Tormato

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

1978 studio album by Yes

title: "Tormato" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["yes-(band)-albums", "1978-albums", "albums-with-cover-art-by-hipgnosis", "atlantic-records-albums", "albums-recorded-at-rak-studios"] description: "1978 studio album by Yes" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tormato" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1978 studio album by Yes ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

Field	Value
name	Tormato
type	Studio
artist	Yes
cover	Tormato.jpg
released	22 September 1978
recorded	February–June 1978
genre	Progressive rock
length	40:57
label	Atlantic
producer	Yes
prev_title	Going for the One
prev_year	1977
next_title	Drama
next_year	1980
misc	{{Singles
name	Tormato
type	studio
single1	Don't Kill the Whale
single1date	25 August 1978
single2	Release, Release
single2date	7 November 1978 (US)
::

Advision (Fitzrovia, London)
RAK (Regent's Park, London) | genre = Progressive rock | length = 40:57 | label = Atlantic | producer = Yes | prev_title = Going for the One | prev_year = 1977 | next_title = Drama | next_year = 1980 | misc = {{Singles | name = Tormato | type = studio | single1 = Don't Kill the Whale | single1date = 25 August 1978 | single2 = Release, Release | single2date = 7 November 1978 (US)

Tormato is the ninth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes. It was released on 22 September 1978 on Atlantic Records, and is their last album with singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman before their departure from the group in 1980. After touring their previous album Going for the One (1977), the band entered rehearsals in London to record a follow-up. The album was affected by various problems, such as internal disputes over the direction of the music and artwork, and the departure of engineer Eddy Offord early into the sessions, resulting in the group producing the album themselves.

The album received a mixed response from critics but became a commercial success. It reached No. 8 in the UK and No. 10 in the US, where it became the band's fastest selling album and reached platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America within two months for selling one million copies. "Release, Release" and "Don't Kill the Whale" were released as singles. "Release, Release" was a Canadian exclusive single. "Don't Kill the Whale" managed to reach No. 36 in the UK. The band's 1978–1979 tour was their first with concerts performed in the round on a central revolving stage. Tormato was remastered in 2004 containing previously unreleased tracks from the album's recording sessions.

Background

In December 1977, the Yes line-up of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White and Rick Wakeman wrapped up their 1977 tour of North America and Europe in support of their eighth album, Going for the One (1977). The album marked a return to commercial success after it went to number one in the UK for two weeks and spawned a UK top-10 single in "Wonderous Stories". The 84-date tour was considerably taxing on the group, and they took a short break at its conclusion.

Yes reconvened at Sound Associates in Bayswater, London in mid-February 1978 to write and rehearse material for a new studio album. The majority of the songs on Tormato were written during soundchecks and rehearsals on the 1977 tour, as the group decided to develop fresh ideas rather than using older material. The original plan was for Yes to release Tormato in two parts, with the first put out in July 1978 and the second by Christmas time. The second release was to be completed in Barbados, but this never happened and a single album was released instead. The album's original working title was Eleventh Illusion, a reference to the band's desire to base their live stage sets around illusions.

Recording

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/RAK_Recording_Studios_2463868_84e895ea.jpg" caption="RAK Studios"] ::

Tormato was recorded from February to June 1978, and is the band's first recorded in two different London studios, Advision Studios in Fitzrovia and RAK Studios in Regent's Park. Left without a producer, the band decided to produce and mix the album themselves and hired Geoff Young and Nigel Luby, who had assisted with the production of Going for the One, as the engineers. This way of working caused internal issues as Wakeman recalled: "No one was afraid to say, 'Well, Jon, I think you should sing this part.' Or 'Steve, that's a bad guitar part.' Tempers got frayed." Howe agreed with the view, and believed such tensions affected the album's sound quality and tone as a result. By the end of the recording sessions, Yes had recorded enough material to fit on one and a half albums. Tormato was released with nine tracks (although "Future Times" and "Rejoice" are linked together), the most on a Yes studio album since Fragile (1971).

The album features the band playing new instruments that were not used on previous Yes albums. By the time of recording, Wakeman had changed his keyboard rig to incorporate the Polymoog, a polyphonic analog synthesiser which he said was used mainly for "soloing and filling", to the point that he walked out of the studio afterwards. In 1979, Wakeman looked back on the album and said he got it "60 percent right and 40 percent wrong", and wished he had played things differently. One of Howe's criticisms of Tormato was that the Polymoog and Birotron did not complement his guitar sound and noted they often "cancel each other out". Squire felt as if Wakeman and Howe tried to play more notes than the other in a single bar, which was caused after Anderson would put down basic chords on an acoustic guitar and then take it out of the mix, leaving gaps in the music.

