Tormato

Artist: Yes
Label: Atlantic / Wea
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Original recording reissued
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 075678267123
EAN: 0075678267123
ASIN: B000002J1I

Release Date: 1994-08-16

Tormato

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Tracks:

A. Future Times B. Rejoice
Don't Kill The Whale
Madrigal
Release, Release
Arriving UFO
Circus Of Heaven
Onward
On The Silent Wings Of Freedom

Similar Items:

Going for the One
Going for the One
Union
The Yes Album
Drama

Amazon.com

Yes singer Jon Anderson has a voice so high it makes Minnie Mouse seem the epitome of machismo and the band's fascination with pompous and dull intergalactic fantasy make it a prime target for Saturday Night Live parody. But there's no arguing with the players' proficiency. Bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and drummer Alan White are all tops in their game. Tormato is far from the best Yes album, but the indisputable power of "Release, Release" where the band goofingly state "Rock is the medium of our generation" is worth the price of admission alone. Besides, just figuring out what exactly they mean with song titles such as "Arriving UFO" and "Don't Kill the Whale" is probably almost as cool as staring at the Hipgnosis designed cover. A period piece without question. --Rob O'Connor

Customer Reviews:

Yes "Tormato".......2005-09-10

I liked this album way back when i owned it in vinyl. This album is just another side of Yes with some unique and memorable songs on it. Its a CD that will appeal to some and not others...

Save "Tormato" for a rainy day.......2005-02-11

"Tormato" occupies a wrongly reviled place in the Yes canon. There's no doubt that it's a disappointment after the string of masterpieces and near-masterpieces Yes reeled off from 1971-1977, beginning with the powerful "The Yes Album" and ending with the masterful "Going for the One." "Tormato's" low reputation stems mostly from heavy critical fire, the ascendancy of disco and punk, and - perhaps worst of all - the tomato-splattered cover, which many seized upon as a metaphor for the music within.

So it's somewhat surprising that over 25 years later, "Tormato" doesn't seem like such a debacle. Over half the songs here are worthy additions to Yes' 1970s repertoire. In particular, "Release Release," "Future Times/Rejoice," and "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" find the trio of guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire, and drummer Alan White in top form, developing a kinetic symbiosis that would come to full fruition with 1980's "Drama". Two gentler songs also excel: "Madrigal," a 2-minute piece for harpsichord and vocal that effectively showcases vocalist Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and "Onward," a lovely ballad written by Squire.

The rest of the songs don't hold up as well. "Don't Kill the Whale," despite a powerful message, fails to impress musically. "Circus of Heaven," an earnest fairy tale, really belongs on a Jon Anderson solo album. "Arriving UFO" is a goofy attempt to capitalize on the sci-fi craze of the late 1970s.

Much has been made of the waning interest of Anderson and Wakeman; indeed, both would leave Yes after this album. Anderson's lyrics on "Tormato" lack the self-effacing humour of "Going for the One" or the lyrical majesty of "Awaken" (both from "Going for the One"), while Wakeman's playing consists mostly of rote scales and arpeggios, played with increasingly shrill keyboard sounds. Wakeman's synthesizers are mainly to blame for "Tormato's" dated sound.

"Tormato," for all its shortcomings, contains enough moments of greatness to satisfy diehard Yes fans. It's underrated and undeserving of all the slings and arrows heaped upon it by the critics. However, it's definitely not the place to begin for new Yes fans, who should probably start with "The Yes Album" or "Close to the Edge." Save "Tormato" for a rainy day.

An album that went "splat".......2004-09-10

I once saw an Amazon reviewer say that he thought all Yes albums should get five stars. The problem is that sometimes our favorite bands don't produce the albums they're capable of. Someone who buys "Tormato" as their first Yes album instead of "Close to the Edge" is a lot less likely to ever buy another Yes album. Coming off the incredible "Going for the One", this album was a huge disappointment. The sound quality doesn't help: 1) the production is mediocre; 2) Chris Squire wanted his bass to be a lead instrument, so the treble on his Rickenbacker is mixed way up and there's not much bottom end; and 3) Rick Wakeman does all his synthesizer work on a Polymoog, one of the first synths that could play more than one note at a time, but a cheap, tinny sounding instrument (it sounds just as bad on Genesis' "Duke" album).

Still, the songwriting is the biggest problem. Only "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" is up to the standards of Yes' best work, and maybe 3 of the 8 songs might have been good enough to make it onto "Going for the One". The UK single "Don't Kill the Whale" is pretty good except for the shouts of "Dig it!" which the world had stopped saying 5 years earlier. "Arriving UFO" has perhaps the catchiest melody on the album, and Steve Howe comes up with a guitar solo that sounds almost like a vocal. None of the other songs are really bad, they're just not good ENOUGH to make for a satisfying Yes album. US single "Release, Release" (which I never once heard on the radio) and "Future Times/Rejoice" might have been more memorable with better production. Squire's "Onward" is as simple and straightforward a love song as Yes has ever done. "Circus of Heaven" has one of Jon Anderson's better lyrics but the music screams "outtake". This isn't Yes' worst album (I've heard "Union"), but it's far from their best.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

The 76th review.......2003-12-11

It takes something going on, musically, to put out an album in 1978 about which 75 + people have different opinions and debates during the years! That said, here's my take on it...

If you pretend this CD is a great single of "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" w/ "Release, Release" by the '70's bass-&-drum duo of Squire & White, with some bonus tracks, you'll really enjoy it.

But I was one of the first people in my city to buy 1976/77's Going For the One, and have been head over heels in love with that album (CD) ever since. Back in the day, I was eagerly awaiting the next dew drops from my music gods. Tormato came out after about a year-and-a-half....and...well....I almost cried from disappointment. The album opens with an...um...interesting...song(s), then somehow, even with two years to write & record, Jon & Co. seemed to be running away from the best they can be. The production & keyboards are rather tinny; the album art is bizarre, but not in a good way; the majority of the songs sound hurriedly-written & produced; and what the heck was Jon thinking with the goofy, cartoonish "Circus of Heaven" & "Arriving UFO"? Comedy relief? "Onward" is an essentially beautiful song, but it wasn't recorded at its best until the "Keys to Ascension" live collection almost 20 years later.
But I digress. Back to the imagined single..."On the Silent Wings of Freedom", which beautifully showcases the jaw-dropping musicianship & connectedness between Chris Sqire & Alan White, is alone worth the price of the CD; and "Release, Release" makes a great B-side - if you can get past the AOR wannabe lyrics (soul-cleansing words like "Master of Images/ Songs cast a light on you" from Going For the One's "Awaken" have given way to bubblegum-chomping "Rock is the medium of our generation") & focus on the killer drum & bass lines. I give each of these two songs a star, plus one more star just because it's Yes & I got over my disappointment years ago. Pretty much ;)) Like I said....it's really a great single with bonus tracks.

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