Tormato

I'm new to the lesser known music of Yes and I've listened to all of the 70's albums and I have to say that this album is a joy to listen to. The singing of Jon Anderson is spirited and overall a plus on the album. Musically they try different sounds, mix it up really well and create nice some melodies. Not a bad song on the album even if none were hits. I like this album much better than Going For the One.

GREAT ALBUMS, YES RELEASED AN AVERAGE ALBUM IN TORMATO.SOME GOOD SONGS, A FEW DECENT SONGS, AND A VERY GOOD SONG ON THE SILENT WINGS OF FREEDOM. SPEAKING OF VERY GOOD, THE 2001 ALBUM MAGNIFICATION AND THE 2011 ALBUM FLY FROM HERE ARE VERY GOOD. ITUNES YES FANS ARE STILL WAITING FOR BOTH.......

This is a very uneven album. A few good tracks though, with "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" being the best.

I'm not sure why this album tends to be so chronically dumped upon. It's not their greatest work, of course, but there are plenty of good, and even GREAT, things on it. Future Times/Rejoice, Release Release, On The Silent Wings of Freedom, and Madrigal are on par with anything on the much-vaunted Going For The One--with the exception of Awakening, which is one of their greatest works, period. Even the less than stellar songs aren't THAT bad. And, in all honesty, this was the first Yes album I ever owned. Picked up for like $1.99 in some budget bin with a knick in the cover. It wasn't my first exposure to the band, but what I heard was good enough to make me a lifelong fan. OH! And try to tell me the SOUND isn't better here than an Going For The One. Much of that album sounds muddied and overly busy. One of the things I've always enjoyed about Yes is the sense of space in their music.

I have always been baffled that this album is not rated higher by Yes fans. This was my introduction to Yes back in 78 or 79 and it made me want to hear more of their albums. I love this album. Future Times is a very strong opening number. Release Release is one of the most hard rocking songs here and I have always loved it, especially the instrumental section. Arriving UFO is one of my all time favorite Yes songs and Onward is a gorgeous and melodic ballad. And I have always had a soft spot for Circus of Heaven, which I played on my last radio show. I love the sound of the album, particularly Rick Wakeman's synthesizers and his birotron. They give the album a very futuristic feel. Tormato is a darn good Yes album!!!

Many Yes fans seem to cast aside this LP as one of their least favorite LP's, and I get that. But, I find it very appealing harmonically and sonically. Maybe, it's becasue I was a 16 year old want-to-be guitarist, and just beginning to become a Yes fan, that I really enjoyed this album? Steve Howe's guitar work stands at the forefront on this album, along woth Jon Anderson's angelic vocals. The somgs on this album is a 180 degrees different that Close to the Edge, but that is what great artists (Who continue to grow and generate music) do.

I guess you could call this the end of Yes Mk1 and the beginning of Yes Mk2. Wakeman hated making it, Anderson was drunk the whole time, which pretty much meant it was never going to more than what it became. The worst part is that Anderson was trying to get political on this album, and never being the best lyricist to begin with it was just awful. This one is only for the hardcore Yes fans. Everyone else should just avoid.

With such a successful previous album, "Going for the One", Yes had a hard time producing an effective follow up. It's has even been stated that most Yes members were not happy with the turn out of this record. It was not able to create any hits and it even saw the departure of a couple key members (Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman) after the supporting tour. While it was a bit of a disappointment, it's still an album to have in the collection.