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Thread: FEATURED CD - Yes : Tormato

  1. #1
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    FEATURED CD - Yes : Tormato



    Per a review on the old PE site, written by some guy called "Sean" :
    Here is another 'underdog' Yes album, next to Tales From Topographic Oceans, Tormato is roundly panned by both the band and a large faction of their fanbase. I think it would be good for a lot of us to revisit Tormato and think about just why we like Yes music.

    I admit this LP took a while to warm up to. I remember finding it in the $1.00 LP bin at K-Mart of all places, back around '85 or so... When I first put it on it didn’t sound like the Yes I knew from Close To The Edge or The Yes Album. So I put it away and didn’t return to it until a few years later. By then I was pretty tired of the obvious Yes albums and gave it a chance. Immediately I noticed how concise the arrangements were and realized that this was the first album since The Yes Album that was like that. Tormato was a return to that and at this point in my Yes fandom it didn’t sound so weird to my ears anymore.

    There is great playing on every track and the short tunes are packed with unpredictable changes that took me by surprise. “Future Times” opens the album with a rousing marching snare leading the way and a Howe and Wakeman unison line (of which there are many on this LP- in fact they play more notes on this LP than any other). Wakeman exploits some new Moog sounds on this LP, which I think are really interesting. Also they are probably what threw my ear off this LP at first and made it seem different. Squire's bass features a chorus like quality throughout the album and subsequent tour. A fresh sound back in 1978 for sure. “Rejoice” caps off this tune with one of Squire's most melodic bass lines.

    “Don't Kill The Whale” is next. A protest song long before it was fashionable for rock bands to champion a cause. A nice, admirable move by Yes. The song itself is one of the dullest tracks on the album though. It does have a few high points though, notable are Howe's lead lines that snake in and out through the song and the classically Yessish chant at the end of the tune.

    “Madrigal”- A madrigal is short song of sorts that I believe was sung at dinner or thereafter. Here Yes write their own and it is true to that form. This drumless track has nice classical guitar from Howe and sweet harpsichord by Wakeman on a revered Thomas Goth harpsichord. A nice little tune as it was meant to be, nothing more.

    “Release, Release”- Another high water mark for this lp and an almost forgotten Yes track that was only played few times live because the band claimed it was exhaustive (as if “Gates” or CTTE aren't...lol)! It starts with an angular minor riff and then breaks into an early rock and roll vibe momentarily, interspersed with melodic riffs that are far from the rock vibe just set forth.

    All of this leads to a rousing drum solo with canned clapping to simulate a live setting (it's not, it's from a soccer match actually), because the band thought it needed something extra. Howe soon enters and plays some spindly licks for a few..and then...whooosh.. the groove reenters and your swept away once again. All of this in about 5 and a half minutes. Concise indeed and jam-packed with twists and turns.

    “Arriving UFO”- A much maligned Yes track that is much better than many would lead you to believe. The topic came about one night when the band saw some lights in the sky. Next thing you know Anderson wrote the bands first overtly sci-fi themed lyrics. This song has a fantastic build up in the middle section featuring a crazy guitar tone that reminds me of a muted trumpet through a wah. This section climaxes in a huge crash. Then slowly, the melody creeps back up from dead silence up to a full roar again. This is a very unusual track musically, but as Yessish as any IMO.

    “Circus of Heaven”- Here we are, this is the one that people mention first while panning this LP. The music is light and supposed to evoke a circus vibe. They achieve it very well. Anderson's lyrics are some of his most descriptive ever. Maybe the story is a little fluffy for many, but there is no question, it paints a vivid picture with words.

    I wish Anderson would revisit this style of lyric writing. Howe's cascading delay drenched electric mandolin is really nice on this track as well, and worth checking out. There's lots of 'wet' (delayed or chorus effected) guitar sounds on this album, more than on any previous album. I think half the reason people may not favor this and UFO is the lyrics and what they evoke, it was different for Yes and people often are resistant to change.

    “Onward”- If ever there was a wedding song in the Yes arsenal, this is the one. A short tune by Squire that's perfect at the altar I would imagine. “On The Silent Wings of Freedom”- The 'epic' on this album, only about eight minutes, short compared to the average Yes epic, but the longest track on this LP. This is a real tour de force for the band and the albums high point.

    Unique, off beat drums set up this number, and chorused bass resonates. Howe soon enters with some echoey delay drenched lines that hark back to the flurry that closed “Long Distance Runaround” a few years earlier, only these ride through this whole tune. About 2 minutes into the tune a melody emerges from the guitar that builds and leads to the verse. There is quite a rave up at the end of tune with a wild mix of crawling, chromatic lines.

