What do people here think of this '74 Yes-album? I'm thinking of buying it.
I have the 71-74 studio albums, and I like them. Topographic Oceans is a bit directionless, but the first song has some good moments. I'm also looking for Yessongs, but it's a bit expensive.

I'll be honest, I never liked that album... But some Yes purists think it is quite fine...

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I hated it, although I did like some of Patrick Moraz' work. They literally fell off my map after CTTE. Of their later stuff I think Going For The One might be a better choice, myself.

After Tales from Topographic Oceans, you can pass on all the other studio recordings....unless you're a die hard fanatic.

Isn't that the time when they started making music like "Owner of a lonely heart"?

I bought the album anyway. There's something in the strange landscapes that Yes creates that fascinates me. If only they had made it a little more coherent, like the( for me) ultimate Yessong: Siberian Khatru, where they keep coming back to that great riff.

"Owner of A Lonely Heart" wasn't recorded until the 80's, on 90125. They did the Going For the One albumn in the 70's (I think right after Relayer, actually).

Although I really do avoid post CTTE material as a rule, there's scattered stuff throughout the later 70's that I did like, even on Tormato, actually. In 1980 they released Drama, which was more or less average except for the brilliant "Tempus Fugit."

But when 90125 came out.....yuck.

Well, of post-CTTE I now have Topographic Oceans and Relayer. Respectively, "Dance of the Dawn" and "Sound Chaser" are pretty good songs coming from those albums.

???
I don't know about that. The later Yes albums are a lot more accessible for most people than their earlier, more experimental music... later on they become a lot closer to regular classic rock...

I like Relayer a lot. There are only 3 songs on the album. In my opinion, 'Gates of Delirium' and 'To Be Over' are excellent songs, while 'Sound Chaser' is just okay (it has a lot of parts that are much too grating for me).

If you like Tales from Topographic Oceans, I suspect you will also like this album. You say that one seemed a little directionless to you, which probably means you will like Relayer better than Tales (it's shorter, first of all, and 2nd of all there is a lot more fast stuff).

There's my take on it!

Anyone want to explain why out of all the members on RM....it's always Satchmo that newbies do this with. Having someone who most likely wasn't even alive when I bought Relayer or the vast majority of Yes recordings trying to suggest anything to me.....WTF?



P.S. For the Philistines amongst you....a Rhetorical question.

For the record....this still stands.