Yes:Tormato//a review (or curiosity finally gets the best of me)

[3-LockBox]

Well, after a couple of months obcessing the band Yes I can now cease, having recently purchased the reissued Tormato. No, its not a total piece of crap or anything, but this is definately a case of the wheels coming off the car. There are some good ideas here and there, but the songs on this album are anywhere near fleshed out or brought to any satisfying conclusion. What amazes me is that this album is done within a year of the brilliant return-to-form, Going For The One. There are a few moments here ala GFTO, like 'Onward', 'Madrigal' and 'Future Times', but there is also some really cringe inducing moments like 'Don't Kill The Whale' (the music to 'whale' is okay) and 'Arriving UFO' and 'Circus of Heaven'. While songs like 'Release,Release' and 'Silent Wings Of Freedom' herald the direction future Yes albums would take, they definately hadn't mastered the sound here. At least half the band would go on to make the superb Drama album, though few would ever hear it. Tormato might have been a necessary step for Yes, but its a forgetable album for their fans.

This disc is rich in bonus material, with more bonus tracks than actual songs, songs that are more compelling than half the stuff on the original album. One of them, called 'Everybody's Song', is actually an early demo of 'Does It Really Happen' from the album Drama with Jon on lead vocal. As much as Trevor Horn deserves props for his contribution to the Yes canon, it would have been great if Jon had stuck around.

[BradH]

"What amazes me is that this album is done within a year of the brilliant return-to-form, Going For The One."

Insert useless geeky Yes trivia here: Tormato was done as an excuse to get on the road and recoup some of the money that the wives spent in their jealous competition with the big spender, Anderson's wife. They were exhausted after doing several consecutive world tours and they should've taken a break. But I don't think anything would've stopped Anderson & Wakeman from floating off into twinkly, delicate Circus of Heaven land. Blecch. That's part of the reason Anderson was kicked out of his own band in 1980.

"At least half the band would go on to make the superb Drama album, though few would ever hear it."

There's a whole lotta revision of history about Drama among newer Yes fans. It comes from younger critics and rawk writers relying on the opinion of older reviews and write ups. It charted high didn't it? Tempus Fugit was in heavy rotation on FM radio supported by a record breaking tour. The U.S. fans dug it a lot more than the Brits, though.

"Tormato might have been a necessary step for Yes, but its a forgetable album for their fans."

I hated it when it came out but I know some fans who would die just to smell the cardboard sleeve.

"As much as Trevor Horn deserves props for his contribution to the Yes canon, it would have been great if Jon had stuck around."

Nyet. It woulda sucked like the Paris sessions. More light fluff. Funny thing though, after that, Anderson was tearing up the road with an explosive band that included Simon Phillips and David Sanscious, smoking 'em out in 1982 when Howe & Asia were entering top 40 singalong territory. I've got a killer King Biscuit boot from that Anderson tour where they do some great Yes medleys. Far better than Rabin's bar band cover versions that would come later.

End prog trivia here.

NP: Chip's AWESOME Sonny Landreth comp.

[BarryL]

I've got a killer King Biscuit boot from that Anderson tour where they do some great Yes medleys. Far better than Rabin's bar band cover versions that would come later.
.

As a big David Sancious fan from his Mid-'70's period with Tone, this interests me very much. Any chance of some bits and bytes transportation and exchange?

[N. Abstentia]

I love the story behind the Tormato album cover....I think it was Wakeman who said something to the effect of "When we saw the cover art for the Tor album, we hated it so we threw tomatoes at it. So, we started jokingly calling it 'Tormato' and the name..as well as the tomato..stuck."

Now, can Wakeman explain the naked man a$$ on Going For The One? Maybe. Maybe not.

On a side note, I'd give my left nut for Close To The Edge and 90125 on DVD-Audio (as long as they are as well done as ***ile and Magnification). The rest of the Yes catalog would be a nice bonus

[Troy]

Tormato's a turd no matter how you slice it.

I was there. I bought it the week it came out anticipating the next confident and sure step after the very bold GFTO. Tormato was a HUGE disappointment for me and all my Yes-fan friends at the time.

I remember at the time getting into bands like XTC and Peter Gabriels solo stuff and Talking Heads and The Police and the B52s. And then there was this horrible, dated and wimpy floater of a Yes album. In the context of the time, they were incredibly out of touch with where music was heading. Drama and 90125 showed that they DID want to pander to their audiences shifting taste, but with Tormato, they had no idea yet of how to do that.

To say Tormato was the wrong album at the wrong time is a massive understatement.

Today, it's easy to forget all this stuff about the context of it's release. Now it appears almost quaint and charming in it's tackyness, but at the time it was a monsterous mistake.

[BarryL]

I remember driving down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles with my buddie and seeing a big billboard for the new Yes single, Don't' Kill the Whale. We were on a road trip across Canada and down the West Coast and back again that would last until our money ran out, which took 7 weeks. Being a big Yes fan, I bought the single, thrilled about two things: 1) a new Yes album would be coming out soon, and 2) side B was a non-album Steve Howe song (Abeline). Being the age of vinyl, I couldn't listen to the two songs until I returned home at the end of the trip, about three weeks later. All of this time, I have a seven inch piece of vinyl that I'm protecting from damage.

