You can take any Yes album from 1969 to 2000 and listen to it
\nwithout requiring a contextual structure within which to place it;
\nexcept this one. You cannot listen to
\nTales<\/i> (no one calls it
\nTales From Topographic Oceans<\/i>) without first listening to
\nClose To The Edge<\/i> twice at the very least, and
\nFragile<\/i> also, if you have the time. If you don’t have the
\ntime for that, then you don’t have the time to learn to appreciate
\nTales<\/i>. Go ahead; I will wait for you…<\/p>\n
You’re back? Good, then we may begin.<\/p>\n
You need not be a musical genius to appreciate
\nTales<\/i>. Every level of human endeavour is represented in the
\nYes fan base. From truck driver to politician (politicians being at
\nthe bottom of the strata of course). All you need is time and a
\nspirit that has not been hardened against the possibility that
\nmusic is not just about watching Britney’s tits bounce. You need
\nonly be open to the possibility that music is an expression of
\ncreativity that encompasses more that what MTV can show you on your
\nnew plasma screen. Really! There is more inside your head than
\nthere is on that screen and
\nTales<\/i> was designed to turn on that light between your ears.
\nThe “topographic ocean” is your own imagination.<\/p>\n
No album divides like
\nTales<\/i>. Reviews of this album typically start with, “You
\neither love it or you hate it.” Bullcrap! You may love parts of it,
\nyou may hate parts of it, but I have yet to meet the human who can
\nhonestly state that they love or hate all of it. But not everyone
\nhas the time for this kind of effort, and if this is true for you
\nand you hate it all because you have not the time to discover
\nTales<\/i> then go away now. Minor prog albums such as Alan
\nParsons’
\nTales of Mystery and Imagination<\/i> await you. On the other
\nhand, if you love the whole album then you would probably buy
\ncopies of Jon Anderson farting fairy dust and call it art also. You
\nare a true Yes Fanatic and you have no need to read this review. Be
\ngone! THE POWER OF COMMON SENSE COMPELS YOU!!!<\/p>\n
A work such as
\nTales<\/i> is too large and too all encompassing to fall under
\nsuch an umbrella as “love it or hate it”. Eighty minutes of
\nHerculean effort from the most talented group of musicians ever to
\ncarry a tune await you. Appreciation requires time. Some of it will
\npound your impoverished soul with a hammer of emotion that will
\nleave you breathless.. and yes, some of it sucks.<\/p>\n
Four tracks on one double album:<\/p>\n
“The Revealing Science Of God (Dance Of The Dawn)” “The
\nRemembering (High The Memory)” “The Ancient” (Giants Under The
\nSun)” “Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)”<\/p>\n
Each track approximately twenty minutes long and each with its
\nown alternate title. How mysterious… Striking Roger Dean artwork
\ngraces the cover. Designed with some collaboration from the group
\nand meant to display various ‘mystical’ locations and land marks
\nfrom across the globe. Consistently ranked at or near the top of
\nthe most memorable album covers of all time the cover alone has
\nbeen known to command considerable respect among the ‘artsy’
\ncrowd.<\/p>\n
When creating
\nTales<\/i> lead singer Jon Anderson used the four part Hindu
\nShastric scriptures as inspiration. The lyrics are, on the surface,
\nas enigmatic as most Yes lyrics. However, if you take the time to
\nlisten, what Anderson was thinking will come through; there are
\nlayers to Tales that may take some effort to reveal. If you have
\nthe time to actually listen to the lyrics sung over the gracefully
\nexecuted complexities of Steve Howe’s lead guitar then parts of
\nthis album will send you reeling. Particularly enjoyable are the
\nopening piece “The Revealing Science of God” and the closing piece
\n“Ritual.”<\/p>\n
The chant at the beginning of “The Revealing Science of God” is
\nall Anderson sound painting, evenly balanced over an increasing
\ncrescendo of power; and, at first glance sound-scape is all that
\nis. But if you listen closely it is (imho) a description of a four
\npart awakening of the human spirit. The “dawn” of light, thought,
\npower and love. Anderson lyrics can be vague. But if you want to
\nwork at it there is often grace and humour in the even smallest
\npart. For example, a small portion of lyric from this song is:<\/p>\n
“We must have waited all our lives for this Moment moment”<\/p>\n
We wait all of our lives for every moment that we live.. don’t
\nwe? You wait all of your life for every moment that you live, so
\nuse every moment well. That’s the simplicity and power of Anderson
\nat his best.<\/p>\n
Musically, it is a powerful piece utilizing the virtuoso talents
\nof the whole band. Squire thunders along gleefully with White. Howe
\npeels back layer’s of feeling, alternately ripping or cajoling
\nemotion from the strings of his various instruments. And Wakeman,
\non record as a Tales detractor, manages to push his keys with a
\nmighty good impression of someone who still gives a shit. A tour de
\nforce if ever there was one.<\/p>\n
“Ritual” is the best closer ever to grace a Yes album. A perfect
\nblend of Squire bass and White percussion, backed by towering
\nAnderson vocals and intriguing Howe string inlay (including a quick
\nreprise of the theme from Close to the Edge). In true Yes fashion a
\npure percussion piece (to call it a drum solo would be like calling
\nthe northern lights just another static charge) breaks out in the
\nmiddle of this song and then segues into one of the most haunting
\nand melodic pieces of Yes music ever recorded; “Nous Sommes du
\nSoliel.” We are of the sun. As Anderson skips like a pebble on
\nwater over a blend of Howe acoustic and Wakeman piano brilliance,
\nthe song winds down slowly to an end. It speaks volumes that Yes
\ncan do this whole piece in one shot live in concert to this day. It
\nspeaks tomes that I have personally seen grown men of the truck
\ndrivin’ variety weep when they do so.<\/p>\n
These two pieces alone could comprise a complete album. But the
\nneed to complete the musical thought is paramount to the Yes
\nparadigm and sales were never a great concern to Anderson and co.
