen you'll enjoy it more and more.

In answer to the question you posed toward the end: Jon plays keys, guitar and percussion; not all at the same time. And of course when he is not doing that, he’s levitating.

I've always thought that if Yes released Side 1 and 4 as a single album, it would have been great. Not that I'd want to do without the other stuff.

@JimNewstead Good Jim ! reconciled with TFTO ! You've seen the magic tricks on the guitar, the intertwined themes! A guitar shaman ! Another trick... I'm a french guy... 🔆 "Nous sommes du Soleil" means "We are from the Sun" and means too " We are made of Sun, we are pieces of Sun" so let's shine

I didn’t really like ritual as much as The Revealing Science of God and The Remembering but I’ve listened to Ritual so many times and now it is definitely my favorite track in the whole album

WE RECEIVE ALL WE VENTURE TO GIVE Glad you dig this side. That ending... Gets me every time

This album apparently got panned by the critics when it came out. I had the album , ( being a Yes fan ) side 1 has the one of the best openers of a track /music piece ever. Love side one . Ritual , I think is the one they performed live , mostly, I believe. Sometimes It's sounds like it's defiantly of it's time , ( 70's concept album etc) and at the same time it has a timeless quality . It's one of the albums that I can dip into now and again , and find new things within it . But you can here there was some padding out going on .

Excellent review. You got it right sides 1 and 4 are great. 2 and 3 are as you described. Remember to review Yessongs which is a great live album

The drumming!

Beautiful melodies. And more inspirational lyrics… "Open doors we find our way… Constant doors will open eyes [open your mind]." Our life seems like, life seems like a fight, fight, fight [when we work] - yes, sometimes it does. “As we try… we receive all we venture to give.” In their song, “The End,” The Beatles also wrote, “The love you take is equal to the love you make.” How true. More inspiration: You’ll make more friends in life, “As clearer companions shall call to be near you” This song stresses the good times and positivity (the name of the group is “Yes” after all). - As life seems like a fight sometimes, we learn to play. Play is good and gets us through our work. “Nous sommes du soleil” in English means “We are from the sun.” Science has shown us we are made of ‘sun stuff.” Some of the music at the end reminds me of a sleigh ride in the snow. We all go 'home' in the end. Thanks again, Jim.

Jim you will be so happy this is the best song on the album Squire's out front on this ! RIP Nu Sommes Du Soleil "we are of the sun" beautiful song ! if my memory is correct Squire played the tympani drums live.

A difficult album to get used to, but one of their best. A Masterpiece for certain. It was great live witht Engineer Eddie Offord running the mix. Not often the producer does the tour.

Tales from Topographic Oceans is a phenomenal album. It's not for everyone and it's not even for all YES fans, and that's perfectly fine. I love it. Most YES fans love it. If you love it, that's all that matters, but if you don't love it I'll send John Cleese to your house and he'll turn you into a newt 😛

IMO, it's a bit much to think you can "get" such a complex work on first listen Jim. (Although that IS the format of these reactions! How paradoxical of me to both listen and criticize...) I personally grow to love musical pieces over time, especially in classical, jazz, and world music genres... Why? Cuz there's just too much new (to me) in the tunes, instruments, sounds, ideas, etc. I predict that, if you continue to listen to this lp's 4 tracks, you'll find patterns and progressions that increasingly make intuitive sense Jim. Eventually, you'll be hard-pressed to find any "padding" to cut! It would be like cutting Beethoven's 9th IMO.

I adore yes Every album has merit But tales for me has ritual and revealing...other find all 4 sides great...I still find there's padding.

jON PLAYS a percussive setup and has a keyboard as well

When you finish your current crop of Yes albums, you have to buy Yesshows, and react to the live versions of Gates of Delerium and Ritual, they are, IMO, better than the studio versions.

I agree about side 2 but there is some damn good playing on side 3 and it will grow on you.

I liked part 2 overall more than I thought I would though. Part 1 is my fave. So a little improvement there for me if only slightly....

Thanks for taking the time. The album will grow on you If you are willing to invest some hours. The Remebering is great for winding down.

You mention Jon having a cuppa. I think it was during a performance of the album when Rick had a curry at one point.

Jim now that you have listened to the whole album I'll give my thoughts. Sides 1 & 4 are my favorites. I've seen them do all of them live with the exception of side 3. Ritual is outstanding live. When just about all of them play drums it's outrageous. But I love the Revealing live too. Jon plays acoustic guitar tambourine and some drums. Thanks for doing this!

