POSITIVE, BRIGHT ENERGY // YES - Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil) // Composer Reaction & Analysis

[@cbn6635]

Steve Howe should rightfully be mentioned alongside the greatest guitarists of all time; such a beautiful tone, always tasteful and still full of novel ideas and interesting little details... ❤

[@markenmel1]

His solo at the end of Ritual is perfection. I return to it again and again.

[@cbn6635]

@@markenmel1 Me too, my friend.. me too.. 👌

[@TomMazan]

I think I read that Steve Howe said that side three of this album is the favorite thing he has done with Yes.

[@Relayer6a]

This is one of those pieces Alan White was talking about when he said, "There are a lot of notes to a Yes show and you have to play every single one of them." And that was the drummer saying that. The "twangy guitar" is electric sitar. And I always say this when dealing with prog from this era, there was no digital anything, there were no presets for the keyboards, every single synth sound was dialed in by twisting the filter knobs, etc. There were minimal effects. Something as basic as phaser was a new effect. Steve played a Morley volume pedal. It's his favorite "effect" and he uses it extensively, it's part of "his" sound. He also used a ton of compression to smooth out the guitar. It was his violin tone.

[@cmichaelanthonyimages2197]

To me, I always thought this was a masterful piece of music compasistion. Its flow, and time signatures, creates a musical mix that no one has copied. The level of Musistionship is unmatched then and now. Its a grand piece of work that only Yes could create, maybe with the exception of the Mahavishnu orchestra. Painting with music is Yes!

[@cmichaelanthonyimages2197]

When this album hit my platter, I was expecting something similar to CTTE, with its opening track, but it was an album that needed to be listened to several times, while reading the liner notes on its concept. Many Yes fans who grew from their early works, had all preconceived ideas, me included, even Wakeman did. The more I listened to this album and then seeing it played live, that is the moment you them come to appreciate its grandeur and complexity. This is their 1812 overture, or a piece from Mozart. No other band performs such as Yes. This is a masterpiece, like any other, with its fine points of complexity and musical contradictions. Yes music brings to me an emotional connection, and thats the draw for me. Yes, the musicianship...that to me, no one else comes close to.

[@markjacobsen8335]

This is my favorite album of all time. I absolutely love Ritual. Just one of the many things Yes did that showed them to be on another level from their peers. One of the things that you miss when you listen to music this way is the liner notes inside the album cover. Those explain for this album that the middle percussion section represents the struggles we go through in life and that out of those comes something positive. Check out the liner notes. It explains a lot. To be honest, it's too bad you reacted to the Steven Wilson remix, because while he did a fine job on every other Yes song with his remixes, he totally botched Ritual. It's all out of balance and he was WAY too reverb happy that day. The original mix is so much better. Thanks for the great reaction and analysis

[@reneelyons6836]

🎼🎵🎶🖌🖌Musical painting. That is beautiful to me. I'm a HUGE YES fan and most of this 2 album set, I listen to only once in a while. I am VERY fond of The Revealing Science of God. I listen to that ALL the time.♥🎼🎸🎹🥁🎶🎶

[@davidwatkinson1226]

Topographic is just not like any other other album. Know the story, play in order and keep listening as it opens up each listen.

[@ernaolsson6763]

Since Im a prog nerd I love all members skills and contribution of making Yes one of my all favourite bands ever, I still got more of goosebumps of the Relayer and Close to the Edge albums. This tune has great harmonies as always and I appreciate it and love as it, as in Yes’s most epic songs, the song has unpredictable turns just like some parts is a its own separate song. Like it!

[@janeg6759]

Of course I absolutely loved this. If I've heard it before I was probably a toddler. It reminded me of my early childhood home. I laughed when you said "where did this come from and where is it going?". And yes, I am one that wasn't ready for it to end😅.

[@progperljungman8218]

❤

[@jeffschielka7845]

YES❗️The greatest band on this or any other planet❗️🌍🌎🌏😎

[@TheProgCorner]

Yes. The greatest band ever!!!

[@jeffschielka7845]

👍😎

[@progperljungman8218]

Yeah, def bright, positive and secure - until the dangerous (challenging yet exciting) thunderstorm pulls in... When the bright guitar finally enters, I think it's the perfect musical representation of the sun beams breaking through in the calm after the storm (safe after surviving the threatening challenge). I was pretty amused when you persieved the electric sitar (a guitar mimicking the sitar sound) as a "country vibe". That's "world music" for ya' 😄 Wonderful reaction and analysis and really glad you were enjoying lots about the song (though a bit much at first listen). No need to point out that it's a grower (like all of this album and most of their music) and I still sometimes hear new great things after 40+ years of listening. That said, the album is something of a divider, even among classic Yes fans.

