Been listening to a lot of Yes as a result of Alan White's passing. Tormato, I hadn't listened to in a long time.
To my ears, it's the worst of the classic era, but there are some redeeming qualities to it. The section of Future Times where they sing "six the tears that separate" is chill-inducing. Madrigal is very beautiful. Onward is also a beautiful little tune. The Silent Wings of Freedom is also pretty cool as is Don't Kill the Whale.
On the bad side: I'm not a fan at all of Chris Squire's bass tone or Wakeman's palette of keyboard sounds on this record. Release, Release, is YES trying to do Chuck Berry; it just sounds a little ridiculous. Arriving UFO is also not very good, although the middle of the song recalls the battle section of Gates of Delirium. Circus of Heaven is awful. Why that was ever released as a single is beyond me.
Seeing this tour, though, was a revelation and did a lot to warm me to this record. I've seen YES many times starting with the Relayer tour and this was the best I'd ever seen them play.
It was clear with this album that the band had run its course with this portion of their career.
Last edited by Guitarplyrjvb; 06-10-2022 at 10:29 AM.
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I really enjoy all of it although it is of course a step down from GFTO. Arriving UFO is superb apart from perhaps the opening line of the lyric, Silent Wings and Release Release really rock out and Future Times/Rejoice is another highlight. Sadly I didn't see them on this tour, had to wait for the Drama tour but that's another story..
I can always tell that there's more going on in this album than I'm taking in. It's partly a matter of a crowded mix and partly a matter of my attention wandering during the weaker bits. It might be interesting to listen to this in 5.1 actually; it might unlock some things I've been missing for awhile. But I see a lot of posts either defending it or talking about rediscovering it, and I've never quite found my way to either of those positions.
Saw the title of this thread and immediately got Megadeth stuck in my head btw...
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I actually like the album, but fully recognize it's a pretty substantial step down from the 6 - 7 prior albums. Silent Wings stands for me as a minor masterpiece, and is possibly my favorite Yes song, though I think the Wembley performance is better than the studio version.
Better production and key sounds would have helped the record, but some of the compositions have some weak moments that only more work and higher energy would have salvaged. I personally like Squire's tone here, but see why others might not.
Flawed as it may be, I still think it's way better than any post Drama album. At least it sounds like Yes, for the most part.
Bill
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I've always liked Tormato. I notice this is an old thread so I wouldn't doubt I'm on here earlier somewhere praising it. But I'll do so again...
Part of the reason I like it, I'm sure, is that chronologically it was the second Yes album I owned. I remember Drama was all over Philly rock radio and I bought it and loved it. I kept noticing another Yes album in the bargain bins and how could it be bad? It was a Yes album right? So I bought Tormato for $2.99 and played the heck out of it. Future Times/Rejoice is one of the most uplifting pieces of music I know. Silent Wings of Freedom should be up there with &U&I and Siberian Khatru as a live concert staple. I even like the production of the album.
Only several months after getting that did I save up enough money to buy Yessongs. And because of that I'm here today typing this when I should be working. But, still, Tormato gets a from me.
Tormato is a special one for me because it was among my first few Yes albums. Like arturs, I picked it up from the cutout bin. I was 16 and had been playing bass for about 3 years, and as usual, Squire's presence is massive here. I really like his envelope filter/harmonizer sound. Obviously not something you'd use all the time, but it's a cool alternative to his usual tone. As far as the songs, I feel that Future Times, Whale, and Silent Wings are worth the price of admission alone. Circus and UFO are a mixed bag. Release is OK, but I thought a little hokey. Yes was never great at "rock and roll" ("I'm Down" on Yesyears...). Overall 3.5/5 stars from me.
I'm surprised that Future Times/Rejoice isn't a more celebrated song in their catalog (played live, etc.), as most fans really seem to like it.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
I think I like Tomato a little more than Awaken. Yes, 🍅.
I think it's one of those mid-period tracks that kind of got lost in the shuffle pretty quickly. It wasn't about to be played on the Drama or Rabin-era tours, so it became a forgotten relic. Then again, when I saw them in 2002 they pulled out Don't Kill The Whale unexpectedly, so...
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There is more than half an album's worth of good stuff + the issue is that the poor stuff is sooper poop.
Future Times / Rejoice
Release Release
Madrigal
Onward
On the Silent...
all good stuff [emoji106]
But mix and tone also bog the enjoyment down as noted earlier.
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