The Ancient: Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes Turns 50
Remembering the enormity of the band’s magnum opus
Is the sixth Yes studio album, Tales from Topographic Oceans, a masterpiece of progressive rock or a shining example of the excesses of that genre?
Spoiler alert: It’s both.
I was a huge Yes fan back in the day, coming to them (as is probably the case with most of their fans) with their third studio release, 1971’s The Yes Album. Songs like “Yours Is No Disgrace,” “Starship Trooper” and “I’ve Seen All Good People” cemented Yes in the top tier of prog rock alongside ELP, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Renaissance and King Crimson.
Fragile (with “Roundabout”) and Close to the Edge (with “Siberian Khatru”) followed in 1971 and 1972 respectively, both reaching the top 5 on the Billboard album chart. The triple-album (triple!) Yessongs live collection blew the ears off Yes fans when it was released in May 1973.
The band was firing on all cylinders with a powerhouse lineup: Lead vocalist Jon Anderson was supported by guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire, keyboardist Rick Wakeman and drummer Bill Bruford.
(Bruford would leave the band after recording Close to the Edge to join King Crimson; he was replaced by Alan White, who played on John Lennon’s Imagine album and remained a member of Yes until his death in 2022.)
Anyway, back to 1973.
I was working weekends in a magazine / candy / card / gift store to feed my record album and comic book habits. Sunday mornings, I spent hours assembling the thick editions of the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press and NY Daily News with nothing but a lowly AM radio as my companion.
One late-December Sunday morning, I’d had enough of Tony Orlando and Dawn’s “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” Vicki Lawrence’s “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” and Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and started scanning the dial for something – anything! – to listen to while I assembled bundles of Sunday papers.
Scanning from static to talk radio to static to religious programming to static to – wait! That sounds like Rick Wakeman’s keyboards! Woah, that’s definitely Jon Anderson’s voice! On AM radio! What the — ?!
Sure enough it was: I was hearing “The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn),” the 20:23 composition that comprises side 1 of Topographic Oceans, released December 7, 1973.
What I had stumbled upon was a program on the fringes of the AM dial that blended spiritual (not religious) discussion with rock music. After the song was done, the host went into a monologue about the Hindu scriptures on which the song and the album were based. It was utterly fascinating, doubly so since I had no idea at the time that Yes had a new album out. So the next time my local Korvette’s had one of their legendary all-label record sales, I quickly picked up a copy of the double album.
I was not disappointed.
Where side one can be heard as a coming-to-consciousness moment, a time of awakening, the 20:34 side two composition titled “The Remembering / High the Memory” feels like it’s a reconsideration of past experiences in the context of this new awakening. Of course, the lyrics here are as open to interpretation as any collection of words you’ll find on any album anywhere – that’s both the artistry (the listener brings his or her meanings to the music) and the bombast (c’mon, Jon, can’t you cut through the jibber-jabber and bring some clarity just once?!) that makes this record fascinating.
Also interesting on side two is the lyrical reference to the title of what would be their 1974 album, Relayer: “Relayer / All the dying cried before you / Relayer / We’ve rejoiced in all their meaning / Relayer / We advance we retrace our stories.”
Side three, “The Ancient / Giants Under the Sun,” is the shortest of the four sides at 18:31 and in my mind the least satisfying. Thematically it reaches back to – well, to ancient times and sun worshiping. Musically, it shifts from an almost dissonant blend of drums and keyboards to a jagged, more guitar-based section, then on to an acoustic, folksy section. It’s all over the map, and in retrospect it’s not hard to argue that this is one of the musical parents of Spinal Tap’s “Stonehenge” (I’m pretty sure Jethro Tull is one of the others).
The final song, side four’s “Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil),” is more playful and joyous, and has some of the most straightforward, prosaic lyrics on the album: “Maybe I’ll just sing awhile / And then give you a call / Maybe I’ll just say hello / And say maybe that’s all / Hurry home as love is true / Will help us through the night.” It closes softly, almost like a heartbeat –bringing the album full circle to the soft way side one opens, with its ocean waves easing into the four-side journey.
Sure, there are all those sophomoric excesses of artistic pretension that make prog rock so easily mocked, but the band is so damn good at what they do, playing so well together, that those excesses can be both celebrated and excused.
Hindu philosophy, (mostly) incomprehensible lyrics and general bombast aside, Tales from Topographic Oceans delivers plenty of rewards to the keen listener. Just check out Howe’s solo at the beginning of side four … Wakeman’s keyboards on side two … Squire’s bass lines and White’s percussion and Anderson’s ethereal voice throughout.
This is Yes at the absolute top of their game delivering one of the great masterpieces – some say the greatest – of the 1970s heyday of progressive rock. Long after you’re sick of hearing “Roundabout” and “Starship Trooper,” there’s plenty going on here to warrant yet another listen.
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“1971’s The Yes Album. Songs like “Yours Is No Disgrace,” “Starship Trooper” and “I’ve Seen All Good People” cemented Yes in the top tier of prog rock alongside ELP, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Renaissance and Rush” – Rush didn’t have an album until 1974.
I switched them with King Crimson…
Wonderful review. This was the 2nd album I owned by Yes (had Yessongs before Topographic). Definitely a polarizing release from them, and when purchased sometime in 1974, it was tough for my 12 year old head to wrap around. Grew to appreciate it later on. Nice to see a mention of Korvette’s as well and their classic “all label” sale. They had an amazing music department…. would give anything to take a trip back in time and explore it once again!
I was thinking bigger picture / retrospective, but you’re right — this should have referred to 1971 at the time, so fair point. Thanks for the clarification.
Was that radio show The Joyful Wisdom Hour featuring Gabriel Wisdom? He describes like this on his webpage: “My first regular show at KPRI was called “The Joyful Wisdom Hour,” featuring rock artists explaining the philosophical or quasi-spiritual meanings of their songs.” His show was in California, but maybe it picked up by other stations? He continues:
“In 1976, The Joyful Wisdom Hour went into syndication, thanks to Omni Magazine. We continued to feature interviews with rock stars, philosophers, scientists, and of course music.”
I’ve been trying to get him to post these shows as a podcast or on youtube with no luck.
I moderate a discussion group on facebook about Tales from Topographic Oceans called
“Tales from Topographic Oceans: studio and live performance discussion group”