Figured you, of all Tubers, would be capable of that extended concentration necessary for these broadband tours-de-force. At the time this came out, I learned two other things I'll share, since it relates to your work. Rick came to Yes from Strawbs, and his own favorite band at the time was Gryphon, who opened for Yes. Lots to love in their catalogues as well.
Thanks. This one was a bit of a challenge, SO much happening musically. It's as if no first reaction could ever do it justice. Another day at the office for Yes.... 😊
@@retroreactions.... Side 2 was a personal favorite. It calls for you to don the thinking cap, and close your eyes...imagine all the glorious challenge that lies before you, yet locked away from others. As a relayer of culture, you too will enjoy side two I fathom.
As others have said, this is a masterpiece and one of my all time favorites by the band. In fact I would rate _Topographic Oceans_ as my favorite Yes album, along with _Relayer._
Absolute Masterpiece. This Album holds a very special place in my heart. The very first time I heard this Album, (‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’), was 'Live', at Leicester’s 'De Montfort Hall', UK, my hometown venue, in its entirety, (All 4 sides), on the 26th Nov' 1973. It was less than 2 weeks before the Album was officially released on December 7th, 1973. I was just 17 years old. Imagine that. And I’d already been a fan for 3 Years. I remember reading in the Music Papers I used to have, ‘Sounds’, ‘Melody Maker’ and the ‘New Musical Express’, they said it was a big gamble that ‘Yes’ were taking, playing the whole Album Live, as some of the earliest Shows on the ‘TFTO’ Tour, were pre the Album coming out. So, as a 17 year old, there with my friends, standing right at the front, near the Stage, we were mesmerised, watching and listening, open mouthed in amazement, so close to our Musical Heroes. Almost within touching distance of Jon, Chris, Rick, Steve and Alan. It was mind blowing, scintillating to see. I’ll never forget that night. The Roger Dean style Images we all had on previous Album sleeves and the Posters all over my bedroom walls, had come to life, on Stage, before our very eyes! And we were blown away at the performance and the musical sounds from ‘TFTO’! I couldn’t take my eyes off Jon, there just above me on Stage. We were transported to another world. It was incredible. We were also lucky enough to get the whole of the ‘Close To The Edge’ Album too that night! With ‘Roundabout’ as a encore. So what a Show that was! But when I bought the ‘TFTO’ Album, just a couple of weeks later, I took it home and had a extra special smile on my face. Because, I knew what was coming! Incredible. And I’ve always Loved it. I still get goosebumps at the Opening Section of ‘The Revealing Science Of God’, as Jon’s voice comes in and the Music builds up to that amazing Crescendo! Fabulous. Awesome. Mind blowing! These are just my own personal feelings. 🎶❤️🎶
Nice to see ya Eddie! Wow thanks for sharing those wonderful memories. You know the exact dates!! Surely you must have had tears and goosebumps...sounds like a most EPIC concert! And you're first today! Proves how much you love this song... 🙂 🥇
@eddiecriglington: What a wonderful telling of what must have been a fantastic concert hearing all of Tales and Close to the Edge. Thanks for sharing your memories of that night. High the Memory, eh? Somewhat sadly for me - by the time I saw the band in March of 74 they had dropped The Remembering from the set list. Over the years it has turned out that The Remembering is my favorite track from Tales From Topographic Oceans. No worries though, it was an incredible concert for me as well. For me Tales is still fresh sounding and is a wonderful adventure to go on any time I listen to it. A masterful and very moving album.
Being only 13 when you had your experience; I can appreciate the profundity to which you hold this album...I didn't see YES until 77... Imagine going back in time to that night; knowing all that you know now?...People would be asking you; " Why are you crying?" :)...As you well know, I'm sure, YES is the music of a lifetime. I Hope your health is amazing and your life is filled with friends and family and love...:)
One of the “songs” that shaped my understanding of cosmic duality of existence and musical simplicity/complexity, dissonance/harmony, and mind altering beauty.
A song that keeps on giving year on year on year I have spent over 50 years listening to this album and this song in particular and it still feels as fresh and entrancing every time. Masterful in every way. I have waited in anticipation all my life for these moments.
Yes, complex songs like this are way too powerful and meaningful to ever get old... Happy that it still resonates so deep for you.. Thanks for watching my friend!
Alan White’s first appearance on drums. He really shines in places on this album. This is my second favorite of the four songs. I strongly suggest doing them in order.
@@retroreactions.... I felt at the time it was Yes's best album and I've always felt that way. I love many Yes albums that followed but there's something about the creativity and musicianship on Topographic Oceans that sets it apart and in its own category musically. I still love hearing it.....
This song gets better each time you listen, there are lots of little bits you miss on the first listen that makes the song richer, along with Chris (RIP) Squire almost playing lead on bass(always my favorite part of listening to Yes)
Yes, it was between this, Siberian and To Be Over...but those will come. Anything I choose from Yes is basically guaranteed to be excellent! Thanks for watching..