[@CriticalReactions]

Interesting to hear that this album was a divider for fans. It sounds like any other Yes I've heard, albeit with a bit more restraint. But it's undeniably still their sound and style.

[@progperljungman8218]

There is also gorgeous acoustic piano. This double album consists of one track per side...

[@progperljungman8218]

​​​@@CriticalReactionsWell, this song isn't the most controversial... Many seem to think that it should have been trimmed down to a single album, consisting mainly of the opening track (side one 😊) and this one.

[@progperljungman8218]

Congratulations on 30k!❤

[@CriticalReactions]

Thanks so much!

[@markcollins1497]

This is the fourth side of this two record (Four side) set, and I always thought of it as a summation of the previous three sides. The guitar at different points was referencing a few different motifs from the previous sides I believe, in fact I think it was even referencing the previous record close to the edge. So that might help in terms of getting a sense of what this thing might be going on about thematically .

[@JimboKM]

I'm thinking the meandering bass section before the harsh percussive "alien" section went on a few bars longer than the original vinyl. This is just my perception because of the strange flow. I believe that the first track mixed by Wilson starts with an instrumental intro whereas the vinyl started with a Capela vocals. This leads me to believe that Wilson did extend this a little. My first impulse was to just say "YAY!" in the comments.

[@mrbrad4566]

After Close to the Edge we ready for anything Yes could give us. But I'm not sure we were ready for Topographic Oceans. We needed Relayer after this, and are thankful for it.

[@JimReem]

I prefer Oceans to Relayer, by a lot, this side is perfect, as is side 1, 2 and 3 get a little long winded, and maybe could have been combined into one, but then you have 3 sides and what to put on 4.

[@andyshan]

@@JimReem IMO what they failed to achieve in Tales, and I love Tales, they succeeded in getting right on Relayer. It's just on another level.

[@majorgruber5925]

This album really made me think Yes were heavily informed by classic music. It's like a symphony, in that particular sections are good (or great) on their own, but take on an entirely different impression when taken in the entirety. I think you'd appreciate it more if this was the conclusion of listening to the entire album. Just a suspicion. In my childhood, there was a lot of classic music played in my house. Spent my formative years in West Africa and Southeast Asia, so got immersed in poly-rhythms and a lot of gamelan orchestra, as well. Tales from Topographical Oceans was the first Yes music I heard after Roundabout on rock radio, and it really connected as I could hear the melodic and rhythmic influences that had also affected me in my youth. It remains my favorite Yes album to this day (some 47 years later). BTW - The keyboardist (Rick Wakeman) quit the band over this album, which is why the keyboards (and probably direction) of Relayer (the next album) sound so different. Rick Wakeman had returned by the time "Awaken" (Going for the One) was recorded.

[@janeg6759]

And, congrats on the 30K! 🎉

[@CriticalReactions]

Thanks a ton!

[@yes_head]

Volume pedals were in use since the 1960's, so by the time this album was made people like Steve Howe were well acquainted with them. Re: the arrangement, this entire album -- all four sides -- have come under attack for being disjointed and padded. The first listen is usually always a bit confusing, but there are so many ideas and interesting moments that it begs revisits. KZbinr rael_nyc has created a great mini-documentary about the background and creation of this infamous Yes album: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3vVk6CLdt6VfNU Re: the space-y sounds, most of it was by taking either the Moog synthesizer or the Mellotron and running them through the effects they had available at the time, which would have been delay units, echo, distortion, and (new for '73) phasers.

[@NewBritainStation]

This album as a whole is basically structured like a (Yes) concert. Four ~20 minutes long. And in Ritual you get the bass solo and the drum solo. But rather than just a drum solo, it also takes its cues from classical forms and it’s designed more like a percussion movement, with Jon and Chris playing percussion and tympani along with Alan’s drum kit. It works even better live. Musically it’s at storm before the final movement which is even more stunningly beautiful following the thundering (ritualistic) drums that preceded it. Yes would follow a similar form on their next album in the song Gates of Delirium where a chaotic battle sequence leads into a victory march that leads to one of the most gorgeous sections of music Yes has created.

