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Originally Posted by xoverkillx
I'm huge on Yes. So far I only have "Close To the Edge" and "Relayer", but every time I shop for CD's I consider buying another one of theirs...
What's your view on "Tales from Topographic Oceans"??
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TFTO is the most controversal album Yes have ever made, partly because of the harsh criticism it got from the general public, critics and rock n roll purists who would eventually become part of the 70s punk rock movement.... The reasons many people don't like the album is because they consider it extremely overlong, boring, very self indulgent and just plain weird for the sake of being just plain weird, which is what i thought of it the first time i heard it, but now my opinion of it is way more positive.... Being able to really enjoy this album takes a lot of patience, some people are either not up to it or they don't see the point.
It's also a album that even the biggest Yes fan's are divided by, some love it, some hate it, Rick Wakeman himself had a lot of problems with it and it led to his departure from the band, and of course there's that now legendary tale of when he refused to play the material one night at a concert and instead proceeded to eat some indian curry he ordered onstage while everyone else ignored him and kept playing.
I myself had to listen to it several times actually to
get it, no pot required (though it may help for some), the music has gotten me addicted and i listen to it a lot, i understand the theme better though the lyrics are still confusing.
It is a flawed album, but it has a lot of great moments that (for me at least) make up for it , and Anderson and Howe especially put a lot of care into the compositions, the only track i really dont like too much is
The Ancient.
I think it is a very underrated album, and it's significance in modern music is much much greater than people give it credit for, it did play a big role in the developing punk movement (though unintentionally) and it's still influencial to a lot of prog bands... To me, good art challenges people and people will have a different opinion of it... Which is exactly what Yes did, and why they get so much disrespect for it by the media even today is just very unfair.
And regardless of what you will think of it, you will still find it pretty clear that they really were trying to do something totally different.