\nAnd so we have the other two pieces of music on this monster of a
\nconcept album. Beware Yes Fanatics, accusations of suckage
\nensue…<\/p>\n
“The Remembering” has hints of good things in it. Like a fruit
\ncake that looks good but is just too, too much to actually get
\ndown. Dry and flat; on and on and on it goes. Stop plotting my
\ndemise please. I am not saying that “The Remembering” is not worth
\nthe effort IF you are interested in getting to know Yes in detail.
\nBut the average listener, even the average Yes fan IMHO, will find
\nthat the rumours of padding on this album are not without some
\nsmall merit. From close to the edge we’ve gone way over the edge;
\nhere there be monsters.<\/p>\n
“The Ancient”: The percussive expression that starts this track
\nflows throughout most of the song using discordant “punches” which
\nare echoed later in the final track. A bit padded perhaps but not
\nmuch, and “The Ancient” includes the extraordinary sub-song “Leaves
\nof Green.” But “Leaves of Green” does not fit in here at all. It’s
\na great song, there is no doubt, but it does not belong here.
\nHaving said that, I am glad that it made it on any album at all,
\nfor “Leaves of Green” is a text book example of Howe’s outstanding
\ncommand of the acoustic guitar and Anderson’s innate ability to
\nenhance a melody with his angelic counter tenor. Wow.<\/p>\n
What Yes were attempting with
\nTales<\/i> was another break out of the box. Limits mean nothing
\nto Yes and it is well for all of us that this is so. We need
\nmusical explorers to break us out of our cultural tendency to stick
\nin a musical rut. We sure could use one right now ’cause if I have
\nto listen to another pop diva stretch a simple two syllable word
\ninto a freakin’ four-octave aria I will start looking for the
\nbullets. But I digress\u2026<\/p>\n
As a whole
\nTales<\/i> expresses what has lately been completely missing from
\nthe crap fed to the dull eyed masses by the marketers of MTV’s
\nmusical sludge; and that missing element is creativity. Most of
\nTales<\/i> is an expression of pure creative talent and taken in
\ncontext it becomes an even greater feat. Look at what Yes created
\nin four years:<\/p>\n
\nThe Yes Album<\/i> 1971
\nFragile<\/i> 1972
\nClose To The Edge<\/i> 1972
\nYessongs<\/i> 1973
\nTales From Topographic Oceans<\/i> 1974<\/p>\n
This was a creative growth spurt of colossal proportions.
\nWhether you feel that
\nTales<\/i> is the orgasmic climax after four years of foreplay or
\nthe wet spot on the sheet after
\nClose to the Edge<\/i>, Yes should be applauded for trying, and
\nin most cases succeeding, in pushing beyond boundaries that most
\nmusicians can’t even approach. Tales shattered musical boundaries
\ncompletely, leaving the traumatized pundits of musical conservatism
\nlying in a pretentious heap. “You can’t do that!”, screamed the
\ncritics. “We just did,” answered Yes. It is not in the corporate
\nmusic mongers best interest to have you appreciate
\nTales<\/i>. They want you in the box.<\/p>\n
It would have been in Yes’ commercial interest to produce an
\nendless stream of “Roundabout” clones, but that’s not what
\n‘progressing’ is all about. And while it is true that keyboardist
\nRick Wakeman left Yes shortly after
\nTales<\/i>, it is also true that he keeps coming back and plays
\ntracks from
\nTales<\/i>. Apparently it isn’t bad enough to keep him off the
\nstage.<\/p>\n
In 50 years no one will know who the prefab singing strippers of
\nthe MTV generation were because they are designed by the star maker
\nmachinery to be replaceable.
\nTales<\/i> is quite irreplaceable and that makes this an A
\nalbum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":24385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5713],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37814","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-yes","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37814"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}