...loved that album from day 1, when it came out ( 7th of December 1973 - I was tender 17 then)... I just came freshly from their Yessongs, kind of their 'best of' until that point, and 'Tales...' seem to take it all a bit further, higher, deeper, although it takes patience - no radio bangers on this album for sure! I was at the time also very immersed in the 'Autobiography of a Yogi', which is still one of the most influential readings for me. 💖
WAIT!!!! FACTCHECK! I think somebody in Wikipedia was mistaken about VIETNAM references being associated with this song. That was "YOUR is NO DISGRACE". Any references to fighting are generic inferences. TALES was inspired by Paramhansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda was an Indian guru who came to the US and taught Eastern spirituality to his followers, including many self-realization techniques. Hare Krishna devotees were followers. There are passages in the book describing the FOUR PART SHASTRIC scriptures - The first being The Shruti -- The Revealed Scriptures a collection of mandalas of hymns "directly heard" or "revealed" to us whose primary concern is peace, prosperity and liberation to a better world. Yes portrays 'this reveal' with the beginning of Time and our gradual awareness of the evolving outer world as it corresponds to our inner growing revelations.
See this may not be Yes's most perfect or balanced album (I guess that would be Close to the Edge), however this record dares to go much higher and further, and when it pays off, nothing comes even close to how sublime it gets. 🙃
I have always preferred this to "Close to the Edge." I think it has all the power, but it's elegant and it has so much structural strength. It's more classical in its construction and that pulls me in. I'm also somewhat tired of "Siberian Khatru," to tell the honest truth (they opened every show with it for about 20 years) but there's not a single moment on "Topographic" where it doesn't have my full attention.
_LYRICS_ *Shrutis: The Revealing Science of God can be seen as an ever-opening flower in which simple truths emerge examining the complexities and magic of the past and how we should not forget the song that has been left to us to hear. The knowledge of God is a search, constant and clear.* Dawn of light lying between a silence and sold sources, Chased amid fusions of wonder, in moments hardly seen forgotten, Coloured in pastures of chance dancing leaves cast spells of challenge, Amused but real in thought, we fled from the sea whole. Dawn of thought transferred through moments of days under searching earth Revealing corridors of time provoking memories, disjointed but with purpose, Craving penetrations offer links with the self instructors sharp And tender love as we took to the air, a picture of distance. Dawn of our power we amuse redescending as fast as misused Expression, as only to teach love as to reveal passion chasing Late into corners, and we danced from the ocean. Dawn of love sent within us colours of awakening among the many Won't to follow, only tunes of a different age. As the links span our endless caresses for the freedom of life everlasting. Talk to the sunlight caller Soft summer mover distance mine. Called out a tune but I never saw the face Heard but not replaced I ventured to talk, but I never lost my place Cast out a spell rendered for the light of day Lost in lights array I ventured to see, as the sound began to play What happened to this song we once knew so well Signed promise for moments caught within the spell I must have waited all my life for this Moment moment The future poised with the splendour just begun The light we were as one And crowded through the curtains of liquid into sun And for a moment when our world had filled the skies Magic turned our eyes To feast on the treasure set for our strange device What happened to wonders we once knew so well Did we forget what happened surely we can tell We must have waited all our lives for this Moment moment moment Starlight, movement, reasons Release forward Tallest rainbow Sun shower seasons Life flower reasons They move fast, they tell me, But I just can't believe that I can feel it There's someone to tell you, Amid the challenge we look around in unison with you Getting over overhanging trees Let them rape the forest Thoughts would send our fusion Clearly to be home Getting over wars we do not mean Or so it seems so clearly Sheltered with our passion Clearly to be home They move fast, they tell me, But I just can't believe they really mean to There's someone, to tell you, And I just can't believe our song will leave you Skyline teacher War land seeker Send out poison Cast iron leader And through the rhythm of moving slowly Sent through the rhythm work out the story Move over glory to sons of old fighters past. Young Christians see if from the beginning Old people feel it, that's what they're saying. Move over glory to sons of old fighters past. They move fast, they tell me, But I just can't believe they really mean to. There's someone, to tell you A course towards a universal season. Getting over overhanging trees Let them rape the forest They might stand and leave them Clearly to be home Getting over wars we do not mean We charm the movement suffers Call out all our memories Clearly to be home We've moved fast We need love A part we offer is our only freedom What happened to this song we once knew so well Signed promise for moments caught within the spell We must have waited all our lives for this Moment moment Past present movers moments we'll process the future, but only through him we know send flowered rainbows A piece apart chased flowers of the dark and lights of songs to follow and show all we feel for and know of Cast round You seekers of the truth accepting that reason will relive and breath and hope and chase and love For you and you and you.
I guess I will be planning a channel celebration in 2039 for the end of my Yes journey...then I can replace them with Porcupine Tree 2, led by Steven Wilson Jr.!!!
I like the idea of PT2! Your channel will be around for quite awhile I’m assuming. Also my friend, I did get released earlier and am resting comfortably at home now! Your support means a lot to me. ❤ I’ve still got to take it easy for a few weeks.
Yes, I certainly hope so. Lord knows I have enough music to cover me here for the rest of my life! Oh, so glad to hear you are back home. Yes, please follow docs orders and best wishes for a good recovery ❤
Yes, definitely too much for my ears and soul to digest in 1 listen...hope I did OK, of course you've all had 50 extra years to savor it! 🙂 Thanks for watching!!
Yeah, I've heard the song hundreds of times and it takes me on a different journey every time. Each time you listen to it you can focus on a different instrument and hear the genius of every one of these brilliant musicians. Keep going on the rest of the album!🤩@@retroreactions....
As you remember I was more into Genesis, this journey reminds me "Supper's ready" but Yes is really something else, powerful, deep, adventurous, voices and lyrics are more melted together like a grand chorus, I didn't listen to this masterpiece enough, I believe I wasn't on the same frequency another time in the past, but I always remembered this album sleeve somewhere, maybe calling me to get in their spiritual world and magic to discover. Thank you, it was a great trip. So today I began to make steps in their World 😉
Aw, I really appreciate that wonderful compliment! Always try hard to catch a lot and really feel the music, especially with bands like YES! Thanks so much for watching..
