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| Yes - Tormato |
 Released: 1978 / 1994 / 2004 Label: Atlantic / Rhino Cat. No.: 19202 / 82671 / R2 73794 Total Time: 79:48 | |
Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, June 2004 Listening back to Yes’ 1978 album, for sure it was a very diverse collection of songs. Opening with the rhythmic "Future Times," yet again containing some new Wakeman keyboard sounds by means of the fragile "Madrigal," it was as if you were taken to the middle ages with Jon’s high pitched vocals accompanied by Rick’s harpsichord and Steve’s wonderful acoustic guitar. "Release, Release" then delivered a decent slice of authentic rock ’n roll spiced up by some tremendous percussion and added live sounds. For sure even to this day "Arriving UFO" remains an interesting composition, blending accessible parts with experimental passages, yet more proof that at around this time Yes were very much searching for a new identity by blending lots of different elements, not in the least a more energetic, almost authentic rock ’n roll attitude. With "Circus Of Heaven," Jon brings in his children to deliver some vocals, turning this into a funfair kind of composition. During the Squire penned "Onward," Rick delivers some oboe sounds from his then brand new Polymoog, giving the sound a slight orchestral feel. Spiced up with Chris’ pumping bass sounds "On The Silent Wings Of Freedom" would remain a live favourite with the band for a long time, and I’d like to hear it again in the not too distant future, as it remains a great rock song. Again backed by some great orchestral arrangements by means of Rick’s Polymoog and Birotron, the latter being a prototype kind of "better" Mellotron entirely financed by Wakeman, Alan White really rocks on this one. First released on 20th September 1978, Tormato might not be as consistent as the previous eight studio albums, but with it’s compositions and arrangements, it showed that Yes were still a very visionary band even if punk and new wave were trying to take over big time. Maybe the unexpected success of "Wondrous Stories" pulled from their previous Going For The One album kind of forced the band to write shorter songs. Sadly, although "Don’t Kill The Whale" was pure Greenpeace propaganda, a sign of the times, the single didn’t follow the "Wondrous Stories" success. As a 7” single, the single was backed by the otherwise unobtainable "Abilene," so as to boost sales. Sadly it didn’t work, but "Abilene" nevertheless appeared on the 4CD collection Yesyears, and can also be found as one of the nine (!) bonus tracks on this remastered Rhino release. It strikes me how most of these bonus tracks are solo compositions, most of which come from the talent of Jon Anderson. In total, seven of these bonus tracks have so far never been released, making this revamped Tormato a sure must have for Yes fans. The acoustic "Picasso" is one of those songs which clearly is a pure Anderson solo piece, which became an alternative Yes track due to the inclusion of authentic Howe gimmicks. Here Jon declares his respect and enthusiasm for the legendary painter. "Some Are Born" later on appeared on Jon’s solo album Song Of Seven in a rather different arrangement. "You Can Be Saved" contains a gospel, feel whilst to me it sounds as if they’re still very much searching for the right angle here. From a vocal perspective, things are not yet 100% either. The Steve Howe penned "High" is more of a group effort although, it remains a rather plain rock song with no keyboards and some uncertain vocals from Jon. "Days" comes as a pure a capella demo here. For years I was puzzled, as during my visit to the RAK studios in London Alan, Steve and Chris (Rick and Jon were not in at the time) were working on a track I would never hear for the rest of my life. All I remembered was Jon repeating the words "the English countryside" over and over again. When I asked several of the band members about this a mere twenty years later, none of them seemed to remember anything about it. So of course I was thrilled to find the so far unreleased "Countryside" on this album, if only as proof that I wasn’t dreaming all those years ago when a cab took me from the band’s management Sun Arts to the famous RAK studios. I remember very well that during my one hour’s stay only one cymbal crash was erased from the mastertapes and replaced by a softer version. A whole hour to do just that! "Countryside" is mainly an acoustic piece, which contains little of the original Yes sparkle. Maybe the final track is the more interesting as it concerns an early demo for what was later to become "Does It Really Happen." Called "Everybody’s Song," here it is very far removed from what Trevor Horn would later on do with it when it was put on the Drama album. To be honest this demo would have fared better as a bonus track on the Drama album itself. The strange thing is that "Everybody’s Song" is credited here as written by Anderson, Howe, Squire, and White, whilst "Does It Really Happen" on the Drama album is credited to Downes, Horn, Howe, Squire, White. Although the booklet says seventeen songs, my CD-player shows eighteen tracks with the final track being an instrumental version of "Onward" featuring a great orchestral take. Is it a mistake that this bonus is not mentioned anywhere on the booklet? Because this is a wonderful piece of music. So for those of you who have pretended to have enough Yes material and only have Fragile and Close To The Edge in your collection, now is the time to own the entire Yes back catalogue featuring midprice re-masters sporting lots of extra material. Although some of the bonus tracks are not 100%, they are what the word says, nice "bonus" tracks. So don’t expect an extra full Yes album, but a look behind the scenes with material that has never surfaced before. And with the midprice they are charging, things for sure have to work out for all involved. [See also Tom's review of the original version -ed.] More about Tormato: Track Listing: Future Times/Rejoice (6:44) / Don’t Kill The Whale (3:56) / Madrigal (2:23) / Release, Release (5:46) / Arriving UFO (6:03) / Circus Of Heaven (4:29) / Onward (4:02) / On The Silent Wings Of Freedom (7:46) / Bonus tracks: Abilene / Money / Picasso / Some Are Born / You Can Be Saved / High / Days (demo) / Countryside / Everybody’s Song Musicians: Contact: Website: yesworld.com Discography
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