YES
Nous Sommes du Soleil-Tales From Topographic Oceans Live
Side One
1. "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)"
Side Two
1. "The Remembering (High the Memory)"
Side Three
1. "The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun)"
Side Four
1. "Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)"
Released: 7 December 1973
Recorded: July�September 1973
Studio: Morgan, Willesden, London
Genre: Progressive rock
Length: 81:14
Label: Atlantic
Producer: Yes, Eddy Offord
"Side one was the commercial or easy-listening side of Topographic Oceans, side two was a much lighter, folky side of Yes, side three was electronic mayhem turning into acoustic simplicity, and side four was us trying to drive the whole thing home on a biggie."
�Steve Howe
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Tales from Topographic Oceans is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 7 December 1973 by Atlantic Records. It is their first studio album to feature drummer Alan White, who had replaced Bill Bruford in the previous year. Frontman Jon Anderson devised its concept during the Close to the Edge Tour, when he read a footnote in Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda that describes four bodies of Hindu texts about a specific field of knowledge, collectively named shastras�sruti, smriti, puranas, and tantras. After pitching the idea to guitarist Steve Howe, the pair spent the rest of the tour developing an outline of the album's musical themes and lyrics.
Rehearsals lasted for two months in London, during which the band decided to produce a double album containing four side-long tracks based on each text, ranging between 18 and 21 minutes. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman was critical of the concept and felt unable to contribute to the more experimental music that was being produced to fit a double album, and distanced himself from the group. Yes decided against recording in the countryside in order to use Britain's first 24-track machine at Morgan Studios, where they decorated the studio to resemble a farm. Roger Dean incorporated suggestions from the band into the album's cover art, which inspired his designs for the stage used on its tour.
Yes spent one week putting down the backing tracks for each of the four songs, after which they worked on the overdubs. Howe said a considerable amount of time was spent on both tasks, and took turns with Anderson to lead and convince the other members when they questioned if the arrangements were going to work. Anderson recalled a near-disaster situation with the finished tapes. After working through the night with Offord to complete the last mix, the pair left Morgan at dawn and Offord placed the tapes on the roof his car to find the keys. He proceeded to drive off, forgetting about the tapes. They stopped the car to find the tapes had fallen onto the road, and Anderson rushed back to save them from an oncoming bus. The tapes were unharmed from the incident. Yes had spent five months arranging, rehearsing, and recording Tales from Topographic Oceans, and their time spent in Morgan amounted to �90,000 in studio costs. [wiki]
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YES
Nous Sommes du Soleil-Tales From Topographic Oceans Live
t01 - Intro-Revealing, 1974-02-18, New York, NY
t02 - The Revealing Science of God, 1974-02-18, New York, NY
t03 - The Remembering, 1974-02-26, Boston, MA
t04 - The Ancient (1) 1974-02-14, Uniondale, NY
t05 - The Ancient (2), 1974-02-14, Uniondale, NY
t06 - Prelude -> Ritual, 1974-03-18, Inglewood, CA
Bonus tracks
t07 - The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn), 2002-08-24, Las Vegas, NV
t08 - Ritual, 2001-12-01, Brighton, ENG
t09 - The Remembering (Rehearsal), 1976-05-xx, Millersville, PA*
YES (the players):
Jon Anderson - vocals, guitar
Tom Brislin - keyboards
Steve Howe - guitars, vocals
Patrick Moraz - keyboards
Chris Squire - bass, vocals
Rick Wakeman - keyboards
Alan White - drums, percussion
For this edition of the Yes "Live" album series, I've chosen recordings from the U.S. leg of the 1974 Tales tour. Tales is Yes's White Album-a sort of mish-mash of ideas and execution, some of it sublimely beautiful, some of it derided as "filler." Nonetheless it represents an astonishing achievement by these five virtuosos.
Performing this work must have been exhausting for the band. From the way it was concieved on tour in Japan to the rushed recording schedule to an extensive worldwide tour. No wonder Wakeman had enough and left the band. I was too young to attend any of the TFTO shows but what I wouldn't give for a time machine to restore the youth, vitality, and ambition of the Classic Five for another performance of this work. Perhaps the Vegas Sphere has a fountain of youth hidden somewhere within.
Tapers: various
Lineage: N/A
All Audience Recordings except as noted
Notes on Sound Quality: SQ is Fair to Very Good throughout
*Completists only
All tracks are from the original filesets as previously torrented. New checksums created with TLH.
Please share only LOSSLESS recordings - Convert to lossy for personal use only.
All tracks adhere to DIME's NAV and NAB requirements and have been verified as non-official releases through Forgotten Yesterdays:
http://forgotten-yesterdays.com/index.asp
NOT FOR SALE-PLEASE SHARE FREELY
More on the making of Tales: https://www.loudersound.com/features/yes-the-real-story-behind-tales-from-topographic-oceans?fbclid=IwAR3oT8VvsdThtW1Jl6jIfoKO8-f_zECzyiR5rOVxHbs7qpeWzAidIJ4Xbrc
Please support this artist-purchase official recordings, attend live performances regularly, and visit the websites:
http://yesworld.com/
http://forgotten-yesterdays.com/
A word about compilations: This compilation is diguised as an album. I put together these performances for my personal enjoyment, and share them for the same reason. There are many Yes compilations available; "Wondrous Stories," "Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection" and "Word Is Live." This collection is not meant to replace, but complement, the official releases. Nothing beats the original tracks themselves.
I urge you to seek out the torrented performances contained herein (they�re all available out there). Thanks to the tapers, uploaders and all who share this great music. And, of course, thank you to Yes.
Enjoy,
1chucho
"Live Music is Better"
December 2024
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The Live Album Series
BRUCE COCKBURN, Stealing Fire Live
NEIL YOUNG, On the Beach-Live
NEIL YOUNG, Rust Never Sleeps-Live
NEIL YOUNG, Waging Heavy Love-Eldorado Live
YES, Sister Bluebird-The Yes Album Live
YES, A Million Miles Away-Fragile Live
YES, I Get Up-Close to the Edge Live
YES, We Love When We Play-Tales From Topographic Oceans Live
YES, Soon the Light-Relayer Live
YES, High Vibration Go On-Going for the One Live
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