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Rating: Every great rock group has had to go through a not-so-lucky phase marked by lack of inspiration, overly smooth musicality, decadent style, creative fatigue, internal cliques among band members, poor arrangements, confused ideas, silly lyrics. Even if the group is called Yes.
How can this happen to one of the multinationals of cultured prog-rock? The fashion of the moment. It’s that terrible 1978 that serves as a turning point for them and for a much better future to come. They took three years after Relayer in 1974 to indulge their solo cravings. Wakeman returns to the keyboards. After the excellent Going for the One in '77 and the glorious tour, not even a year passes before "Tormato" is found in stores.
Beautiful and printed with telling signs on the cover. Rick Wakeman will disappear after this work until 1996 for a temporary reunion tour and again in 2004. It is the worst Yes album ever. To be picked up last and out of curiosity. It can be listened to once or twice at most. Dust will be its best friend. It's easily forgotten. It’s difficult to give it a characterization. The lyrics talk about science fiction, saving the whales, the UFOs are coming, the silent wings of freedom. Quite a mess and the music is even worse.
What leaves one baffled are the arrangements, horrible. They use semi-vocoders on Anderson to give that much-adopted sci-fi disco feel, the keyboards sound like toys, Howe's guitars doodle here and there, Squire plays too loud and often drowns out the others, Alan White still manages to give rhythm to all this. In short, they attempt to put space and fantasy into their musical icon. It was better not to. In fact, the Yes themselves have stated that the band at that time was unrecognizable. Studio arguments, repeated moments of fatigue. A difficult and useless delivery. Squire is in complete disagreement with the stylistic line taken. He already had "Drama" in his sights. Fortunately.
Is anything salvageable? mmmmmh.... "Madrigal" with the barely-there harpsichord, "Arriving UFO" a copy of "Relayer" at times, the single "Don't Kill the Whale" slightly interesting, when the keyboard solo arrives you feel like smashing the player, "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" has a good Squire-driven "Dramesque" instrumental intro. Howe finally starts playing a bit, Anderson then sings over it but is completely unnecessary. Even this is ruined.
On "Circus of Heaven" Anderson's son, Damion, performs. All it needed was the Zecchino d'Oro. The other tracks make you work the remote as hard as you can to skip them. For this review, I had to re-listen a bit. My day is ruined. Warning to all: avoid buying it first. Fortunately, there is much more to listen to before and after. It's a collector's whim. In the end, trust me on this. The only thing they got right was the cover: a nice tomato splat on Yes's nice dress. Then fortunately cleaned up properly.
Joe Cavalli
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Don't Kill the Whale (03:56)
(Jon Anderson/Chris Squire)
You're first I'm last
You're thirst I'm asked to justify
Killing our last heaven beast
Don't hunt the whale
In beauty vision
Do we offer much
If we reason with destiny, gonna lose our touch
Don't kill the whale
Rejoice they sing
They worship their own space
In a moment of love, they will die for their grace
Don't kill the whale
If time will allow
We will judge all who came
In the wake of our new age to stand for the frail
Don't kill the whale
CETACEI....
03 Madrigal (02:23)
(Jon Anderson/Rick Wakeman)
I will be there said my friend of a distant life
Covered in greens of a golden age, set in stone
Follow me, "he sounded of dreams supreme" follow me
Drifting within the glow and the after-glow of the eve
And if that firelight, I could match the inner flame
Sacred ships do sail the seventh age
Cast off your garments of fear, replace them with love
Most of all play with the game of the age
Highest of places remain all as one with you
Giving us light and the freedom of the day
And if that firelight, I could match the inner flame
Sacred ships do sail the seventh age
And have always been here
Celestial travellers have always been here with us
Set in the homes of the universe we have yet to go
Countless expansions will arrive and flow inside of us
My friend, he of fantasy, dancing with the spirit of the age
04 Release, Release (05:46)
(Jon Anderson/Alan White/Chris Squire)
Have you heard before, hit it out, don't look back
Rock is the medium of our generation
Stand for every right, kick it out, hear you shout
For the right of all of creation
We've heard before, but we just don't seem to move
The pressure's on is there lack of concentration
Power defy our needs, lift us up, show us now
Show us how amid the rack of confusion
Drive in thoughts of high, satisfy, in a plan
Set it out for all to understand it
We've heard before, but we just don't seem to move
The pressure's on is there lack of concentration we are ...
Lost and wondering, maybe, how it is
Seems to me, it's as simple as this
No matter, where you go, you're going to find
You won't see me in front, but you can't leave me behind
Power at first to the needs of each others' days
Simple to lose in the void sounds of anarchy's calling ways
All unaccounted for in the craziness of power
In the craziness
Release all, release all, or abandon your hope for your brother
Release all, release all, or abandon your hope for your sister
Release, release, enough controllers
Show some signs of appreciated loyalties
Release, release, enough controllers
Show some signs of appreciated loyalties
You're gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna get it right!
Straight jacket, freedom's march, is it all, far beyond
Our reason of understanding
Campaign everything, anti-right, anti-left
Anticipate the love of creation
Stand for every right
Kick it out, hear you shout
Further the right
Further the right
Further the right
Of all of creation
Power at first to the needs of each others' days
Simple to lose in the void sounds of anarchy's calling ways
All unaccounted for in the craziness of power
In the craziness
Release all, release all, or abandon your hope for your brother
Release all, release all, or abandon your hope for your sister
Release, release
Release, release
Release, release
Release, release
05 Arriving UFO (06:03)
(Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman)
I could not take it oh so seriously really
When you called and said you'd seen a UFO
But then it dawned on me the message in writing
Spelt out a meeting never dreamed of before
I looked out, in the night
Strange and startling
Was this voice of time just saying
There's got to be a linking of everyone
Got to be a centre
It all comes flooding back
Arriving thru eons of times immortal power of the future to behold
Vessels of a different impression, none that we could ever hope to have
known
So look out, in the night
Once they arrive
On that perennial light
Impress a bolder empire of energy
In the ships we see
The coming of outer space
You say there's no reason to conjure
With the force as it has been known to be see
You say I'm a fool, a believer
Put your feet on the earth it is green
But look out, in the night
Wait for they arrive
To start such sciences anew
Here it is the coming of outer space
Such a pure delight
The coming of outer space
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07 Onward (04:02)
Contained in everything I do
There's a love I feel for you
Proclaimed in everything I write
You're the light, burning brightly
Onward through the night
Onward through the night
Onward through the night of my life
Displayed in all the things I see
There's a love you show to me
Portrayed in all the things you say
You're the day leading the way
Onward through the night
Onward through the night
Onward through the night of my life
Onward through the night
Onward through the night
Onward through the night of my life
08 On the Silent Wings of Freedom (07:46)
(Jon Anderson/Chris Squire)
On the silent wings of freedom
Where I ofer myself midst the balancing of the sun
On the winds of celestial seasons
That would carry me on, midst the balance of being one
On the dream of our love eternal
That will eventually bring our living once more with you
Where we are coming from
Or where we go
We only know e come with sound
Where we are coming from
Or where we go
We only know we go around and around
On the back of your forty-second screamdown
Do you choose to be lost midst the challenge of being one
On the flight of regardless feelings
As you hurtle to fear midst the challenge of everyone
On the darkest night so painful
Do you hunger for love midst the torture of being one
On the passing light of easing
Have you seen you inside midst the being of everyone
To the common goal of freedom
Where we offer ourselves midst the balancing of the sun
Where we are coming froom
Or where we go
We only know we come with sound
Where we are coming from
Or where we go
We only know we go around and around
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