4 EPIC Sides Of And Absolutely Splendid Record~In Which I Didn't Like At First~But Warned Up To Eventually...This Is One My Favorite Tracks In The LP...
Always confusing with Spotify. They labeled this one as the original. They had a 2003 remastered version which I chose to avoid. But hey, I'm glad I got those ocean sounds!!
Fantastic review as usual, Yes take us all on a journey of enlightenment, there’s ebb and flow ,different corners ,but always a building towards a higher plain till they release you back down to earth !! ( and your back in the room !! ) Blimey it’s good :: love it ( just discovered Paul McCarthy has this record in his collection at home , can’t get much better than that ! ) thanks
Thanks, a tad overwhelming (OK more than a tad!), but you know I tried my best 🙂 You described the journey they offer perfectly! Yes, I'd say Paul knows his music.. 😀
Already smitten by Roundabout and Close to the Edge, I raced to own and memorize this masterpiece when it came out, and also bought the Autobiography of a Yogi, which was the source for this work, quite as Hesse's Siddhartha was the source for Close to the Edge, and War and Peace for Gates of Delirium, and somethingoranother for Awaken. I have come to realize the role of reading, literacy and literature, spiritual and otherwise, in the musical renaissance that pullulated between 1964 and 1974. This work, and the three mentioned here, are the Himalayas of Yes and progressive rock. I would recommend reading Yogananda's pregnant footnote on the four shastras. Each side is different, and each takes its time. It is an acquired taste, as am I. I suspect your keen ear will receive this work, in good spirit. Off to listen and watchez...
@@retroreactions.... I dunno. I never made much of a connection between the two, but enjoyed both separately. Always gravitated toward the mystical and spiritual.
"They move fast they tell me, but I just can't believe they really mean to, there's someone to tell you, a course towards a Universal Season!"/ "A part we offer is our only Freedom" The ending of "The Ancient" is sublime.
In my opinion this is Yes magnum opus. I know this is not an easy album, it doesn’t rock like CTTE or Fragile, but is more like a 4 movement suite… The vocals, the intertwining melodies, the lyrics, the scope, never surpassed by Yes or anybody else…
:)...Nice reaction to a very profound Yes song. Prog head and it took me decades to unpack this song...EVERYTHING else YES has done, was very easy to unpack, even stuff like; Gates OD or Close TTE...But this album was on the back burner...Revisited it with patience around ten years ago ...So many things had passed in my life in the decades prior...This album readjusted my psyche...~a tear~ The Yes Keys to Ascension has a live version of this on DVD...It 180'd me upon seeing it... ua-cam.com/video/sIfAbQVkR3E/v-deo.html
'Tales from Topographic Oceans' (1973): in my opinion, the second masterpiece album from YES (the quintessence of prog rock) very "close" but after 'Close To The Edge'. An album that cost the group dearly: in creation time, work and money. A concept album for which Wakeman strongly disagreed (even if he would later try to publicly deny this disapproval): too long, too much "delirium", too bizarre, too much improvisation... bordering on ridiculous. The other members accepted Jon's idea, Rick eventually came around. And what a concept!!! Imagined by Anderson, the album would be designed as follows: Four compositions built around four fundamental texts of Hinduism as described and explained by the yogi (Hindu monk) Paramahansa Yogananda... all punctuated with inspiration from elements real history (such as the Vietnam War and ancient civilizations). Perhaps it was the YES album that required each member to push the boundaries of their virtuoso talent even further...and Anderson did the same with his voice. Result: Extraordinary, brilliant, epic! And of album masterpiece, the composition "The Revealing Science Of God (Dance Of The Dawn)" is, still in my opinion, the masterpiece [the second jewel: "The Remembering (High the Memory)"]. Thanks, Brandon. [NB: When Jon expressed his desire for the album to be played in full during the tour, Rick became angry and threatened to leave the band. Despite everything, during the tour, the album was played in its entirety. During the shows, Rick publicly demonstrated his disapproval through mocking gestures and disinterested behavior. At the end of the tour, Rick, having heard the ideas of what the group's next album would be, pretended not to recognize himself in this new musical style and bowed out... at the same time when he was told that his solo album 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' (1974) had just reached number one on the UK charts.]
Tales from Topographic Oceans is one of those albums I feel I "should" like, but the only cut I've ever really liked enough to come back and listen to is this one, The Revealing Science Of God. I know so many friends and acquaintances that are hyper prog rock fans like me that say this is one of the greatest prog albums ever but I've never really warmed up to it. 🤷♂ Maybe once every year or three I'll give the whole album a listen but the other cuts are just too much like randomized jams and not very well performed IMHO? (even some out of tune vocals?) I know, I'll be burned at the stake for such sacrilegious comments 😅 but, everybody doesn't have to like everything? 😊 Side note: I think Mike Post who produced and played synth on the theme to The Rockford Files TV show must have listened to Tales from Topographic Oceans or at least Yes and Rick Wakeman a lot? 🤔😁 Really it's just that Mike Post's MiniMoog parts are reminiscent of Rick Wakeman's MiniMoog soloing to me, especially the part that comes in around 4:08. FYI: It's said that The Rockford Files theme was one of the first popular song appearances for the synthesizer, spent four months on the charts, in August 1975 became a Top 10 hit in the U.S, and won a 1975 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the album John. Your take is equally as special to me. I'm sure that, like the Beatles, Yes must have inspired countless bands and musicians....