    I find it hard to really describe all of this to you (despite being incredibly long winded), still I wanted to take a minute to urge all to reevaluate this album. I think every Yes album from the 70's is good and certainly worth enjoying and trying. Try a slice of Tormato for yourself. I am sure it was a shock to fans when it first came out, but years later I think it sits proudly along side the cerebral Going For The One and the much overlooked Drama, both of which are underrated gems as well. More about those soon....


    Regards,

    Duncan

  2. #2
    This has been on my car CD player all week!
    Not a typical YES album but some great stuff on there! Release Release was/is their best 'rocker'!

  3. #3
    Insect Overlord Progatron's Avatar
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    Personally, I understand the criticism hurled at this one, but I don't agree with it - at least, not entirely. I do really like side one, and I love "Silent Wings", but find the other three tracks to be the weakest material they did in the 1970s. "Onward" is pleasant but dull IMO, and the less said about "Circus" and "UFO" the better.

    But the rest of the album? I think it's great, and I listen to it just as often as the few albums that surround it on either side. I place this one somewhere around the middle of their catalogue.
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    Tormato was I believe only the 2nd yes record I owned, after Drama, and maybe only about the 10th rock record I owned. Also, Tormato was the first "cutout" I ever bought, which I remember because I interrogated the record store clerk about why exactly it was so cheap, and how did I know it wasn't defective. I only bought it after she assured me I'd get my $1.99 back if there was anything wrong with it (In terms of the vinyl pressing, that is, not the music quality).

    Given my lack of exposure to classic Yes, I thought side 1 was the greatest thing ever. And half of side 2. It took me a while to appreciate Circus and UFO, but now I like those too. Sean's review is spot on. The tunes are tight, well put together. The playing is intense when needed and melodic when called for. I even enjoy Rick's cheesy keyboard sounds, and I loved the map on the inside with "Yes Tor" and all that.

    Fast forward 25 years and the Rhino remaster came out and to my surprise a lot of the bonus tracks are pretty good too. So I still spin this one very regularly.

  5. #5
    Circus of Heaven is the only song on this release that I feel should have been tucked away for Jon's solo release Song of Seven.. Plenty of outtakes that would have fit in that slot on side two for sure.. Never understood how CoH made it to the setlist either.. That aside.. Tormato has some great stuff..

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    I really don't have that much experience with this album or live yes, and during the show on CTTE 2015, when Don't Kill the Whales started up, it sounded great, and overall with the video footage I really enjoyed it - it fit perfectly into their set!

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    Moderator Sean's Avatar
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    It seems like I was offering up some revisionist history in that very old review. Ten years later I suppose it hasn't got any worse in my opinion. There's a couple modern Yes albums since then that make it look pretty spirited and inventive in comparison.

  8. #8
    This was my first Yes album (bought not long after release and early in my record-buying life) and although I soon realised it was less substantial than their other albums it did get a lot of play at the time. In the intervening years I've bought and enjoyed all their earlier works and a fair chunk of their stuff from Keys 1 onwards, but over the last 5 years or so if I've reached for a Yes CD the odds of it being Tormato would have been quite high.

  9. #9
    Well, is there anything left to say about this album that hasn’t already been said? Not their worst album overall, but for sure their worst of the 70s. Big Generator was worse, but this was the low point to date. Eardrum-shredding synth tones, crappy production, songwriting that was either saccharine drivel (“Onward,” “Circus of Heaven”), self-parodic (“Arriving UFO,” the aforementioned “Circus of Heaven”), ham-fistedly preachy (“Don’t Kill the Whale”) or otherwise substandard (“Release, Release,” an obvious, and inept, attempt to “rock out”). It’s not without its highlights, though. “Future Times/Rejoice” struck me as disappointing the first time I heard it; it seemed to represent a “dumbing down” of their style, but it emerges as a highlight thanks to a winsome melody and the fact that it doesn’t come across as an utter embarrassment the way much of this album does. “Silent Wings of Freedom” is a lot closer to the Yes of old, and is another highlight. We’ll just not mention Wakey’s synth solos in that one; ick! That leaves the unlikely highlight “Madrigal,” which would be a pleasant yet uneventful throwaway on one of their previous albums, but the earnest folky delivery from Jon and the elegant harpsichord playing from Wakeman offer a much-needed respite from the abrasive sound of the rest of the album.
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    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
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    The tour supporting this record was the best I ever saw them. The record did not represent the power of the band at this stage of their career.

