| Tales from Topographic Oceans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Yes | ||||
| Released | 14 December 1973 | |||
| Recorded | August–October 1973 at Morgan Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 81:15 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Yes, Eddie Offord | |||
| Yes chronology | ||||
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Tales from Topographic Oceans is the sixth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released on Atlantic Records. It is a double album released in December 1973 in most of the world and in January 1974 in North America.
Contents |
According to the documentary Classic Artists: Yes, Jon Anderson was originally going to call the album Tales From Tobographic Oceans, claiming he had invented the word "tobographic". He mentioned the title while having dinner with Atlantic CEO Phil Carson, who noted that "tobographic" sounded like "topographic". Anderson liked the word and changed the album title accordingly.
Tales from Topographic Oceans was recorded in studio 3 of Morgan Studios at the same time heavy metal band Black Sabbath was recording their fifth album, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, in studio 4. According to Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne's 2010 autobiography I Am Ozzy the band decorated their recording studio with model cows–complete with electronic udders–bales of hay, and a small barn, to give the room an "earthy" feel.[1]
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.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| Pitchfork Media | (2.2/10) [3] |
| Robert Christgau | (C) link |
| Rolling Stone | (unfavourable) [1] |
On release it received notably hostile reviews. Gordon Fletcher in his review in Rolling Stone described it as "psychedelic doodling".
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 number 1 in the UK and number 6 in the US during a chart stay of 27 weeks; the album went gold in both countries from advance orders, before any of the content had been publicly available.
The list "40 Records That Captured The Moment," published in NME's 40th Anniversary Issue (9 May 1992) named "Tales From Topographic Oceans" as their selection for 1974. "The Music That Hit The Bullseye Through All Those Changing Styles, Tastes, Faces, Fashions And Fads Of What We Call 'Rock 'N' Roll'."[4]
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.
Artwork for the album (design and illustration) was done by Roger Dean. Dean designed many of the group's album covers, forming a continuing story in pictures. Dean also created the Yes logo.[5]
Side one was the commercial or easy-listening side of Topographic Oceans, side two was a much lighter, folky side of Yes, side three was electronic mayhem turning into acoustic simplicity, and side four was us trying to drive the whole thing home on a biggie.
Wakeman has often expressed intense dislike of the album, stemming in part from the fact that vocalist Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe constructed the bulk of the album behind closed doors (as Anderson's sleeve notes suggest), leaving the remaining three members with relatively little to contribute. 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 subsequently spread stories of Anderson and Howe putting tiles in the studio to simulate the acoustics of a bathroom. Wakeman, in frustration, spent much of the time playing darts with Black Sabbath members and contributing keyboards to "Sabbra Cadabra". [7]
Howe 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" (live renditions of the songs typically ran much longer than the recordings on the album itself), 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.
The tour supporting the album began on November 1, 1973 at BBC Studios, London and ended on April 23, 1974 at Palazzetto dello sport, Rome.
The concerts featured an elaborate stage also designed by Roger Dean, who created figures made of fiberglass. These props were, namely, a tunnel which allowed the band to enter the stage (this was eventually destroyed by the roadies mid-tour);"The Whale Skull", a set of curved organ pipes; a giant bug over Alan White's drum set; and several mushrooms at the front of the stage. Apart from these stage objects, Rick Wakeman had two busts, one of Bach and one of Beethoven, mounted on his organ.
In a similar way to the album, the tour received negative criticism, especially from Chris Welch of the Melody Maker, who 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".[8]
All lyrics written by Anderson/Howe[9], all music composed by Anderson/Howe/Squire/Wakeman/White.
| Disc 1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" | 20:25 | |||||||
| 2. | "The Remembering (High the Memory)" | 20:38 | |||||||
| Disc 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 3. | "The Ancient (Giants under the Sun)" | 18:35 | |||||||
| 4. | "Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)" | 21:37 | |||||||
A remastered edition was released in 2003, which restored a two-minute ambient section at the beginning of the album's first song. This section was deleted at the last minute before the album was originally pressed. Two studio run-throughs were included as bonus tracks.
| Disc 1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" (original intro restored) | 22:22 | |||||||
| 2. | "The Remembering (High the Memory)" | 20:38 | |||||||
| 3. | "The Ancient (Giants under the Sun)" | 18:35 | |||||||
| Disc 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 4. | "Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)" | 21:37 | |||||||
| 5. | "Dance of the Dawn" (studio run-through) | 23:35 | |||||||
| 6. | "Giants under the Sun" (studio run-through) | 17:17 | |||||||
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | UK Albums Chart | 1[10] |
| 1974 | Billboard Pop Albums | 6 |
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | February 8, 1974 |
| BPI – UK | Gold | March 1, 1974 |
| Preceded by Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John |
UK number-one album 5–12 January 1974 |
Succeeded by Sladest by Slade |
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