The dog ate their homework, the producer wasn't much cop - and the excuses don't end there. According to Jon Anderson, he "took a step back and let the other guys do their stuff" - which is akin to saying, "hey, it wasn't MY fault!", but really, they all shoulder the blame for an album that lacks direction. Okay, so the songs are still mostly pretty good and there are some nice moments here and there, but the whole is weaker than previous Yes albums. Released right in the middle of Punk Rock, Yes turn out a set of songs shorter than previous songs. Two songs top six minutes ( the first and last ) but nothing here really stretches out, or stretches Yes, for that matter. Yes seem to be on auto-pilot, but Yes on auto-pilot is still pretty good, you know? The same line-up that recorded 'Going For The One' are all present and correct, and that's something in itself. The same line-up two albums running? Well, er, Yes! So, 'Future Times - Rejoice' gets us started in familiar Yes fashion, with typical Jon Anderson vocals and lyrics and a nice rhythm even if Steve Howe suddenly seems to have little to do. Rick Wakeman has plenty to do, his parts are everywhere, but these are good parts, great keyboard parts full of melody. The 'Rejoice' part of 'Future Times - Rejoice' is very pleasing and everything is set up nicely, especially for an album for which sleeve designers Hipgnosis saw fit to literally throw a tomato at an uninspired sleeve idea and call it quits. Roger Dean would be back for the next album, after that, things go all eighties - but i'm getting ahead of myself. 'Don't Kill The Whale' was a minor hit and it's a nice pop song, but don't you get the impression that Yes have retreated somewhat. A nice pop song was 'Close To The Edge' full of nice pop songs? Well, no, Yes were doing something else then, something fairly unique. 'Tormato' is just an album. A good album, but just an album. It's not important and doesn't really mean anything.
Steve Howe does a few nice parts through 'Don't Kill The Whale', Rick and Jon dominate the very nice and sweet 'Madigral' and 'Release Release' is pretty damn funky for my money. So, 'Tormato' is actually quite solid then? Well, yeah, it is. 'Release Release' even has a punky atmosphere with the guitars and a pretty damn good Jon Anderson vocal to boot. 'Arriving UFO' just about tops six minutes actually, in addition to the opening and closing songs. An experimental kind of song, experimental for 'Tormato' at least. Some interesting noises and melodic ideas even if the whole doesn't really amount to very much. 'Circus Of Heaven' sees Chris Squire do some vaguely reggae sounds with his bass and the whole song seems full of sunshine and beaches - very lightweight, actually. Not terrible, it's certainly listenable, but this is a huge step down from peak Yes form. The closing, terribly titled 'On The Silent Wings Of Freedom' starts out as another nod to Punk, although being a song featuring virtuoso playing and plenty of prog keyboards, not really very punk, after all. 'Onward' is quite nice, and something nice plus different. Minimalist for Yes, a simple bass line, a very beautiful Jon Anderson vocal, a Jon Anderson in ballad mode and singing well enough to bring a tear to your eye. It doesn't sound like Yes of the early Seventies, but it does sound good, it sounds modern. Practically nothing else here sounds modern at all. Still, I really love 'Onward'. God, I really love Yes. I give Yes five out of five, you know? I give 'Tormato' a respectable 7½ out of 10, even though every single member of Yes are kind of apologetic about the whole thing and will tell you, "oh, 'tormato' really wasn't very good". Well, it is good. It's not great, by any stretch, but good? Oh for sure, yeah, it is.
Track listing:
Future Times - Rejoice
Don't Kill The Whale
Madrigal
Release Release
Arriving UFO
Circus Of Heaven
Onward
On The Silent Wings Of Freedom
Steve Howe does a few nice parts through 'Don't Kill The Whale', Rick and Jon dominate the very nice and sweet 'Madigral' and 'Release Release' is pretty damn funky for my money. So, 'Tormato' is actually quite solid then? Well, yeah, it is. 'Release Release' even has a punky atmosphere with the guitars and a pretty damn good Jon Anderson vocal to boot. 'Arriving UFO' just about tops six minutes actually, in addition to the opening and closing songs. An experimental kind of song, experimental for 'Tormato' at least. Some interesting noises and melodic ideas even if the whole doesn't really amount to very much. 'Circus Of Heaven' sees Chris Squire do some vaguely reggae sounds with his bass and the whole song seems full of sunshine and beaches - very lightweight, actually. Not terrible, it's certainly listenable, but this is a huge step down from peak Yes form. The closing, terribly titled 'On The Silent Wings Of Freedom' starts out as another nod to Punk, although being a song featuring virtuoso playing and plenty of prog keyboards, not really very punk, after all. 'Onward' is quite nice, and something nice plus different. Minimalist for Yes, a simple bass line, a very beautiful Jon Anderson vocal, a Jon Anderson in ballad mode and singing well enough to bring a tear to your eye. It doesn't sound like Yes of the early Seventies, but it does sound good, it sounds modern. Practically nothing else here sounds modern at all. Still, I really love 'Onward'. God, I really love Yes. I give Yes five out of five, you know? I give 'Tormato' a respectable 7½ out of 10, even though every single member of Yes are kind of apologetic about the whole thing and will tell you, "oh, 'tormato' really wasn't very good". Well, it is good. It's not great, by any stretch, but good? Oh for sure, yeah, it is.
Track listing:
Future Times - Rejoice
Don't Kill The Whale
Madrigal
Release Release
Arriving UFO
Circus Of Heaven
Onward
On The Silent Wings Of Freedom