Music Monday (Tormato, Side 1)

Well another Monday rears its ugly head, and the best way I know to get through it is with music. As we continue our journey through the Yes catalog, we have left Going for the One (Side 1, Side 2) in the rearview mirror and continue on to 1977's Tormato. I have briefly hit on this album here, but today I will delve more into the music, starting with Side 1.


Before I start, I believe this could have been a good album. Some of the ideas are good, but the whole thing just seems like a hodgepodge of crap thrown together. The original name was supposed to be Yes Tor after geological formations in England and judging from some of the demos and bonus tracks (Picasso, The Golden Age) it was supposed to have a historical feel to it. At some point that seems to have fallen by the wayside, even though some of the songs made the album.

Also, the cover. For the second album in a row Roger Dean was not used. An array of photographs was shown as potential covers when RW in his disgust threw a tomato at them. Yes Tor became Tormato because of that. No really.

And now, the music:

1) Future Times/Rejoice - Now see this is a great song in two parts and it fits in with the historical theme. The music and lyrics are awesome and it's a good start to the album.



2) Don't Kill the Whale - This is just a straight up ecological conservation song. The title says it all. RW goes off at around the 2:09 mark.

3) Madrigal - Another one with historical overtones. Even the video has some hints at it. And RW on a harpsichord is just pure magic.



4) Release, Release - This is a straight up rock song which almost sounds like it belongs on Going for the One. Good song though.

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The Bonus Tracks

 On the 2004 re-masters came a plethora of bonus and demo songs. Like ten of them. Most ended up on later albums and projects.

"Everybody's Song" is an early version of what became "Does It Really Happen?" on 1980's Drama. 

"Days", an a cappella recording, and "Some Are Born" would later be re-worked by Anderson for his solo album Song of Seven.

"Countryside" would be re-worked by Howe as "Corkscrew" for the album Turbulence.

"High" would be re-worked by Howe as the instrumental "Sketches in the Sun", later released on GTR.

"Money" was previously released on the YesYears box set. It features a satirical voice-over by Wakeman pretending to be Denis Healey, a Labor Chancellor disliked by more than one successful rock musician for his policies of high taxation rates for the wealthy.

"Picasso" is a song about famous artist Pablo Picasso and would later be re-worked for Anderson's yet to be released musical Chagall.