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Tales from Topographic Oceans

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Untitled

Tales from Topographic Oceans is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Yes. It is a double album, released on Atlantic Records in December 1973 in most of the world and in January 1974 in North America.

Concept and history

The album's concept, a two-disc, four-piece work of symphonic length and scope (based on the Shastric scriptures, as found in a footnote within Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi), was their most ambitious to date. The four songs of the album symbolise (in track order) the concepts of Truth, Knowledge, Culture, and Freedom, the subjects of that section of text. According to drummer Bill Bruford in his autobiography (p. 72), former King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir introduced vocalist Jon Anderson to Paramahansa Yogananda's work during his wedding on March 1973, and therefore had an indirect impact on the album's concept.

On release it received notably hostile reviews. Gordon Fletcher in his review in Rolling Stone described it as "psychedelic doodling". Chris Welch in Melody Maker described it as "Brilliant in patches, but often taking far too long to make its various points, and curiously lacking in warmth or personal expression".[1]

Many Yes fans and casual listeners remain divided over whether or not this is one of the group's stronger works. Some Yes fans claim that it is far too excessive and unfocused, while others maintain that repeated listening reveals it as one of Yes' finest albums and a masterpiece of the progressive rock genre.

Despite acquiring a reputation as an example of the worst excesses of "prog rock", Topographic Oceans became the band's fourth consecutive gold album. The album reached #1 in the UK album chart and also went into the U.S. Top 10, even going gold in both countries from advance orders, before any fans had ever heard the content.

Discord

Part of Wakeman's unfavourable attitude towards the album stems from the fact that vocalist Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe constructed the bulk of the album entirely on their own (as the liner notes suggest), leaving the remaining three members with relatively little to contribute (which the liner notes dispute). The complaints about Anderson and Howe's studio behaviour were not unprecedented: drummer Bill Bruford had left the band for King Crimson a year earlier for similar reasons, and stories abound of Anderson and Howe putting tiles in the studio to simulate the acoustics of a bathroom, while Wakeman, in frustration, spent much of the time playing darts.

Despite Wakeman's reservations about the album, other members disagreed: Howe in particular stated that some of his best guitar work was to be found on Tales from Topographic Oceans. Chris Squire mentions listening to tapes of a live performance some years later and thinking "It does go on a bit", but then adding that he "really enjoyed it." Even Wakeman, in interviews, mentioned that he enjoyed some of the musical content of "The Ancient", and Wakeman has performed "The Revealing Science of God" and "Ritual" with the band often in the years since.

Track listing

All music is composed by Anderson/Howe/Squire/Wakeman/White

Disc 1
No.TitleLyricsLength
1."The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)"Anderson/Howe20:25
2."The Remembering (High the Memory)"Yes20:38
Disc 2
No.TitleLyricsLength
3."The Ancient (Giants under the Sun)"Anderson/Howe/Squire18:35
4."Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)"Anderson/Howe21:37

CD "Expanded & Remastered"

Disc 1
No.TitleLyricsLength
1."The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" (original intro restored)Anderson/Howe22:22
2."The Remembering (High the Memory)"Yes20:38
3."The Ancient (Giants under the Sun)"Anderson/Howe/Squire18:35
Disc 2
No.TitleLyricsLength
4."Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)"Anderson/Howe21:37
5."Dance of the Dawn" (studio run-through)Anderson/Howe23:35
6."Giants under the Sun" (studio run-through)Anderson/Howe/Squire17:17

Tales from Topographic Oceans (Atlantic 80001) reached #1 in the UK. It also reached #6 in the U.S. during a chart stay of 27 weeks.

A special promotional "banded for airplay" version of the 2 LP set was sent to US radio stations by Atlantic Records in 1974. This was done to try to increase radio exposure as most radio stations did not want to air such long songs. This promo version divided the long tracks into 3 to 5 minute sections which were clearly marked on the record to assist disc jockeys. This promo version is now quite collectible.

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1973 UK Albums Chart 1
1974 Billboard Pop Albums 6

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – U.S. Gold February 8, 1974
BPI – UK Gold March 1, 1974

Reissues

1988 – Atlantic – CD
1994 – Atlantic – CD (Remastered)
2003 – Rhino – CD (Remastered with Bonus Tracks)

Influence

  • In 2004, hip hop group De La Soul sampled "Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)" for the title track of their album The Grind Date.
  • The album is mentioned in the 1999 film Free Enterprise, by Eric (played by Phil LaMarr), who becomes angry at Dan (played by Jonathan Slavin) who admits that he had never listened to it after borrowing it. Dan also mistakes it for an album by the band Rush, saying sarcastically "What is that? That Rush album?", which causes Eric to become very angry and yell out "How Dare You! It's Yes!".

References

  1. ^ Yes - Adrift on the Oceans, Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1st 1973
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