Is this the best, most ambitious record Yes ever made, or is it an overblown sonic nightmare of fragmented pseudo-spiritual nonsense?

I've been listening to Tales From Topographic Oceans for 4 days now, and I still don't get it. Not that I ever got Close to the Edge, or Gates of Delirium. For the most part, I listen to Yes to hear the band play, and I can usually get a sense of what Jon Anderson is singing about. But not here.

Of the four extended pieces, I don't think I ever played 'The Ancient' or 'Ritual' very much. 'The Remembering' got a few listens, but usually I just played side 1, 'The Revealing Science of God.'

In an effort to better focus on the unfamiliar stuff, I tried skipping the first part. That didn't really work for me because side 2 seems to drag without the previous 20 minutes of up-tempo, thematic music. I got half way into side 3 before starting over from the beginning.

This time, I sailed through to side 4, then stopped after the first few minutes--the pieces didn't seem to fit. There were lots of good parts, and the sides were filled with interesting music, but I still felt I was missing something: a code, a clue. So I went back again.

I flipped the record and replayed side 3, followed that immediately with side 4 and finally completed the journey--but there was no joy in it: I didn't feel like I'd actually been anywhere, ya know? What to do, what to do? Must be the lyrics, I wasn't paying attention to the lyrics!

I went back again to side 1 (yes, I'm that crazy), but this time decided to read the lyrics while listening. It's funny, when Jon Anderson is singing, his words seem to work very well with the music. It's only when I tried to read along with the text that I got hopelessly lost again. I'm sure it makes sense to Jon, but all his fractured images and florid proclamations leave me cross-eyed and numb. But I didn't give up.

As I write these words, Tales is playing yet again, and I'm really starting to get into it.


Another great album cover. This one is from Classic Yes, a favorite of mine along with Close to the Edge, Yessongs, Yesterdays and Relayer. Roger Dean is awesome, he created some of the best album cover art ever.