[@steveeggleton876]

the clues in the name ritual.........percussive

[@markdrechsler5660]

Oh cool! My favorite of the four sides, and among my favorite Yes tracks overall.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

Yes is a Top 10 band for me, but I've always agreed with the critical consensus that Tales from the Topographic Oceans are where their ambitions started to get the better of them, where their reach exceeded their grasp and the desire to write these epic masterpieces started to cloud their ability to write enough memorable/outstanding material to support them. I don't think Tales is a bad album, but it's not a good sign that despite having listened to it over a half-dozen times I still only remember it in patches, while by comparison I could hum nearly every moment of Close to the Edge after a handful of listens. There's definitely some good moments sprinkled throughout the album, but I don't know if any of its four tracks come together as coherently excellent all the way through. I definitely prefer Relayer to it, and I'd even take the unpopular opinion of taking Drama and the studio tracks from Keys to Ascension.

[@crystal-ice555]

This album seeks to portray ancient Indian texts although before I knew this for some reason it evokes to me ancient japan, alien giants and samurai warriors. But each to their own.

[@MoorgladeMover]

It's called Ritual.

[@toddb5760]

Listen to the entire Tales album and the listen to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and tell me you don’t hear and feel the same beauty, majesty, awe and catharsis.

[@ThatsMrPencilneck2U]

A guitarist, went talking about Steve Howe, said that a good guitarist can control the volume of the Guitar with the knobs on the instrument itself, and pick with the same hand, adding in that Steve Howe is definitely good enough to do that.

[@zorbeclegras5708]

Now you know, the gods speak french! 🙂

[@wendellwiggins2900]

LOL! You needed to read about this song and album to understand the conception.

[@StringHead92]

I've grown to not be bothered by the weird drum solo, but yeah, I feel it provides little to the composition besides contrast, and honestly I could have done without it and still feel that the song works just fine. As ProgPer mentions Tales from Topographic Oceans is a very divisive album among the fanbase and it was very divisive among critics too because it definitely embodies every negative stereotype about prog music (overtly complex, too long, too divorced from pop sensibilities, seems obscure and obtuse to the point of being borderline elitist) that most punks grew to hate and rebelled against. Whether those are good or bad things is entirely subjective, of course. My take about it on this particular album is that they hit as much as they miss here. It's no surprise then, but this is definitely not my favourite from their classic era. Fragile has that title as it is way more song oriented, and Close to the Edge (my 2nd one) does Tales... better by being focused and restrained imo. Even Relayer does things better for me (its jazzy undertones help) or The Yes Album which was a lot more psych oriented. Still, I've grown to appreciate what this record does. The sheer ambition from Tales... should be commended, there's a lot of beautiful passages throughout it, and it has at least the two gems that are The Revealing Science of God and this song (now that album would have been awesome! Even a trimmed down version that still featured stuff from the other two epics). Also, this album has some of the most iconic (if not the most) Yes album artwork, that I cannot dispute! Chris Squire was an amazing bassist and even if his presence was there on the original mixes, I'm glad Steven Wilson has shone a new light on his contributions. It's one of the best parts of Yes for me, one of the things that makes this music so fun and exciting to listen to. I won't touch on the narrative aspect of the record because honestly I couldn't care less, it has never been about the lyricism for me, and I prefer when they take a more direct, mundane approach to lyrics instead as it doesn't feel like it's competing with the music. Great insight as always, Bryan!

[@progperljungman8218]

Wouldn't say I agree on all you said, but I certainly enjoyed your great (no pun intended 😊) comment as usual and you do make very good points!

[@fernandotor3266]

Pinacle of prog..yes

[@lesblatnyak5947]

Nice reaction. That volume thing is the remastered compression. Try the vinyl version. Ritual is the most requested live play, 35th Anniversary Tour edition is a must. Once you read up on Anderson's response to the Bible it will all become clear. Remember no Autotune and the boys were constantly inventing new sounds.🙏🍁

[@K4neki_CNTP]

„Remember no Autotune“ - okay, boomer. What he’s listening to already is a vinyl master as it is a rip. The SW remix is brilliant (this is not a remaster) and there’s certainly not a lot of compression on the audio from the OG video. Why should there be? He even praised the dynamics.

[@lesblatnyak5947]

@K4neki_CNTP but there is compression and that's like putting a little mute on a violin bridge thus smaller sound and in response they turn the volume up.

