Tales from Topographic Oceans

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Tales from Topographic Oceans
Front cover of the Roger Dean designed album sleeve
Studio album by Yes
Released	December 14, 1973 (UK) January 9, 1974 (U.S.)
Recorded	August–October 1973 at Morgan Studios, London, England
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	81:15 on original release, 83:42 on 2003 re-release (without bonus tracks), 124:34 (with bonus tracks' length included)
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Yes and Eddie Offord
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (C) link Pitchfork Media (2.2/10) link Rolling Stone (not rated) link
Yes chronology
Yessongs (1973) Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) Relayer (1974)
Back cover

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 Bruford's wedding in 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 as well as reaching #6 in the U.S. during a chart stay of 27 weeks; the album even went gold in both countries from advance orders, before any fans had ever heard the content.

A special promotional only, white label, "banded for airplay" version of the 2 LP set was sent to US radio stations by Atlantic Records in 1974 (the date is 1973 on the record labels.) This was done to try to increase radio exposure as most radio stations did not want to air such long songs. This promo release divided the long tracks into 4 or 5 segments per side. Most of the segments were in the range of 3 to 5 minutes and all were clearly marked on the record to assist disc jockeys. This promo version is now a rare collectible.

Discord

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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.

Artwork

Artwork of the album (design and illustration) was done by Roger Dean. Dean designed all of the group's albums, forming a continuing story in pictures. Dean also created a new Yes logo for the cover.^[2]

Track listing

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

2003 CD re-issue

A remastered edition was released in 2003, which restored a two-minute ambient section that precedes the album's opening proper; this section was deleted at the last minute before the album was originally pressed. Two studio run-throughs were included as bonus tracks.

Charts

Album

Certifications

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
2. ^ Thorgerson, Storm; Powell,Aubrey (1999). 100 Best Album Covers: The Stories Behind the Sleeves. Dorling Kindersley. pp. 142-143. ISBN 0751307068. 

External links and sources

• Tales from Topographic Oceans, CD booklet essay, Mike Tiano, c.2003
• AllMusicGuide.com
• "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c.2002
• Lyrics to Tales From Topographic Oceans^{[dead link]}
• Jon Anderson speaks to the UK Guardian newspaper on Topographic oceans