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Things were bad for Yes during the making of Tormato, and the problems eventually led to Anderson and Wakeman leaving the band. If it weren't for that, I have no doubt this would have been an excellent album. As it is, Tormato sounds a little like a demo tape. It does not posses the usual Yes lushness in the arrangements, Wakeman in particular choosing to use the same cheap sounding synth tone throughout, with none of the multi-layered sophistication we normally expect - it really does sound as if he'd had enough. Fair play to Anderson, even though we know he was at the end of his tether as well, he still seems to be pulling his weight, and his vocal performance is top-notch as usual. The others (Howe/Squire/White), do sound like their hearts are still in it, although Squire has chosen to use some sort of half-baked "harmonized" bass sound. The best tracks on the album are Future Times, Rejoice, Don't Kill the Whale (is Anderson really singing "dig it, dig it"? ouch!), Madrigal (brilliant performances from all here - production quality is high too), Release Release (the last few bars on this track are a highlight), Onward (drags a little maybe) and On the Silent Wings of Freedom (sadly, this suffers the most from sounding unfinished - it would definately had been a classic Yes track). Arriving UFO does have an interesting development section, but along with Circus of Heaven (what were they thinking?), it is decidedly weak. Some words regarding the cover - absolutely awful. The photo on the back with the guys all wearing matching jackets (with their names on no less!) is one of the most dorky rock images I have ever seen. I also don't like the squashed tomato on the front - were Yes trying to tell us something? If you were put off by the album's reputation, the cover is certainly the kiss of death. This is really a three and a half star album, as I do think some of the material here is very enjoyable, and it's still essential if you're a Yes fan. those more casually interested in Yes or more generally into Prog Rock should stick to those albums preceeding Tormato, or check out Drama, the underrated follow-up. BTW, don't bother importing the HDCD version from Japan, Rhino's edition is the best sounding release available.Read full review
having bought the album on vynil and played 4ever it was time 2 give in and replace it with cd.jon anderson,s outstanding vocal,s coupled with rick wakeman,s keyboards and chris squires thundering bass make this album rock. future times--release release--circus of heaven--on the silent wings of freedom,all great tracks,but the 1 that does it 4 me is arriving ufo.absolute brilliance.buy it,u wont b dissapointed.
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