[@bookhouseboy280]

Wakeman: "And when we came to do 'Ritual' for the '04 tour, we completely revisited it. It still sounds like 'Ritual', but it's tightened up: it's a tighter, slightly different arrangement, got rid of a few things that weren't necessary. It's 100 times better than on this album ... it's really, really good."

[@nowon7379]

From 6.34 to 12.15 Anderson vocals best part of song reminds me of Homeworld

[@dolfinpt]

Lol!!! Your face rub at the end!!! Tales of Topographic Oceans is YES’ most “abstract” album along with the Relayer album! First time here…is this your 1st listen to Yes? If so? Wow who the hell suggested this as a first listen to the #1 Progressive Band of its Time!!❤ Do yourself a favor: the Yes Album Fragile Close to the Edge Going for the One Relayer!!!! Tormato Tales…of course And oh Lord No…lyrics will not help you….Yes music and songs are interpretive…lyrics used because as Jon said, “ they fit and sounded good”…many times you’ll listen to them and they’ll mean something else to you. It’s never ending….I’ve grown up with Yes ( and ALL the incredible music of the 60’s and 70’s) being a fan for over 50 years! Seen them as many times live!❤

[@CriticalReactions]

This is my 6th listen from YES, though the rest have also been isolated tracks (I know, I know -- they make albums, not songs 😄). This was actually suggested to give me a taste of something different from them since I had heard most of their other big tracks like Closer to the Edge, Awaken, and The Gates of Delirium.

[@dolfinpt]

@@CriticalReactions ok great…I’ll check out your playlist!😉

[@tobepps]

I really like everything yes did before that, and that includes their earlier and not so famous records. This album stretched things a little too much for my taste. It marks the beginning of classic prog’s ending.

[@genestippell1833]

Yes always did everything for a reason... These guys are good enough know to what they were doing, but with this I have no idea what they were trying to depict. This album was critized for having too much padding. I tend to agree. This came on the heels of close to the edge, and they might've gotten too ambitious, too full of themselves

[@rumourhats]

I really like Fragile and Close to the Edge. But this album is absolute pants. This is what happens when you smoke too many drugs, and Bill Bruford isn't around telling everyone straight.

[@fernandotor3266]

Steve wilson mix?

[@dudleylitz7369]

your microphone is subSTANDARD

[@CriticalReactions]

Agreed, it's a budget behringer but it gets the job done.

[@henryramsay3842]

I find it so interesting how younger people that do reactions prattle on with the length of Yes music tracks. It probably makes symphonies impossible for that generation to endure. A bit sad …

[@CriticalReactions]

Yup, lets toss a whole generation (or maybe even 2) into a box. Do you realize how many "younger people" still take up classical music? I grew up on symphonies and still listen to them. I know many people who still do as well. But even if I didn't, what does that matter? There are some fantastic classical works that aren't hours long. The whole "things were better in my day" shtick was old before you adopted it. Things, people, and generations don't get worse -- they just change. Life is a lot brighter if you can accept that different people will experience life differently than you. One of my most evocative listens this year clocked in over 83 minutes. If you don't mind the length I'd love to hear your opinion of Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper. I did enjoy getting called younger though. I'm coming in hot on 40 but I'll take any compliment in that realm 😄

[@stevedotwood]

I listened to this piece several times throughout the years, but I always perceived it as a big mess with a few hooks. Not interested although I'm quite a Yes fan.

[@martinreed5964]

its better live with an orchestra...2001 symphonic

[@WooBino.]

Weird theme but ok....How about bands w/o a bass player?

[@CriticalReactions]

Yeah, I have to purposes for themes. 1 is to explore a style, sound, or technique and better understand it. This is the principle behind the genre themes. My other purpose is to shake up people's suggestions. While we did get YES today, we're getting 2 new artists that I don't know we have heard otherwise and we get to revisit some synthpop. It's different from the usual week of popular metal bands. As for "bands with a bass player"....I'll add it to the theme list but I won't be happy when we get to it 😅

[@WooBino.]

@@CriticalReactions The DOORS. 😎🎼👍

[@charleswagner2984]

​@@CriticalReactionsYou must read the description of the song Anderson wrote in the liner notes. It gives you clues to why all that amazing music in the long instrumental section is about. Ritual is the longest love song in all music history. Keep listening to all the tracks on the 1970s Yes music. You discover more each time. The ritual is the greatest act of love a man could have for his woman.

