rediris
rediris
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Tales from Topographic Oceans

Posted over 5 years ago
Firstly, I'd like to say that this is one of my favorite albums of all time. I've spent many hours listening to the four songs on the album, letting time pass and allowing myself to sink fully into the music. However, I'm aware that progressive rock is not accessible to all. Some people simply hate it. It's not party music; on the contrary, most music by Yes falls into the category of personal, introspective music for me. I love it.Calling on multiple genres, including classical & jazz, the album's four tracks run roughly 20 minutes a piece, and are based "loosely" on a footnote about the Shastric Scriptures, taken from Paramhansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. The music is thematically spiritual, and the lengthy tracks guide often guide me into a contemplative state of mind.Perhaps part of the reason I like it so much is because this album was recorded just before I was born. Yes finished recording in October of '73, and I was born in November. It's almost as if they recorded it for me...almost. Being a musician, I know better. They were fulfilling their need to make music, and their efforts just happened to appeal to me.Roger Dean's album art is simply incredible, and really captures the essence of the music visually. Read more about the artwork... For more information about this album, and links to other reviews and such, read the Wikipedia article
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Comments (2)

  1. kmeaston
    kmeaston says I've always thought of this record as something of a prog-rock acid test; either it's loved or despised but it doesn't seem to inspire any lukewarm reactions. I bought a beat up vinyl copy back in high school (despite the sneering comments from my good friend who owned the record store) and thought it was awesome (after about 5 or 6 listens. I didn't really get it at first). I don't think I've listened to it in 20 years and I'm really not sure if it would be a great match for me now. Still, your article brought back some great (albeit slightly foggy) memories. There's definitely no other album that fills that niche (whatever that niche is precisely).
    Permalink posted 06/26/2006
  2. fluxion
    fluxion says Side 2 is my favorite of Topographic Oceans, but there are good parts in all 4 sides. Closer to the Edge is my favorite Yes album though. Bill Bruford's drumming still amazes me everytime I listen to it.
    Permalink posted 07/30/2006

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