I agree 200% with your comment, in my opinion this double album is like a cake with different flavors wich don't combine each other, I like some, but not the whole cake. And yes... definitely Science... is the only one I kept listening to through the years. After Tales was released, a certain Rick Wakeman said... "I don't understand anything about that album"
@@retroreactions.... Hey Bud! tomorrow (Sunday) I will be an "Absent Friend" because the doctor recommended that I not listen to noises that harm my mental health 🥴😵💫. 😂🤣
No problem my friend! You must always follow the advice of Dr. Peter Gabriel...Well...instead you can spend all day listening to track #6 from "Abacab"!!! 😁😁😁 See you Monday..........😏
The Yes LP that always left me conflicted. I only like side 1 and the ending of side 4. "The Revealing Science Of God" has a few nice riffs and a really nice, catchy chorus. The end of side 4 ("The Ritual") is beautiful and a little bit similar to the end of “The Gates Of Delirium”. “Tales” is an ambitious work, but, in my opinion, too ambitious and, above all, much, much too long - four songs on four sides...questionable. I think I only listened to "Tales" once in a whole. Otherwise just one of the four sides here and there. The music runs past you for long stretches in a relatively inconsequential manner. I can hardly identify the riffs and melodies on sides 2 to 4 from memory. When I hear them I say, "Oh yes, I remember!" But overall it leaves me pretty uninspired. If it hadn't been a double album but a simple LP, it might have been quite interesting. But the band far exceeded their musical and artistic boundaries. Well-intentioned is not well-done. Not one of my favorite Yes works. The following LP "Relayer" is for me by far better.
That is not the original song - what’s all the sonic nonsense at the start? Wrong tempo, is this an AI generated mix. A travesty. Listen to the original
This is the later official release with lost or not used before intro. Not AI, SW remixes with an unbelievable section that was never added to the official first release. It's amazing imagine what these guys know about tracks with different sections not used at all!😮 A joy as always. ❤
An adventurous and highly spiritual musical "novel" about the path toward enlightenment... Thanks for watching! 🥰
Figured you, of all Tubers, would be capable of that extended concentration necessary for these broadband tours-de-force. At the time this came out, I learned two other things I'll share, since it relates to your work. Rick came to Yes from Strawbs, and his own favorite band at the time was Gryphon, who opened for Yes. Lots to love in their catalogues as well.
Thanks. This one was a bit of a challenge, SO much happening musically. It's as if no first reaction could ever do it justice. Another day at the office for Yes.... 😊
@@retroreactions.... Side 2 was a personal favorite. It calls for you to don the thinking cap, and close your eyes...imagine all the glorious challenge that lies before you, yet locked away from others. As a relayer of culture, you too will enjoy side two I fathom.
@@MisterWondrous he will love Gryphon.
@@pentagrammaton6793 It will strike a chord deep within his musical soul. But where to start? "Checkmate" "Second Spasm"? Alls well that ends well.
The whole album is a masterpiece.
No doubts about that from me! Thanks so much for tuning in!
This album is still ahead of its time 50 years after it was released.
Year after year, this album gets better with each listen. Upon it's release back in the 70s, it was far ahead of it's time.
This song is an absolute masterpiece
No arguments here. The musical richness here is off the charts! Thanks for tuning in Shane..
Indeed...
Thanks Brandon for taking us baby boomers back in time
OK! Here we go! I can't wait. This is probably my favorite song ever recorded on the planet Earth.
WOW, great to know. Hope my reaction did the song a sliver of justice!
From the conceptual art of Roger Dean to the mastery of the 4 movements that make up the work, this Yes proposal challenged all rock parameters.
Yes, I love that album cover to start. What's inside is surely special from start to end. Thanks so much for watching!
As others have said, this is a masterpiece and one of my all time favorites by the band. In fact I would rate _Topographic Oceans_ as my favorite Yes album, along with _Relayer._
Oh my gosh! Me too, definitely. Those two albums simply get more colossal with the passing of time...
Absolute Masterpiece. This Album holds a very special place in my heart.
The very first time I heard this Album, (‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’), was 'Live', at Leicester’s 'De Montfort Hall', UK, my hometown venue, in its entirety, (All 4 sides), on the 26th Nov' 1973. It was less than 2 weeks before the Album was officially released on December 7th, 1973.
I was just 17 years old. Imagine that. And I’d already been a fan for 3 Years.
I remember reading in the Music Papers I used to have, ‘Sounds’, ‘Melody Maker’ and the ‘New Musical Express’, they said it was a big gamble that ‘Yes’ were taking, playing the whole Album Live, as some of the earliest Shows on the ‘TFTO’ Tour, were pre the Album coming out.
So, as a 17 year old, there with my friends, standing right at the front, near the Stage, we were mesmerised, watching and listening, open mouthed in amazement, so close to our Musical Heroes. Almost within touching distance of Jon, Chris, Rick, Steve and Alan.
It was mind blowing, scintillating to see. I’ll never forget that night.
The Roger Dean style Images we all had on previous Album sleeves and the Posters all over my bedroom walls, had come to life, on Stage, before our very eyes! And we were blown away at the performance and the musical sounds from ‘TFTO’!
I couldn’t take my eyes off Jon, there just above me on Stage. We were transported to another world. It was incredible.
We were also lucky enough to get the whole of the ‘Close To The Edge’ Album too that night! With ‘Roundabout’ as a encore.
So what a Show that was!
