TORMATO

	Tormato
	Arranged and Produced by Yes
	Released on September 20, 1978
	UK CHART POSITION #8 . . . US CHART POSITION #10
	Find it at GEMM
SD 19202 cover

Eh, not the tastiest fruit to fall from the vine. The electricity and saturated sound of their last album is audibly absent, making Tormato feel thin and uninspired by comparison. Over time, good songs emerge, but not since Tales From Topographic Oceans have I had to look this hard to find them. Given the players involved, you wonder, what was the problem? Well, for starters, Rick Wakeman’s keyboard arsenal is less than magical (perhaps some blame belongs to the short-lived Birotron) and Chris Squire’s bass sounds neutered. Thus, the sparkling at the high end and liquid rumbling at the low end are gone, resulting in what sounds to be their most muffled production since Time And A Word (although Tull’s Broadsword And The Beast may be a better analogy). Now, onto the good news: the old magic does reappear (albeit briefly) on “Rejoice,” “Madrigal,” “Release, Release” and “On The Silent Wings of Freedom.” Steve Howe’s guitar gambols nimbly through the arrangements, whether twining itself around Wakeman’s keyboards on “Madrigal” or skipping through “Future Times.” Jon Anderson’s voice sounds blanched some of the time, a problem exacerbated by the dry medium of vinyl, but he remains the glue that holds the band together. As a final curtain call for the fab five, Tormato is a disappointment, sounding at times more like a Jon Anderson record (e.g., Song of Seven) than a Yes album. Even so, “Don’t Kill The Whale” isn’t a proper ambassador for this musical outpost, so fans will eventually get around to owning (and, yes, even enjoying) Tormato. But by no means should this be one of the first five Yes albums you own.


SD 19202 back cover	SD 19202 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

a. FUTURE TIMES (Yes) 4:05
b. REJOICE (Jon Anderson) 2:41
DON'T KILL THE WHALE (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire) 3:55
MADRIGAL (Jon Anderson/Rick Wakeman) 2:21
RELEASE, RELEASE (Jon Anderson/Alan White/Chris Squire) 5:40
ARRIVING UFO (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman) 6:02
CIRCUS OF HEAVEN (Jon Anderson) 4:28
ONWARD (Chris Squire) 4:00
ON THE SILENT WINGS OF FREEDOM (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire) 7:45

CREDITS

JON ANDERSON -- vocals, 10-string guitar
STEVE HOWE -- guitars, mandolin, vocals
CHRIS SQUIRE --bass, bass pedals, piano, vocals
RICK WAKEMAN -- Birotron, Hammond organ, harpsichord, polymoog, RMI
ALAN WHITE -- drums, drum synthesizer, percussion, vibraphone
Damion James Anderson -- vocals
Andrew Pryce Jackman -- orchestral arrangements
Brian Lane -- executive producer
Nigel Luby -- recording engineer
Geoff Young -- recording engineer
Hipgnosis -- sleeve design, photography

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REGION	RELEASE DATE	LABEL	MEDIA	ID NUMBER	FEATURES
UK	September 20, 1978	Atlantic	LP/CS	K50518	lyric sleeve
US	September 20, 1978	Atlantic	LP/CS/8T	SD/CS/TP 19202	lyric sleeve, picture label
	1991	Atlantic	CD	82277
US	August 16, 1994	Atlantic	CD	82671	digitally remastered
JPN		Atlantic	CD	18P2-2889	picture sleeve