Tormato - Yes - 1978
Personell:
Jon Anderson - Lead vocals.
Chris Squire - Bass, Backing vocals.
Steve Howe - Guitar, Mandolin, Backing vocals.
Rick Wakeman - Keyboards, Piano, Organ, Synthesizers, Harpischord.
Alan White - Drums, Percussion, Backing vocals, Vibraphone.
I thought it would be interesting to review a not so great album for once, and yeah, pretty odd that the first Yes album I'm gonna review is one that I don't think very highly of.
Well, to be honest, I don't think this is a HORRIBLE album like most people say, but for Yes it's a huge disappointment, this one is very much a mixed bag, of course there are still some of those moments of pure brilliance that for years have made Yes my favorite band, but there are also a lot of moments that that are just embarassing and a clear sign of a band struggling to stay relevant during the age of punk and new wave and not doing a very good job of it.
This album came out in 1978, when prog was already considered dead. After their 8th album, 1974's Relayer, Yes went AWOL for 3 years, then made a comeback in 77 with Going for the One, which marked the return of Rick Wakeman on keyboards, it was a modest success and overall a very solid and underrated album. It also saw the band heading into a more mainstream, arena rock direction.
Tormato expands on this, but unfortunately not very successfully. This was a band clearly at career crossroads, they were trying to please critics and mainstream musicgoers with more commercial sounds, hi fi production, less ambiguous lyrical subject matter and less of the over the top jams and elaborate epics that defined their previous efforts, while at the same time trying to cater to their own fanbase. In the end not very many people were pleased, listening to this record, you can really tell that Yes had no idea what they wanted to do, they threw in a lot more effects than usual, Squire uses reverb effects, synths and wah pedals that gives his bass playing a rather unique sound on this record, Howe and Wakeman also sound more polished than they usually do, but they seem to lack the power and energy they once had, Anderson's vocals sound rather weak and robotic on this record and it's as if he isn't really trying. They clearly didn't have much fun making this record and it shows.
Still, while this marked the first real lowpoint in their career, there are a few gems hidden within this clumsy, overproduced mess of an album. And since it's virtually impossible for progarchives to give cohesive, helpful reviews, especially for albums like this. I'll try my best to give you a fair, non fanboish perspective.
Future Times/Rejoice: While nothing mindblowing, this is a promising start. It starts off with a quite cheesy guitar/synth riff, which is thn joined with Squire's wah wah heavy bass and a millitary style drum beat from White. Anderson just does a lot of chanting here rather than singing. Nothing deep here but not bad, there's some nice jamming and of course some great (if overly glossy sounding) guitar and synth work by Howe and Wakeman. Not much else to say, a decent opener, moving on.
Don't Kill the Whale: Heh, when critics talk about how bloated and ridiculous Yes are, this is a song that always gets name dropped. This is a mind blowingly cheesy song, but no my lastfm isn't lying, it's one of my most played songs, it's a guilty pleasure, a song so horrible that it's actually kinda awesome.
It starts off with an unusually groovy guitar riff and funky bassline, and some sugary synths in the background. You heard Jon right, he is indeed singing about the sins of the whaling industry, pretty rare to have a Yes song where the lyrics actually make sense, but that's not really a good thing. Howe and Squire's great guitar and bass work really do their best to pull this one out of the sh*tter. But this song's most defining moment comes in at 2 minutes in when you're greeted with the cheesiest synthesizer solo in music history. But just when you think it couldn't get cheesier, it does, the song ends with Anderson chanting "Dig it, Dig it".
Yeah, that's my description but you still have to hear it to beleive it, and I dare you to try and listen to the whole song without chuckling once, it's impossible. It's a pretty bad song, yet I can't help but like it anyway.
Madrigal: You hear right, this song is a showcase for Wakeman's mad Harpischord skillz, along with some acoustic neo classical guitar by Howe, and Anderson singing "Sacred ships do sail the seventh age", yeah don't ask me what it means. Proggies seem to consider this to be one of the better tracks on the album, but that's just because they have a hard on for cheesy neo classical wank, avoid at all costs.
Release Release: FINALLY things are getting interesting, this is the first real high point on the album. This is a very fast paced song by Yes standards, complete with rockabilly guitars from Howe and some of the fastest basswork Squire has ever done, it sounds like they actually had fun making this one, even Anderson manages to show some passion. It still has that cheesy 70s arena rock sound (Wakeman being the main culprit) but overall this is a great track, if only the whole album had as much energy and power as this song. This is a rare example of Yes actually doing a "rock" song, they even throw in a Bo Diddley beat at one point, and the results are a lot better than you'd expect.
Arriving UFO: But eh, just when they made it out of the muck, they fall right back in, and yeah, it's about UFOs. Yes have done the space themed songs before, and a hell of a lot better I might add. Mostly it's pretty boring though there is some weird guitar effects from Howe. The only real point of interest is Howe's crazy wah wah guitar solo, but man, Wakeman should have stuck to his moog, I don't know what kind of synths he uses here but it's getting really damn irritating at this point.
Circus of Heaven: Wow, they have finally made it to the bottom with this one. I couldn't even make it all the way through this song, it seems like they tried to capture a caribbean/reggae vibe here, but yeah, it's more Ob La Di Ob La Da than Bob Marley, this is followed with a lot of guitar and synth noodling that doesn't go anywhere. And then for whatever reason they thought a great way to close the song would be to have a little kid (Jon's son Damion) whine "But there was no clowns, or lions, or tigers". Yeah guys, where were they?
This is a good candidate for worst f*cking Yes song ever.
Onward: Get your cigarette lighters out for this one. That's right, a ballad. Now sure that sounds like the ultimate icing on the sh*tcake but surprise surprise, I really love this song, it's my favorite track on the album in fact, no prog at all, just a very simple, beautiful baroque pop ballad. Anderson's vocals are in great form here, he really works best with softer, melodic songs. This is excellent.
On the Silent Wings of Freedom: Despite all the rough moments on this album, this is a great closer and another great track. Once again this is a song where everybody seems to be giving it their all, why in the hell couldn't the whole album be like this? The beginning, middle and end is mostly jamming, and Squire and Howe really give it everything they got, even Wakeman's synth solo at the end is pretty cool.
So, in the end, this album is NOT as bad as people say, yes, there's some real sh*t in this album, but at least it would have made a great EP. So in the end, it's not a bad album, not a good one mind you, it's somewhere in the middle. What really hurt it was the lack of consistancy, it's like they were trying to do an album that showed they could be really diverse, they try a lot of styles here but add their own twist on it, this applies to the really bad songs just as much as it does to the really good ones, so you can't say they weren't ambitious, it's just that in the end, Yes came off as sounding tired and unmotivated, and they were. But with their declining popularity, growing tension between band members and the increasing media pressure to try and reinvent themselves, you can't really blame them for that.
Howe and Squire are in good form here, Wakeman and Anderson not so much, except for a few brief moments. Overall there are only a few songs where the contributions of every band member meshed together nicely, and it's no wonder it took 2 decades for Yes to return to this lineup.
So I recommend you download Release Release, Onward, On the Silent Wings of Freedom and just for the lulz Don't Kill the Whale and skip the rest.
I wouldn't recommend getting the whole album even for the diehard Yes fan, unless you're a completionist or just want to have some historical perspective. And yeah, if you want to know why Yes gave up on prog or what REALLY did prog in during the late 70s, download this album.