TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS | Mint (M) Mint (M) Get Cheap Vinyl

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Tracklist
A        The Revealing Science Of God
B        The Remembering
C        The Ancient
D        Ritual

Recorded At – Morgan Studios
Marketed By – Rhino Entertainment Company
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Copyright © – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Lacquer Cut At – Optimal Media GmbH
Pressed By – Optimal Media GmbH – BD11055
Coordinator – Brian Lane (3)
Design [Cover], Artwork By [Illustration] – Roger Dean (4)
Lacquer Cut By – MK (11)
Music By – Yes
Performer – Alan White, Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe
Producer – Eddie Offord*, Yes
Tape Op – Guy Bidmead
Words By – Anderson*, Howe*

Yes: Jon Anderson (vocals); Steve Howe (vocals, guitar); Chris Squire (vocals, bass); Rick Wakeman (keyboards); Alan White (drums). Recorded at Morgan Studios, London, England. Digitally remastered by Joe Gastwirt. Four decades after its release, this is still the most controversial record in Yes' output. Tales from Topographic Oceans was the place where Yes either fulfilled all of the promise shown on their previous five albums or slid off the rails in a fit of artistic hubris, especially on the part of lead singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe, who dominated the composition credits here. Actually, the group probably did a bit of both here across 80 minutes of music on a fully packed double-LP set; the group's musical ambitions were obvious on its face, as it consisted of four long songs (really suites) each taking up a side of an album, and each longer than the previous album's side-long "Close to the Edge." And Tales had a jumping-off point that was as far advanced in complexity and density as Close to the Edge had been out in front of its predecessor, Fragile, -- and all of it made The Yes Album seem like basic rock & roll. Anderson, by virtue of his voice and lyrics, is the dominant personality on Tales, and his fascination with Eastern religion is fully manifest, as never before (or since). Confronted by song titles such as "The Revealing Science of God," and a concept derived from the Buddhist Shastric scriptures, the casual listener might have felt in need of both a running start and a sheet of footnotes: Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman clearly felt something along those lines, as it was while making this record that he decided to exit the group. And, yet, Tales contains some of the most sublimely beautiful musical passages ever to come from the group, and develops a major chunk of that music in depth and degrees in ways that one can only marvel at, though there's a big leap from marvel to enjoy. If one can grab onto it, Tales is a long, sometimes glorious musical ride across landscapes strange and wonderful, thick with enticing musical textures; it offers the Yes fan the chance to be a true "astral traveler." Apart from one percussion break by Alan White that doesn't come off (if there had to be a Yes album with a percussion solo, why couldn't it have come along when Bill Bruford was in the band?), the music never falls flat, and it's a pity that Wakeman couldn't appreciate the richness and vitality he brought to the album. And Anderson and Howe get to work in an extraordinarily wide range of musical voices. In another reality, perhaps the gorgeous, folk-like passages on Tales would have spawned songs of four or five minutes, but here they are, woven into these long-form pieces, and if one can take the plunge into these particular sonic oceans, and comfortably stay under long enough, it's a journey that will reward. But it's not a trip for everyone -- or even every Yes fan -- to take, especially not too soon after discovering the album. ~ Bruce Eder

• Media Condition: Mint (M)
• Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: ROCK
• RSD Date: n/a
• Format Type: LP
• Released: 07/29/2016