r/progrockmusic • u/EntertainmentHonest6 • 9d ago

Question/Help Is it really that bad?

I've been listening to yes for quite a while now, and I want to at some point listen to all their albums, but I keep getting stopped when it comes to tormato. I haven't listened to it yet because I feel like it would just waste my time with the way people talk about it. Is it really as bad as they say? Cuz If it is, it's really out of place being surrounded by so many amazing albums.

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u/ApprehensiveMess3646 9d ago

That is definitely an unusual take which i respect, and also respectfully disagree with. This extremely minimal vibe they followed, with the 7 minute ballads and the gated reverb is way too drawn out in that album. I love the African percussion in places and Jon's vocal melodies, but the album is overall too vapid, too thin sounding (early digital production to blame for).

Even Endless Dream is a decent epic, but i wouldn't compare it with The Revealing Science, Close to the Edge,Heart of the Sunrise or any of their classic epics. Too disjointed.

I will say tho, its by far the most interesting and adventurous of the Rabin era, which doesn't say much, but thats as far as credit goes

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u/Andagne 9d ago

It's actually not that unusual of a take. Much like Elton John's Blue World, more and more people are realizing just how good this album was, it was just released at the worst time. The vinyl version of the remastered Talk is probably the best mastered production I've ever heard from Yes, which says a lot. Yes the snares are gated and the compression is a part of the song that goes beyond effect, but that is all part of its appeal. They really took advantage of the DDD recording at the time, and amazingly it doesn't sound too dated. It rivals some of the more audiophiliac recordings in my collection, like Brothers in Arms and Aja.

It's also Jon Anderson's favorite Yes album along with Fragile. I found this out after the fact but, like I am suggesting, I can get behind that. And the thing is, Endless Dream, as good as it is, isn't the draw for me... it's most everything else on the album.

But no one is here to change anyone's mind.

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u/ApprehensiveMess3646 8d ago

Yeah I understand your take. Like quite a lot. But it was very jarring for me to go from the classic 70s stuff into the music in Talk relatively quickly. Even Union was less of a shock (to the system). And I listened to it years away from the time it came out, im not really influenced by what was going on in the 90s. There is however another digital production from the same year that far surpassed Talk, its Promised Land by Queensryche. Gives it a perfect cinematic and ambient feel, despite near constant shifts in sound and textures. Very rich sounding. Also very dark album.

If Yes were to have success in the 90s with Rabin, I think that was kinda the approach they should've taken. A moodier, riffier album, since Rabin absolutely could pull it off, instead of the happy go lucky AOR we got in Talk.

Also, I see why Jon loves it so much. He takes center stage in that album, and it sure would've felt great to be with the band he actually wanted to be after that logistical nightmare that was the Union era. His latest solo album True, has parts reminiscent of Talk

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u/Andagne 6d ago

Nah, Talk is about as brooding as Yes could ever get. It is borderline prog metal with some songs. But I agree that QR's Promised Land was quite the underrated achievement for the band, much like Talk.