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    I think it's an okay album. It could have been a good album if Rick hadn't completely swapped out his Minimoog for the Polymoog.

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    I believe this album suffers mainly from the fact that it followed Going For the One, which I thought was Yes at their peak. Clearly I was one of many who felt a bit let down.

    Certainly Tormato compares favourably with many of their later albums.

  13. #13
    Side 1 of "Tormato" is better than Side 1 of "Going For The One" imo.

  14. #14
    It was my first Yes album so it holds a special place for me. I find little not to like here. Yes, the mix could have been a bit better but other than that I think it's a great record.

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    Member emperorken's Avatar
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    The start of Yes' decline from which they have never recovered.

  16. #16
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    LP points out that we featured Tormato about 2 years ago

    I'll post a new featured CD later today...
    Regards,

    Duncan

  17. #17
    I have a weird Tormato story if you'll indulge me...

    25 years ago I was a cash-poor college student in Worcester MA, and I would buy used vinyl for new music fixes. i bought Tormato for $2 at a local used record shop, spun it a few times and put it away.

    20 years ago i got married an eventually bought a house in Melrose MA. About 9 years ago we moved to a new house in Acton MA. During a snow day I was listening to vinyl while working from home. I pulled out Tormato for a spin. One thing i hadn't noticed before on the cover was an address label (the kind you might put on a letter as the return address). Apparently the former owner of my Tormato disc was also the owner of our first house in Melrose! Crazy coincidence, right?

    Anyways, I have a hard time getting past the production and Wakeman's sounds on this one, even though I like many of the songs.
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    I think the cover of Tormato is also terrible. The cover "concept" (if there is one) escapes me, but nevertheless it could have been executed more or less satisfactoriy, The existing cover, though, is really bad when considered as a photographic composition. If the whole figure of the man had been visible, it would not have been so bad. If only the part of the figure featuring the drumsticks - if that's what they are - and the bits of tomato had been visible, it would have been weird but OK. As it is, it looks like a photo that has been carelessly cropped, excluding the man's head.

    Was this a Hipgnosis cover? If so, they did much better covers than this one.

  19. #19
    Moderator Sean's Avatar
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    I have a weird Tormato story. I loved the holy trinity for a few years (TYA, Fragile, CTTE) and didn't own any other Yes albums yet. I found this one in a $1 bin at KMart and took it home and thought "this is weird, it sounds nothing like the other albums" and shelved it for a few years. Eventually I got around to it once I was really tired of the ones I had. It still sounds nothing like any other Yes album.

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    Quote Originally Posted by noisynoise View Post
    I have a weird Tormato story if you'll indulge me...

    25 years ago I was a cash-poor college student in Worcester MA, and I would buy used vinyl for new music fixes. i bought Tormato for $2 at a local used record shop, spun it a few times and put it away
    Al Bums on Pleasant St. perhaps? When I was a student at Clark in Worcester, I walked there from campus every Friday afternoon and would beg the owner Dennis to give some odd job which I'd agree to do in exchange for used vinyl. And in the crazy coincidence category, fast forward 30 years later, Dennis's nephew lives 3 doors down from me in my current Westchester NY town.
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  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Grimjack View Post
    Al Bums on Pleasant St. perhaps? When I was a student at Clark in Worcester, I walked there from campus every Friday afternoon and would beg the owner Dennis to give some odd job which I'd agree to do in exchange for used vinyl. And in the crazy coincidence category, fast forward 30 years later, Dennis's nephew lives 3 doors down from me in my current Westchester NY town.
    Yes, Al Bums! Spent a lot of time there in the late 80's/early 90's.
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  22. #22
    Never heard it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by happytheman View Post
    Circus of Heaven is the only song on this release that I feel should have been tucked away for Jon's solo release Song of Seven.. Plenty of outtakes that would have fit in that slot on side two for sure.. Never understood how CoH made it to the setlist either.. That aside.. Tormato has some great stuff..
    Pretty much spot on how I feel also. Circus would have fit Song of Seven perfectly. It's not really a Yessong, but not a bad song either. Onward would have fit better on a Squire solo effort. I still enjoy Tormato. Never thought it was as bad as the negative feedback it's gotten over the years. Musically speaking Arriving UFO is superb, it's the lyrics that are cringe worthy. In fact the middle instrumental section sounds like it could have fit into The Gates of Delirium.

  24. #24
    Moderator Sean's Avatar
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    That's the good stuff I miss from most Yes after Drama. All those cool instrumental middle sections and such.

  25. #25
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reginod View Post
    Never heard it.
    Play the video in the first post, and you can hear the whole album.
    Regards,

    Duncan

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