Eventually I get home, and my brother greets me by sticking out his hand with his fingers split in the Spock greeting pose, saying the words: Na-Noo Na-Noo. I look at him like he's a dork, and he starts raving about this new show, Mork & Mindy.

Anyway, I finally get the single on the turntable, and there, in all of its glory, is the fizzling Don't Kill The Whale, with it's goofy refrain, Dig It, Dig It. Side B is even worse, I can understand why it never made the album. The album itself is yet to come, and while there were a few good tracks, songs like Circus of Heaven from a band like Yes are pure embarrasment. Anderson should have left that to a solo album. It was clear at this point that the band had lost its direction, and one could only hope that they would break up and put out solo albums of the quality of thier respective 1975 releases (Beginnings, Olias of Sunhillow, The Fish, i, and Ramshackle, the latter Alan White album which I have never heard). Alas, it wasn't to be.

I still have that little 7" single. I think I only ever played it about two times.

[skeptic]

You say TOR' mayto, I say TOR' mahto......"Let's call the whole thing off."

[Dave_G]

All of your comments irritate me, fellas. But to each his own.

Tormato is a brilliant album and is full of excellent songs.

Ricks keyboard work is superb, and Jon's vocals are stellar and clear as a bell.

I love this album, in fact it's one of my favorites.

Sure, it's way different in sound and style than "classic" Yes music, but hey that's what makes it cool.

Dave

[skeptic]

"All of your comments irritate me"

Thank you for the positive feedback. It's nice to know somebody cares. In the future I will try to be more prolific. I'll keep up my end if you'll keep up yours.

[newtrix1]

All of your comments irritate me, fellas. But to each his own.

Tormato is a brilliant album and is full of excellent songs.

Ricks keyboard work is superb, and Jon's vocals are stellar and clear as a bell.

I love this album, in fact it's one of my favorites.

Sure, it's way different in sound and style than "classic" Yes music, but hey that's what makes it cool.

Dave

I was gonna post something similar, but didn't. Me likes this album too, but the cover art did suck. I never knew the story about the band disliking it, that's great, at least it makes some sense now.

signed,
'the other Tormato fan'

[skeptic]

Thank you too!

"signed,
'the other Tormato fan' "

I am sure that all the tomatoes, rotten, green, or otherwise will be greatful to know that they have at least two fans out there. It may even come as a surprise to them. BTW, any comments on that new band....The Portatos? (Did you notice they don't use the Dan Quail spelling "Portatoes"? Guess they're not from Indiana.)

[skeptic]

Iz youze sayin' dem termaters iz rotten?

[Dave_G]

Aw heck I just get mad when one of my favorite albums gets pimped, ya know.

But like I also said, to each his own.

I'm in a bad mood anyhow, our company is sucking wind and laying off and all so I'm moody as heck and frustrated and so forth yadda yadda.

Dave

[Dusty Chalk]

...dig it, dig it.

Signed,
The third and final Tormato fan.

skeptic -- kind of early in the day to be drinking, innit? J/K...

[ForeverAutumn]

Eventually I get home, and my brother greets me by sticking out his hand with his fingers split in the Spock greeting pose, saying the words: Na-Noo Na-Noo. I look at him like he's a dork....

LMFAO!!!!! How is that any different from the way you usually look at him?

No comment from me on Tormato. Believe it or not, I've never heard it. From the posts here, maybe that's a good thing. But on a personal note that no-one else here will understand...the quote above....it was worth reading through this thread just for that little gem. Thanks for the giggle Mr. B.

[BarryL]

LMFAO!!!!! How is that any different from the way you usually look at him?

No comment from me on Tormato. Believe it or not, I've never heard it. From the posts here, maybe that's a good thing. But on a personal note that no-one else here will understand...the quote above....it was worth reading through this thread just for that little gem. Thanks for the giggle Mr. B.

Now I have to come to Big Ski's defense. I don't always look at him like he's a dork.

And that's B-Man to you.

On another note, I now know what it's like to live in a condo. Looks like the girls will be joining me for about five days from mid-next week to early the following week. Am I a grandfather yet?

[ForeverAutumn]

Now I have to come to Big Ski's defense. I don't always look at him like he's a dork.

And that's B-Man to you.

On another note, I now know what it's like to live in a condo. Looks like the girls will be joining me for about five days from mid-next week to early the following week. Am I a grandfather yet?

Sometimes you just look at him like he's a goof.

You're not a Grandfather yet. But I have seen your eldest hanging out with this seedy looking guy sporting a blue mohawk and several facial piercings.

Hehehe...Just warming you up for when she's 16.

[BarryL]

Sometimes you just look at him like he's a goof.

You're not a Grandfather yet. But I have seen your eldest hanging out with this seedy looking guy sporting a blue mohawk and several facial piercings.

Hehehe...Just warming you up for when she's 16.

Seedy looking guy, blue mohawk, facila piercings...are you refering to me specifically? Oh, you must mean the dork! :-)

BTW, you can get some of those Yes remasters at Amazon.ca really cheap. Or I could lend you my copies.