I was trying really hard not to get this box set because I thought it was overkill but really wanted to hear the Atmos version and some of the live gigs. but after reading and seeing your video, I must have it. It’s my favorite yes work and a masterpiece. thank you
I received the TFTO super deluxe last week. Your liner notes are phenomenal and help take my appreciation to even a higher level. Still working through the 10 hours (!) of music. Truly a journey. One "issue": "The Remembering" has, since the 2016 Panegyric release, been my favorite on the album. I was surprised to see that you describe it as "once derided as the weakest link in the Tales chain." It was? The closing moments of this track have provided some of my most cathartic experiences with any band's music. But I guess two things can be true. 😂
Thanks for the notes and your first video. To answer your question, I would like deep dives into the reissues and your liner notes. Be well and rock on.
NB From all past evidence, Steven Wilson doesn't remaster, he only remixes. So I'd guess there's a mastering credit for discs 1 and 2 to someone else, on there somewhere.
I was in high school when Fragile, CTTE and Topographic came out. I was a huge Yes fan thru' CTTE, and was bewildered and disappointed by Topo. It's to your great credit as a critic/writer that even knowing what I thought of the album back then, I kinda want to hear the box and read the notes. As for the video: I hope you don't reduce the amount you write, but you work on-camera. Thought it was interesting and just different enough from the written SubStack to make me want to read and watch.
Can't wait to read your Plugged Nickel notes. I own the original box but am rebuying for the LPs and, yes, your liners. I'll argue with most anyone that Plugged Nickel is the greatest live jazz album ever. I know. Lots of competition.
Everything I eventually detested about progressive music is found within TFTTO. It's endless pompous drivel and frippery masquerading as profound importance. No wonder punk arrived only a few years later to flush crap like this down the proverbial toilet.
Happily, I had a musical Plan B. That same year this was released,I wandered into a record store and my life was forever changed. I heard A Love Supreme and Birds Of Fire. I abandoned prog rock and jumped into the jazz world. I'm still happily swimming around, 50 years later.
That's why Baskin & Robins has 31 flavors. My shelves groan under the weight of as many Kenny Drew albums as King Crimson records. I've certainly become more selective about the prog rock I choose to engage with, as jazz has become the center of my listening universe. But "underdog" records like Tales, which are often misunderstood and bruised by critical drubbing, sometimes deserve another day in court. Especially when a revealing mix and even more revealing live performances recontextualize the what, where, and when. Tales isn't a record for everyone. A Love Supreme, however, definitely is!
I'm sure there are fans who bailed on Trane with A Love Supreme...and for sure there's many who bailed when he went even further out after it. And all that spiritual/religious framing that came with it and with MO! Imagine some jazz yob writing "No wonder Marsalis arrived to flush crap like that down the proverbial toilet"
Tales has been an ever-opening flower since 1973. Relayer to my mind may be even better. Some people will never get it. I pity them.
Did you know John Kelman? Did a great deal of magnificent writing for AAJ and wrote many liner notes for ECM. Although he clearly loved Jazz, I always suspected at heart, he was a Prog Rock fan. Whenever he penned a King Crimson review,you knew it'd be at least 10 pages long! Sadly, he passed away. I do miss his writing.
John was a great guy, and we corresponded on and off for many years. He wasn't a prog fan, he was a prog rock FANATIC! He worked on many Canterbury reviews from bands like Soft Machine and Caravan, and from Canterbury-adjacent groups like Camel, which were always written with an expert's ear and a marvelous historical perspective. He is missed.
I was at the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert, and remember the glossy programme that was for sale there gave the songs that were to be performed, much like a classical concert. I remember it as being the Close To The Edge album songs, an intermission, and then Tales From Topographic Oceans in its entirety. I think that they played Heart Of The Sunrise as an encore? That suggests that there wouldn’t be any set list changes from night to night (apart from maybe the encore). I wish I still had that programme - after the show I went round to the stage door and got Steve Howe and Alan White to autograph it as they went out!
I was trying really hard not to get this box set because I thought it was overkill but really wanted to hear the Atmos version and some of the live gigs. but after reading and seeing your video, I must have it. It’s my favorite yes work and a masterpiece. thank you
Thank you
I received the TFTO super deluxe last week. Your liner notes are phenomenal and help take my appreciation to even a higher level. Still working through the 10 hours (!) of music. Truly a journey. One "issue": "The Remembering" has, since the 2016 Panegyric release, been my favorite on the album. I was surprised to see that you describe it as "once derided as the weakest link in the Tales chain." It was? The closing moments of this track have provided some of my most cathartic experiences with any band's music. But I guess two things can be true. 😂
Just reporting, not judging or agreeing with that sentiment!
