"Tales from Topographic Oceans" Being Remixed by Steve Wilson

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rstamberg, Nov 24, 2015.

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  1. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    Agreed. I've never gotten the impression that Anderson had any kind of substantial background in Hindu spirituality. He used that footnote as a creative jumping off point, but it's not as if reading the Autobiography of a Yogi is going to unlock the puzzle box of Tales for fans. Though I don't have a problem with the basic idea of using Hindu texts as the basis for a concept album, I think that it did open them up to charges of pretentiousness (i.e. affecting greater spiritual knowledge than was actually possessed).

    My problem with the drum battle is a little different than yours. I can understand what they were going for in the context of the piece--a dramatic climax, an primal showdown between good and evil--but to me, it just comes off like a damp squib on the studio album, totally underwhelming. I guess some of the live versions were more effective in this regard.
     
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  2. milco

    milco Forum Resident

    I don't think the drum sequence works either thematically (in that it isn't really alluded to or referenced anywhere in the lyrics) or musically. I take Thulutean's point that musically they try and provide a bridge to the drum section by building up the intensity of the song just before it starts. However the incongruity of the drum sequence is further underlined by the fact that it just fades out at the end. There is no linking passage to the next part of the track -- very atypical of Yes. As a result the track loses its fluency and natural flow and almost has to start again.

    It's like they wanted to insert a passage that referenced a 'ritual', alluded to in the title, but weren't able to tie it into the rest of the track either in terms of the song's lyrics and subject matter or the natural sequencing of the music.
     
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  3. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Didn't Wakeman or Squire say somewhere that Jon literally didn't read anything about, or of, the Shastric scriptures other than that footnote?

    Wikipedia has the famous footnote by the way:

    Pertaining to the shastras, literally "sacred books", comprising four classes of scripture: the shruti, smriti, purana and tantra. These comprehensive treatises cover every aspect of religious and social life, and the fields of law, medicine, architecture, art, etc. The shrutis are the "directly heard" or "revealed" scriptures, the Vedas. The smritis or "remembered" lore were finally written down in a remote past as the world's longest epic poems, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Puranas, eighteen in number, are literally "ancient" allegories; tantras literally means "rites" or "rituals": these treatises convey profound truths under a veil of detailed symbolism.
     
  4. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    The transitions into and out of it are more effective on the live version from Yesshows, where the preceding musical passage resolves on a crashing chord that the percussion emerges out of, instead of just abruptly cutting to the drums, and the drum solo also has more of an ending.
     
  5. Tim1954

    Tim1954 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    Are we listening to the same album?

    On my copy of 'Tales' the drum "battle" gives way to a delicate, volume pedal guitar theme by Steve Howe.
     
  6. milco

    milco Forum Resident

    The drum track is faded out and Steve Howe's guitar part takes over. There is no actual musical connection between the two pieces. The way that the two sections almost 'cross-fade' into each other is quite unusual for Yes and to me has a slightly perfunctory feel about it.
     
  7. Tim1954

    Tim1954 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    It is connected better on Yesshows, I would definitely agree.

    I just think you're overstating the degree to which it is unconnected on the album proper. It is a cross-fade. It's not like the drum section fades and the song ends there.
     
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  8. JimW

    JimW In the Process of Becoming

    Location:
    Charlottesville VA
    For good news concerning this release, check out this thread at QQ:

    http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/for...Tales(Tales-From-Topographic-Oceans)!!!/page6

    Towards the bottom of the page, there is a pic of what appears to be a new Tales. Later on, there is confirmation that SW's re-mix will be coming "in a short time," albeit the poster cannot say how he knows (which is not unusual given the secrecy of these things prior to official announcement).

    So Psyched!!!
     
  9. Meng

    Meng Forum Resident

    JimW - you've just made my day. :agree:
     
  10. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Great news. :goodie:
     
    JimW likes this.

  11. :bdance:


    :pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple::pineapple:
     
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  12. I have read from more than one memeber that the Yes HDCD issues from 2001 are preferred versions. Was there a subsequent set released in Japan on HDCD that are, from everything I've read horrible sounding. I'm confused here.
     
  13. rstamberg

    rstamberg Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Riverside, CT
    Some of the Yes HDCD discs from Japan are quite nice, TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS being one of them. Many folks here don't like them, however. I've got several and none are terrible but none are earth-shakingly great, either. TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS and YESSONGS are the best-sounding Yes HDCDs, but it must be said that the Japanese SACD of YESSONGS is the best version of that title available anywhere today. Just my opinion, of course.
     
  14. Tim1954

    Tim1954 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    For every one member who would say this, there are probably fifty who would say the Yes HDCDs are some of the worst versions of Yes on CD.

    I'm with the majority. And for my money the Japan SACD box also sucked.
     
  15. If I have the high vibrations box, all of the Rhino CD's and all Steve Willson releases to date. I always like to pick up new versions for comparison and for some reason I never bought (and always regretted) the HDCD versions even though I have decoding capabilities. I wonder if it's worth picking up the HDCD's. What I thought were two different HDCD versions from Japan seem to be the love it or hate it editions of the same. Thoughts appreciated.
     
  16. rstamberg

    rstamberg Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Riverside, CT
    Since you've got the SACDs, you really don't need any of the HDCD Yes titles, except for your own interest in hearing them. In which case, I'd recommend TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS as the place to start because it's one of the better Yes titles in that format.
     
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  17. JimW

    JimW In the Process of Becoming

    Location:
    Charlottesville VA
    :righton:

    Yes, reading that made my day too. Had to jump right over here to share the joy. This is the one I've been most eagerly awaiting since CttE. Was so bummed that it appeared to have been shelved. Now just waiting for the official announcement...

    I usually put a moratorium on listening to these albums once I know they're coming in 5.1 and I'd been avoiding Tales ever since we got Fragile, knowing it was next. But I listened to it after SW's announcement that the series had ended (for now)- now, it's back on the "banned list." I can just hear the opening chant, gradually swelling and surrounding, w/ a s***-eating grin threatening to break my face...

    I like the opening part that was added on the Rhinos, but just as an alternative. I hope SW's version skips it. I also hope SW goes a bit wild w/ The Ancient- that music would seem to merit some movement... But those are minor details that pale next to my excitement over this release.
     
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  18. JimW

    JimW In the Process of Becoming

    Location:
    Charlottesville VA
    That would be Progeny, imo.
     
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  19. full moon

    full moon Forum Resident

    Can't wait for this one.
     
  20. whiskeyvengeance

    whiskeyvengeance Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    I'm confused. SW claimed as recently as December that he never finished the Tales mixes. So who ended up remixing it instead? Or are they just using his unfinished mixes from a few years ago?
     
  21. tlake6659

    tlake6659 Senior Member

    Location:
    NJ
    If you can't decode the HDCD, they sound very compressed. That's probably why a lot of people hate them. I am not a fan of the HDCDs either, but they do sound better decoded.
     
  22. Dok

    Dok Senior Member

    He's got a lot on his plate, he probably just forgot he had finished them. Either that or he wanted to misdirect everyone! :winkgrin:
     
  23. privit1

    privit1 Senior Member

    Maybe he has had some time to finish it ?
     
  24. Tim1954

    Tim1954 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    This is true. Of course, removing the smiley EQ all over them isn't something decoding the HDCD can help.
     
  25. tlake6659

    tlake6659 Senior Member

    Location:
    NJ
    Agreed.
     
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