But when I bought the ‘TFTO’ Album, just a couple of weeks later, I took it home and had a extra special smile on my face.
Because, I knew what was coming! Incredible.
And I’ve always Loved it. I still get goosebumps at the Opening Section of ‘The Revealing Science Of God’, as Jon’s voice comes in and the Music builds up to that amazing Crescendo! Fabulous. Awesome. Mind blowing!
These are just my own personal feelings.
🎶❤️🎶
Nice to see ya Eddie! Wow thanks for sharing those wonderful memories. You know the exact dates!! Surely you must have had tears and goosebumps...sounds like a most EPIC concert! And you're first today! Proves how much you love this song... 🙂 🥇
@eddiecriglington: What a wonderful telling of what must have been a fantastic concert hearing all of Tales and Close to the Edge. Thanks for sharing your memories of that night. High the Memory, eh? Somewhat sadly for me - by the time I saw the band in March of 74 they had dropped The Remembering from the set list. Over the years it has turned out that The Remembering is my favorite track from Tales From Topographic Oceans. No worries though, it was an incredible concert for me as well. For me Tales is still fresh sounding and is a wonderful adventure to go on any time I listen to it. A masterful and very moving album.
Being only 13 when you had your experience; I can appreciate the profundity to which you hold this album...I didn't see YES until 77... Imagine going back in time to that night; knowing all that you know now?...People would be asking you; " Why are you crying?" :)...As you well know, I'm sure, YES is the music of a lifetime. I Hope your health is amazing and your life is filled with friends and family and love...:)
I'm very curious to see if the other 3 songs sound similar or completely different!
One of the “songs” that shaped my understanding of cosmic duality of existence and musical simplicity/complexity, dissonance/harmony, and mind altering beauty.
Well said...love that! Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts Robert..
Ladies and gentlemen YES the greatest show on earth 🙏🎶
👍😎
Thanks for watching Les. I always think of you and Jeff now, whenever I react to Yes, and what huge and lifelong fans you are...
Jeff! You both found this one early! 😀
@@retroreactions.... notification worked this time
Nice!
A song that keeps on giving year on year on year I have spent over 50 years listening to this album and this song in particular and it still feels as fresh and entrancing every time. Masterful in every way. I have waited in anticipation all my life for these moments.
Yes, complex songs like this are way too powerful and meaningful to ever get old... Happy that it still resonates so deep for you.. Thanks for watching my friend!
...moment...moment.
Tales From Topographic Oceans is my favorite album of all time!!!!
So complex and rich, it really takes many many listens no doubt to begin grasping all the musical ideas in their epics like this one...
It's pretty EPIC, all right.
😌
Another epic Masterpiece from the greatest band there ever was or ever will be!🤩
YES! And I suspect there are MANY more masterpieces from them that I have yet to know.....
There are many more!🤩@@retroreactions....
👍😎
Alan White’s first appearance on drums. He really shines in places on this album. This is my second favorite of the four songs. I strongly suggest doing them in order.
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts Mark. I will definitely complete this album eventually...
Alltime best Yes album. Now 50 years old! I remember taking it home fir first listen like it was yesterday!
Wow!
Awesome! I assume you'd state under oath that after 50 years, it hasn't gotten old or boring to you 😊
@@retroreactions.... I felt at the time it was Yes's best album and I've always felt that way. I love many Yes albums that followed but there's something about the creativity and musicianship on Topographic Oceans that sets it apart and in its own category musically.
I still love hearing it.....
This song gets better each time you listen, there are lots of little bits you miss on the first listen that makes the song richer, along with Chris (RIP) Squire almost playing lead on bass(always my favorite part of listening to Yes)
Absolutely. That's exactly what was happening by my third listen! Chris bold and brilliant as ever in this one...
As usual, everything gets even better each time I listen...so much to digest here! 🥰
Strongly recommend listening to the following sides...
Side 2 is utterly perfect.
It is a LOT to grasp. Makes for many listenings.
I MUST....
Yes, and discover new things each time!
I'm so glad you did this amazing track!
Yes, it was between this, Siberian and To Be Over...but those will come. Anything I choose from Yes is basically guaranteed to be excellent! Thanks for watching..
@@retroreactions.... Doesn't listening to this just make you want to get your hands on a moog?
Oh YES, but I'll take just sitting in a room watching Rick work his magic on the keys...maybe Tony and Keith can be there too haha....
...loved that album from day 1, when it came out ( 7th of December 1973 - I was tender 17 then)... I just came freshly from their Yessongs, kind of their 'best of' until that point, and 'Tales...' seem to take it all a bit further, higher, deeper, although it takes patience - no radio bangers on this album for sure! I was at the time also very immersed in the 'Autobiography of a Yogi', which is still one of the most influential readings for me. 💖
Hello Jörn! Thanks for sharing those great memories. Nice that you had the full experience by reading the book as well...Thanks for tuning in! 😊
WAIT!!!! FACTCHECK! I think somebody in Wikipedia was mistaken about VIETNAM references being associated with this song. That was "YOUR is NO DISGRACE". Any references to fighting are generic inferences. TALES was inspired by Paramhansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda was an Indian guru who came to the US and taught Eastern spirituality to his followers, including many self-realization techniques. Hare Krishna devotees were followers. There are passages in the book describing the FOUR PART SHASTRIC scriptures - The first being The Shruti -- The Revealed Scriptures a collection of mandalas of hymns "directly heard" or "revealed" to us whose primary concern is peace, prosperity and liberation to a better world. Yes portrays 'this reveal' with the beginning of Time and our gradual awareness of the evolving outer world as it corresponds to our inner growing revelations.