Spot on Jim.. 1and 4 were the ones played most often and great live..

After this you could try The Rotters Club by Hatfield and the North. It's one of the best prog albums ever and has to be listened in two parts, as you seem to be doing, which is great. The best (prog)albums loose a lot if you listen them piece by piece.

Saw YES - 'Close To The Edge ' tour1973 in Toronto , finest concert I ever saw . But also saw the YES ' Topographic Oceans' tour , and to tell the truth it seemed like fodder for the film 'Spinal Tap' , all kinds of plastic gizmos ( props ) littering the stage , very disjointed music - and that is how it was reviewed. Most people felt that they had truly become 'pretentious ' -- Imagine my surprise when decades later many have considered this album their finest moment ! There are a few bits , here and there, that I now like (parts of 'Ritual' for example ) but to me the best thing about this album was the art work on the cover .

I go back and forth between Ritual and Revealing Science being my favourite track from this album. I always wish I could have seen one of the great Yes lineups play Ritrual live. I did get to see them Revealing in 1997 and it was excellent. It recieved a long standing ovation afterwards. I look forward to see you reacting to Going For the One. The closing track, Awaken kind of revisits some of the ideas of sides two and three of Tales and improves upon them imo.

Thanks for this Jim, look forward to the next one.

Great work(s) Jim! Really great! Considering it took me many listens to get comfortable with sides 1, 2 and 4 (never could accept 3 and this revisit just confirms it) you had an instant appreciation and critical response which was aligned to my thoughts as a Yes fan. Side 4 has hooks aplenty and stands up well so to my mind, editing would produce an album with about 3 sides of excellent material. As double albums go it's typical - not enough real good material, probably Songs in the Key of Life comes closest to the perfect double and Quadrophenia is close.

Loved your reaction, not one of my favourite albums of theirs because it is so demanding but in terms of the songwriting skills, artwork and performance it is incredible, it's just hard to listen to the whole thing in 1 sitting but I love all 4 of the songs I really can't wait to hear your thoughts on Going For The One, that was my first Yes album and it kinda blends the more rockier Yes sound with the earlier sweet calmness - Jon's vocals on it are some of his best! Yessongs and Yesshows are definite must listens btw, Yesshows actually has an even better version of Ritual in my opinion, Yessongs blew my mind when I first heard it, the energy is out of this world and Steve Howe really works that guitar to it's limits

You're right about where the title for "Relayer" came from, the lyrics from Side 2.

Imagine Tales and Brain Salad Surgery in the same year.

Your additional comment about listening to this album 3 more times...it's taken me 48 years to get to liking this. I agree - sides 1 and 4 are the strongest...2 and 3 could be chopped in half without doing too much damage to the overall feel of the album. There is some beauty in here, and a stab at some more realistic lyrics. It's noticeable that the better parts are where Chris is given more freedom - he's very restrained through a lot this - and Steve also gets more expression...some of his acoustic work is lovely. There are some sections that sound Mediaeval...and I love the tribal drum section. But, all in all, many parts of this just don't go anywhere - Yes are renowned for searing guitar and keyboards, and sharp transitions...much of these are noticeable by their absence, and I can see why this album had divided Yes fans. However - most bands don't produce anything of the complexity and beauty of Yes' music so I feel the odd lapse is forgivable!

the first decade of its existence I liked side 1 most, the 2nd decade it was side 4, now since nearly 3 decades I prefer Side 2. You got to listen more often to side 2 it is absolutly great

You should hear this done live with a full orchestra backing them. YES Symphonic Live

The part from around 15:20 on always blows my mind

Full effect when you crank it up

What's special about this album is that it doesn't reveal everything on first listen. Perhaps unlike a lot of other Yes material. I had it playing in my car for six months. There's stuff I definitely don't like, Squires bass hook on the first track, Howe's slow ascending solo which sounds like he's practising a new scale on the third side. But by 1973, the music scene was changing quick. The big batters were the jazz fusion crowd led by Mahavishnu Orchestra. With their next Relayer Yes were flexing some new jazz muscles too. Personally I'm pleased it's a long listen, rather than one condensed single LP.

amazing Album

The only way to describe this album is that they are 4 cosmic psychedelic sea shanties.