[@rudymeixell3426]

Listening to this. . . puts in the mood for some death metal vocals. And I am definitely not into metal. I respect Yes, but mostly can't listen to them. Edit: It's not as if there isn't some great playing on this, some of which I like a lot (especially Steve Howe's), but I just have trouble with Yes's overall airy, new agey tone. I know it's a cliche to say it, but Jon Anderson is just too much in La La Land for me and that permeates the music too much for my taste. Sad to see that X (my favorite punk rock band, and one of my favorite rock bands) is not on the list of acts with short names, to be discussed this week, although I suppose there wouldn't be that much for you to say about most X songs (or maybe any of them).

[@fernandotor3266]

Rough? 😅

[@michaelhudson2912]

second disc of this album is a mess lol. I like parts of it though. I really like disc 1 though, even though it's nowhere near the three albums before it or Relayer.

[@ostravia]

I am a parteon and unless you do some Death Metal...

[@neil_song]

I've always found some of the padding on this song and the entire album for that matter to be borderline indefensible. So the urge to skip ahead which you described is definitely not just you, and not just limited to the first listen. "Tales" has some mindblowing moments, but rarely works as a unit for me. Still, bass playing on it is amazing as usual, because Chris Squire = God.

[@soundofflute]

Steven Wilson butchers another one. He has no respect for the original mix, trying too hard to make it his own by bringing background sounds into the foreground. In this case the percussion section suffered for the effort, losing it's power and robbing the listener of the cathartic release at its end when Steve's guitar kicks back in. Not talking about the bass, though. Chris's bass is front and center throughout this song in the original mix. Not sure about the reviewer's complaints here, though. The song is about the ritual of life, which is often a struggle, a fight, but in the end is about love, and loving life - play. It all becomes pretty coherent when you get it..

[@soundofflute]

Besides the moog synthesizer, Rick uses a lot of mellotron on this for the strings sounds. Do they still exist?

[@saurian11]

I agree with you about some of Steve Wilson's Yes remixes! He takes liberties with some of the songs that maybe he shouldn't have, There were reasons why Eddie Offord left them low in the mix! Of course it's just my opinion, but you should hear what he did with the " I get up, I get down " section of the title track to Close to the Edge. He overlaps Chris and Steve's verses with Jon's lead vocals Too much, and to me, it cheapens the effect of that section ( Don't tamper with perfection!) .

[@soundofflute]

@@saurian11 Agreed, Wilson's versions tend to make the power of the piece disappear, in favor of gimmicky tricks to show off "hidden" riffs here and there. Another example is with The Remembering. That song builds to a tremendous crescendo down the stretch with Jon's vocals out front leading the way. Wilson decided to move Jon lower in the mix, totally destroying awesome beauty of the song, IMHO. Yes was famous for spending long hours obsessing over the mix after recording (ask Bill Bruford, who hated it). It was part of their creative process, and they were walking the walk of creative geniuses in those years. Stupid AF to think you can do better...

[@muskett00]

@6:30 - Interesting transition - very generous appraisal. Seems like a poor cut and shut job to me. Could have blended that much better (imo), but then who am I to question one of the best bands of the era (imo). Also @15:14, this sounds like a full punch in for a different section, and has an audible dip with changes of position... Actually, I adore Yes, but this one for me is so disjointed it's not something that works as a single song for me. I'd be interested to know if the sections have defined 'concepts' or similar movements within the song.

[@HerbalistGuybrush]

That mix sounds fucking weird! I listened to the CD for years and this sounds so much different, very offputting.

[@K4neki_CNTP]

This remix is absolutely fantastic in my opinion. Prefer it to the original.

[@progperljungman8218]

Might you have got used to a compressed CD version? Did you ever listen to the original vinyl?

[@K4neki_CNTP]

@@progperljungman8218 I own an OG pressing and the SW remix and have access to the Lossless audio of both the remaster and the remix via Apple Music. It’s not about compression here. Both the remix and the OG are very dynamic. The remix is just clearer with more instrument separation which I love. Sounds magnificent to my ears, but I like the OG as well for different reasons. Haven’t gotten used to any of the mixes prior tho because I listened to both for the first time roughly at the same time. No offence, but it’s likely you who has gotten used to one.

[@progperljungman8218]

@@K4neki_CNTP well, the reply wasn't to you 😊

[@genestippell1833]

Yes always did everything for a reason... These guys are good enough know to what they were doing, but with this I have no idea what they were trying to depict. This album was critized for having too much padding. I tend to agree. This came on the heels of close to the edge, and they might've gotten too ambitious, too full of themselves