Thanks for the clarification. Makes sense. I have to remember that Wiki can easily have wrong info.
good job bro
In 1973, I was 18. Still play this album often! 💙🎶
Nice, it's that good I hear 😊 Oh so much Yes to still discover....😌
@@retroreactions.... They put out so many albums in the 70s... one after he next! 🙂✨
Yes, I just estimated that with 1 Yes reaction per month, my Yes journey will be complete in 2039!!!
@@retroreactions.... 🤣
My Favorite album-sorry so many could not grasp it-Thanks for playing
Glad you love this song and album! Thanks so much for watching..
See this may not be Yes's most perfect or balanced album (I guess that would be Close to the Edge), however this record dares to go much higher and further, and when it pays off, nothing comes even close to how sublime it gets. 🙃
I have always preferred this to "Close to the Edge." I think it has all the power, but it's elegant and it has so much structural strength. It's more classical in its construction and that pulls me in. I'm also somewhat tired of "Siberian Khatru," to tell the honest truth (they opened every show with it for about 20 years) but there's not a single moment on "Topographic" where it doesn't have my full attention.
Perfectly said, and I only know one song from it so far! Nice to see ya!
Good to know. I suspect I will have a similar response to the rest of this album...🙂
_LYRICS_
*Shrutis: The Revealing Science of God can be seen as an ever-opening
flower in which simple truths emerge examining the complexities and
magic of the past and how we should not forget the song that has
been left to us to hear. The knowledge of God is a search, constant
and clear.*
Dawn of light lying between a silence and sold sources,
Chased amid fusions of wonder, in moments hardly seen forgotten,
Coloured in pastures of chance dancing leaves cast spells of
challenge,
Amused but real in thought, we fled from the sea whole.
Dawn of thought transferred through moments of days under searching
earth
Revealing corridors of time provoking memories, disjointed but with
purpose,
Craving penetrations offer links with the self instructors sharp
And tender love as we took to the air, a picture of distance.
Dawn of our power we amuse redescending as fast as misused
Expression, as only to teach love as to reveal passion chasing
Late into corners, and we danced from the ocean.
Dawn of love sent within us colours of awakening among the many
Won't to follow, only tunes of a different age.
As the links span our endless caresses for the freedom of life
everlasting.
Talk to the sunlight caller
Soft summer mover distance mine.
Called out a tune but I never saw the face
Heard but not replaced
I ventured to talk, but I never lost my place
Cast out a spell rendered for the light of day
Lost in lights array
I ventured to see, as the sound began to play
What happened to this song we once knew so well
Signed promise for moments caught within the spell
I must have waited all my life for this
Moment moment
The future poised with the splendour just begun
The light we were as one
And crowded through the curtains of liquid into sun
And for a moment when our world had filled the skies
Magic turned our eyes
To feast on the treasure set for our strange device
What happened to wonders we once knew so well
Did we forget what happened surely we can tell
We must have waited all our lives for this
Moment moment moment
Starlight, movement, reasons
Release forward
Tallest rainbow
Sun shower seasons
Life flower reasons
They move fast, they tell me,
But I just can't believe that I can feel it
There's someone to tell you,
Amid the challenge we look around in unison with you
Getting over overhanging trees
Let them rape the forest
Thoughts would send our fusion
Clearly to be home
Getting over wars we do not mean
Or so it seems so clearly
Sheltered with our passion
Clearly to be home
They move fast, they tell me,
But I just can't believe they really mean to
There's someone, to tell you,
And I just can't believe our song will leave you
Skyline teacher
War land seeker
Send out poison
Cast iron leader
And through the rhythm of moving slowly
Sent through the rhythm work out the story
Move over glory to sons of old fighters past.
Young Christians see if from the beginning
Old people feel it, that's what they're saying.
Move over glory to sons of old fighters past.
They move fast, they tell me,
But I just can't believe they really mean to.
There's someone, to tell you
A course towards a universal season.
Getting over overhanging trees
Let them rape the forest
They might stand and leave them
Clearly to be home
Getting over wars we do not mean
We charm the movement suffers
Call out all our memories
Clearly to be home
We've moved fast
We need love
A part we offer is our only freedom
What happened to this song we once knew so well
Signed promise for moments caught within the spell
We must have waited all our lives for this
Moment moment
Past present movers moments we'll process the future, but only
through him we know send flowered rainbows
A piece apart chased flowers of the dark and lights of songs to
follow and show all we feel for and know of
Cast round
You seekers of the truth accepting that reason will relive and
breath and hope and chase and love
For you and you and you.
About as deep and introspective as lyrics get! Thanks for watching..
Great song for today. I’ve liked this song for many years! Quite the epic album! So much more for you to cover from this amazing band.
Awesome! Unreal, I mean reacting once a month indefinitely, it would probably take me 15+ years to cover every Yes song from 1970-1999! 🤯
I guess I will be planning a channel celebration in 2039 for the end of my Yes journey...then I can replace them with Porcupine Tree 2, led by Steven Wilson Jr.!!!
I like the idea of PT2! Your channel will be around for quite awhile I’m assuming. Also my friend, I did get released earlier and am resting comfortably at home now! Your support means a lot to me. ❤ I’ve still got to take it easy for a few weeks.