Thanks for the notes and your first video. To answer your question, I would like deep dives into the reissues and your liner notes. Be well and rock on.
Thanks, Bobby. You too!
NB From all past evidence, Steven Wilson doesn't remaster, he only remixes. So I'd guess there's a mastering credit for discs 1 and 2 to someone else, on there somewhere.
LP-size packaging with full original artwork is the way CDs should always have been released.
I was in high school when Fragile, CTTE and Topographic came out. I was a huge Yes fan thru' CTTE, and was bewildered and disappointed by Topo. It's to your great credit as a critic/writer that even knowing what I thought of the album back then, I kinda want to hear the box and read the notes. As for the video: I hope you don't reduce the amount you write, but you work on-camera. Thought it was interesting and just different enough from the written SubStack to make me want to read and watch.
I’m grateful for your kind, detailed, and valuable feedback. I appreciate your support.
That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever posted. I’m deeply grateful.
Can't wait to read your Plugged Nickel notes. I own the original box but am rebuying for the LPs and, yes, your liners. I'll argue with most anyone that Plugged Nickel is the greatest live jazz album ever. I know. Lots of competition.
You’re a total geek, and I love that. Bucketman Lives!
Everything I eventually detested about progressive music is found within TFTTO. It's endless pompous drivel and frippery masquerading as profound importance. No wonder punk arrived only a few years later to flush crap like this down the proverbial toilet.
Happily, I had a musical Plan B. That same year this was released,I wandered into a record store and my life was forever changed. I heard A Love Supreme and Birds Of Fire. I abandoned prog rock and jumped into the jazz world. I'm still happily swimming around, 50 years later.
That's why Baskin & Robins has 31 flavors. My shelves groan under the weight of as many Kenny Drew albums as King Crimson records. I've certainly become more selective about the prog rock I choose to engage with, as jazz has become the center of my listening universe. But "underdog" records like Tales, which are often misunderstood and bruised by critical drubbing, sometimes deserve another day in court. Especially when a revealing mix and even more revealing live performances recontextualize the what, where, and when. Tales isn't a record for everyone. A Love Supreme, however, definitely is!
I'm sure there are fans who bailed on Trane with A Love Supreme...and for sure there's many who bailed when he went even further out after it. And all that spiritual/religious framing that came with it and with MO! Imagine some jazz yob writing "No wonder Marsalis arrived to flush crap like that down the proverbial toilet"
Tales has been an ever-opening flower since 1973. Relayer to my mind may be even better. Some people will never get it. I pity them.
Did you know John Kelman? Did a great deal of magnificent writing for AAJ and wrote many liner notes for ECM. Although he clearly loved Jazz, I always suspected at heart, he was a Prog Rock fan. Whenever he penned a King Crimson review,you knew it'd be at least 10 pages long! Sadly, he passed away. I do miss his writing.
John was a great guy, and we corresponded on and off for many years. He wasn't a prog fan, he was a prog rock FANATIC! He worked on many Canterbury reviews from bands like Soft Machine and Caravan, and from Canterbury-adjacent groups like Camel, which were always written with an expert's ear and a marvelous historical perspective. He is missed.
I love all three of those albums, but Topographic Oceans is far more enjoyable IMO.
Thank you for your service, sir.
All in a day's work!
I was at the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert, and remember the glossy programme that was for sale there gave the songs that were to be performed, much like a classical concert. I remember it as being the Close To The Edge album songs, an intermission, and then Tales From Topographic Oceans in its entirety. I think that they played Heart Of The Sunrise as an encore? That suggests that there wouldn’t be any set list changes from night to night (apart from maybe the encore). I wish I still had that programme - after the show I went round to the stage door and got Steve Howe and Alan White to autograph it as they went out!
Here's the progamme for the first UK Tales shows in late 1973 (the black one on the left). A click on it will get you a hi res pdf download of it.
https://forgotten-yesterdays.com/dates.asp?qcategoryid=2&qtypeid=7&qbandid=1&qyear=1973&qdateid=2753