Yes, I certainly hope so. Lord knows I have enough music to cover me here for the rest of my life! Oh, so glad to hear you are back home. Yes, please follow docs orders and best wishes for a good recovery ❤
Getting ready to watch Brandon, you're going to be blown away!🤩
👍😎
Yes, definitely too much for my ears and soul to digest in 1 listen...hope I did OK, of course you've all had 50 extra years to savor it! 🙂 Thanks for watching!!
Yeah, I've heard the song hundreds of times and it takes me on a different journey every time. Each time you listen to it you can focus on a different instrument and hear the genius of every one of these brilliant musicians. Keep going on the rest of the album!🤩@@retroreactions....
Out of this world music by musical geniuses.
As you remember I was more into Genesis, this journey reminds me "Supper's ready" but Yes is really something else, powerful, deep, adventurous, voices and lyrics are more melted together like a grand chorus, I didn't listen to this masterpiece enough, I believe I wasn't on the same frequency another time in the past, but I always remembered this album sleeve somewhere, maybe calling me to get in their spiritual world and magic to discover. Thank you, it was a great trip. So today I began to make steps in their World 😉
I listen to this ALL the time. It's my jam. Spiritual guru stuff. I love it!!
Wow, that's great to know. Glad I chose this one today!
It is a wonderful choice. Happy Friday!! 😀💙🎵🎶🎶
Same to you! I just bought asparagus, I think I will have some tonight!!
Ha! lol hahaha!! I've been moving dirt and planting all day. It was nice. 🍅🧅🍋🌶🥬🫒🥀🌻😃😃😃😃Made me so happy!!!!!!
That's great! I don't get out much, but I know that "grounding" with the earth is very beneficial! 🌎 🌳 🌞
You deserve at least 500 more subscribers from this reaction! Great job! 😊
Aw, I really appreciate that wonderful compliment! Always try hard to catch a lot and really feel the music, especially with bands like YES! Thanks so much for watching..
I love this more with each listen
I totally see that. Even on my 2nd and 3rd listens I got so much more from it! Thanks..
4 EPIC Sides Of And Absolutely Splendid Record~In Which I Didn't Like At First~But Warned Up To Eventually...This Is One My Favorite Tracks In The LP...
You're using the newer mix with the ocean sounds as the opener. I love this version. (Its not the actual 1973 release, but it's beautiful)
Think it is the Steven Wilson version? The intro made the song too long to fit on a vinyl side.
@@scifimonkey3 It was released a few years before the Wilson remix, although it does appear on the Wilson remix.
Always confusing with Spotify. They labeled this one as the original. They had a 2003 remastered version which I chose to avoid. But hey, I'm glad I got those ocean sounds!!
YES❣️❣️❣️The greatest band on this or any other planet❣️❣️❣️🪐🪐🪐🛸🛸🛸⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍😎
214 over the rainbow, too?
@@lesblatnyak5947 Absolutely❗️👍😎
You got that right Jeff!🤩
I hope if aliens exist they get a hold of a handful of Yes songs to see what earthlings are truly capable of....
I agree! I would also say that if I'm fortunate to make it to Heaven, I hope God is playing YES music up there!🤩@@retroreactions....
Fantastic review as usual, Yes take us all on a journey of enlightenment, there’s ebb and flow ,different corners ,but always a building towards a higher plain till they release you back down to earth !! ( and your back in the room !! ) Blimey it’s good :: love it ( just discovered Paul McCarthy has this record in his collection at home , can’t get much better than that ! ) thanks
Thanks, a tad overwhelming (OK more than a tad!), but you know I tried my best 🙂 You described the journey they offer perfectly! Yes, I'd say Paul knows his music.. 😀
And look at that dackdrop.....SWEET!
Gorgeous album artwork...and I fit perfectly between those rocks LOL...
Best Album ever---Thank You-- Brian Birch
If anyone didn't know "Yes," this is the album of introduction to the band. Welcome newcomers to the World of YES!
The best track from this dense album but I must admit that I always listen to the live version from Keys To Ascension instead of the studio song
Hi there! I can imagine how many stunning live versions exist for many of their epics. Nice to see ya 🙂
Made me smile. Thanks Brandon. Hope you are well.
It’s almost too good !!
Topographic always difficult to get into on a 1st hearing.... after 3, 4 it is magical and inspiring! :)
You are so right, it was even better by my third listen today! Thanks for tuning in!
Already smitten by Roundabout and Close to the Edge, I raced to own and memorize this masterpiece when it came out, and also bought the Autobiography of a Yogi, which was the source for this work, quite as Hesse's Siddhartha was the source for Close to the Edge, and War and Peace for Gates of Delirium, and somethingoranother for Awaken. I have come to realize the role of reading, literacy and literature, spiritual and otherwise, in the musical renaissance that pullulated between 1964 and 1974. This work, and the three mentioned here, are the Himalayas of Yes and progressive rock. I would recommend reading Yogananda's pregnant footnote on the four shastras. Each side is different, and each takes its time. It is an acquired taste, as am I. I suspect your keen ear will receive this work, in good spirit. Off to listen and watchez...
Wow, so you had the full experience. Reading those sources of inspiration would surely give the song a deeper and clearer meaning...
@@retroreactions.... I dunno. I never made much of a connection between the two, but enjoyed both separately. Always gravitated toward the mystical and spiritual.
"They move fast they tell me, but I just can't believe they really mean to, there's someone to tell you, a course towards a Universal Season!"/ "A part we offer is our only Freedom"
The ending of "The Ancient" is sublime.
Each title in this album is so intriguing and evocative. Hoping for much more sublime music in the other 3 songs....
Well put!
In my opinion this is Yes magnum opus. I know this is not an easy album, it doesn’t rock like CTTE or Fragile, but is more like a 4 movement suite… The vocals, the intertwining melodies, the lyrics, the scope, never surpassed by Yes or anybody else…
Am I the only one who heard the word "wasted" in final vocal delivery ?
:)...Nice reaction to a very profound Yes song.
Prog head and it took me decades to unpack this song...EVERYTHING else YES has done, was very easy to unpack, even stuff like; Gates OD or Close TTE...But this album was on the back burner...Revisited it with patience around ten years ago ...So many things had passed in my life in the decades prior...This album readjusted my psyche...~a tear~ The Yes Keys to Ascension has a live version of this on DVD...It 180'd me upon seeing it...
ua-cam.com/video/sIfAbQVkR3E/v-deo.html
'Tales from Topographic Oceans' (1973): in my opinion, the second masterpiece album from YES (the quintessence of prog rock) very "close" but after 'Close To The Edge'. An album that cost the group dearly: in creation time, work and money. A concept album for which Wakeman strongly disagreed (even if he would later try to publicly deny this disapproval): too long, too much "delirium", too bizarre, too much improvisation... bordering on ridiculous. The other members accepted Jon's idea, Rick eventually came around. And what a concept!!! Imagined by Anderson, the album would be designed as follows: Four compositions built around four fundamental texts of Hinduism as described and explained by the yogi (Hindu monk) Paramahansa Yogananda... all punctuated with inspiration from elements real history (such as the Vietnam War and ancient civilizations). Perhaps it was the YES album that required each member to push the boundaries of their virtuoso talent even further...and Anderson did the same with his voice. Result: Extraordinary, brilliant, epic! And of album masterpiece, the composition "The Revealing Science Of God (Dance Of The Dawn)" is, still in my opinion, the masterpiece [the second jewel: "The Remembering (High the Memory)"]. Thanks, Brandon.
[NB: When Jon expressed his desire for the album to be played in full during the tour, Rick became angry and threatened to leave the band. Despite everything, during the tour, the album was played in its entirety. During the shows, Rick publicly demonstrated his disapproval through mocking gestures and disinterested behavior. At the end of the tour, Rick, having heard the ideas of what the group's next album would be, pretended not to recognize himself in this new musical style and bowed out... at the same time when he was told that his solo album 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' (1974) had just reached number one on the UK charts.]
Tales from Topographic Oceans is one of those albums I feel I "should" like, but the only cut I've ever really liked enough to come back and listen to is this one, The Revealing Science Of God. I know so many friends and acquaintances that are hyper prog rock fans like me that say this is one of the greatest prog albums ever but I've never really warmed up to it. 🤷♂ Maybe once every year or three I'll give the whole album a listen but the other cuts are just too much like randomized jams and not very well performed IMHO? (even some out of tune vocals?) I know, I'll be burned at the stake for such sacrilegious comments 😅 but, everybody doesn't have to like everything? 😊
Side note: I think Mike Post who produced and played synth on the theme to The Rockford Files TV show must have listened to Tales from Topographic Oceans or at least Yes and Rick Wakeman a lot? 🤔😁 Really it's just that Mike Post's MiniMoog parts are reminiscent of Rick Wakeman's MiniMoog soloing to me, especially the part that comes in around 4:08. FYI: It's said that The Rockford Files theme was one of the first popular song appearances for the synthesizer, spent four months on the charts, in August 1975 became a Top 10 hit in the U.S, and won a 1975 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the album John. Your take is equally as special to me. I'm sure that, like the Beatles, Yes must have inspired countless bands and musicians....
I agree 200% with your comment, in my opinion this double album is like a cake with different flavors wich don't combine each other, I like some, but not the whole cake. And yes... definitely Science... is the only one I kept listening to through the years.
After Tales was released, a certain Rick Wakeman said... "I don't understand anything about that album"
Hey bud!
@@retroreactions.... Hey Bud! tomorrow (Sunday) I will be an "Absent Friend" because the doctor recommended that I not listen to noises that harm my mental health 🥴😵💫.
😂🤣
No problem my friend! You must always follow the advice of Dr. Peter Gabriel...Well...instead you can spend all day listening to track #6 from "Abacab"!!! 😁😁😁 See you Monday..........😏
The Yes LP that always left me conflicted. I only like side 1 and the ending of side 4. "The Revealing Science Of God" has a few nice riffs and a really nice, catchy chorus. The end of side 4 ("The Ritual") is beautiful and a little bit similar to the end of “The Gates Of Delirium”. “Tales” is an ambitious work, but, in my opinion, too ambitious and, above all, much, much too long - four songs on four sides...questionable. I think I only listened to "Tales" once in a whole. Otherwise just one of the four sides here and there. The music runs past you for long stretches in a relatively inconsequential manner. I can hardly identify the riffs and melodies on sides 2 to 4 from memory. When I hear them I say, "Oh yes, I remember!" But overall it leaves me pretty uninspired. If it hadn't been a double album but a simple LP, it might have been quite interesting. But the band far exceeded their musical and artistic boundaries. Well-intentioned is not well-done. Not one of my favorite Yes works. The following LP "Relayer" is for me by far better.
That is not the original song - what’s all the sonic nonsense at the start? Wrong tempo, is this an AI generated mix. A travesty. Listen to the original
This is the later official release with lost or not used before intro. Not AI, SW remixes with an unbelievable section that was never added to the official first release. It's amazing imagine what these guys know about tracks with different sections not used at all!😮 A joy as always. ❤