In 2013, engineer and producer Brian Kehew, who has worked on the remastering of other Yes albums, explained that the album sounds "thin, flat and terrible". He said that Offord usually incorporated Dolby A, a type of Dolby noise-reduction system, in his production work, but upon examination of the original tapes Kehew could not locate any sign that Dolby A was used. After applying Dolby A to the tapes, Kehew said "everything – except for some of the later overdubs – sounded amazing". Kehew then realised that the engineers who replaced Offord may not have known that the Dolby reduction had in fact been used.

Howe picked out "Madrigal", "Release, Release", and "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" as the tracks he liked best. Howe has been quoted as saying that none of the band can possibly remember how to play most of the songs on the album. He confirmed this in his 2021 memoir, All My Yesterdays, noting that Yes has not performed much from Tormato since the ensuing tour, and even then some songs from the album proved unworkable. "'On the Silent Wings of Freedom' was actually often tried at tour rehearsals but it would just fall apart. 'Future Times/Rejoice' was similarly unsuccessful" he recalls. Howe attributes this failure to the songs bringing back memories of the emotions their recording aroused. "The improvised sections didn't jell and the songs somehow didn't sit comfortably enough."

Songs

Side one

Anderson wrote the music and lyrics to "Future Times"/"Rejoice" and said his words are more explicit in meaning than his usual style. It features Squire playing bass with a Mu-Tron pedal effect.

"Don't Kill the Whale" originated from a bass line and a passage on an acoustic guitar that Squire had devised which he presented to Anderson, who proceeded to write lyrical ideas off it using a poem that he had written on the subject as a basis. The acoustic line was worked into the song's chorus. Squire had the idea while the group were in Switzerland working on Going for the One, and the lyrics were inspired by a television program that Anderson saw about saving tigers, which prompted him to write words for a song about saving whales. The song was also inspired by the band's friendship with Terry Doran, who had invited Yes to perform at a benefit concert for the whale movement, but they were too busy working in the studio. The keyboard solo involved Wakeman adapting a sound that he had configured on his Polymoog which produced "weird sounds" that resembled a whale.

"Madrigal" features Wakeman playing a Thomas Goff harpsichord. Anderson had suggested to Wakeman that they write a madrigal, a form of English evening song.

"Release, Release" was developed by Anderson and White, and features automatic double tracking applied onto White's drum tracks to achieve a bigger sound. Its original title was "The Anti-Campaign", referring to the political and social changes at the time before it was changed in favour of the lyric "Release, release" that is sung multiple times at the end. The instrumental section includes a crowd cheering with the guitar and drum solo, which Wakeman reasoned was added because it "sounded a bit dry" on its own. He claimed the crowd was taken from an English football match. Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun visited Yes in the studio and heard "Release, Release", which he liked and suggested the whole album sound like it. The song was difficult for Anderson to sing on stage as the many high notes in the song strained his voice, and it was dropped early into the tour.

Side two

"Arriving UFO" is based on a tune that Anderson had developed, inspired to write a science-fiction song having seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) twice. Wakeman wrote the instrumental section.

"Circus of Heaven" tells the story of a travelling fantasy circus and its visit to a Midwestern town, featuring unicorns, centaurs, elves, and fairies. Its direction came from Anderson's pursuit of writing songs aimed at children, and gained inspiration from a book by Ray Bradbury ten years before which he subsequently told to his son Damion, who speaks at the end of the song. Squire thought the track was an interesting one musically as it features him playing a reggae-style bass riff.

"Onward" is solely credited to Squire, who had produced a demo version of the song on vocals and piano and presented it to the band. It features orchestral arrangements by his friend Andrew Pryce Jackman, who had worked with Squire as members of The Syn and on Squire's solo album Fish Out of Water (1975). Squire later considered "Onward" as one of the best songs he ever wrote. "Onward" was performed live in 1996 and features an acoustic guitar introduction from Howe entitled "Unity". This was released on their live/studio album Keys to Ascension (1996).

"On the Silent Wings of Freedom" features Squire playing with a Mu-Tron Envelope Shaper effect.

Additional material

Some original UK cassette and 8-track cartridges, both with vastly different track orders from the LP and later CD pressings, include a hidden track titled "Richard", a song written by Anderson, just after "Release, Release". This song was later included on the In a Word box set in 2002, but was left out of the 2003 expanded and remastered reissue of Tormato. It is not known whether the inclusion of "Richard" as a hidden track was intentional or an oversight, though the latter is more likely as later UK pressings and international cassette and 8-track releases of the album also omit it.

Artwork

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Yes_Tor_-geograph.org.uk-_1575615.jpg" caption="The album's title and sleeve design refers to [[Yes Tor]], a high point in [[Devon]]."] ::

As with Going for the One, the album's cover was designed by Hipgnosis but retains the band's logo designed by Roger Dean. Howe pitched the album's original title of Yes Tor, referring to Yes Tor, the second highest hill on Dartmoor, an area of moorland in Devon, England.

During the development of the album, a tomato was thrown at the artwork resulting in its title and cover being changed accordingly. Wakeman claimed to have done this as he recalled the band were disappointed with the initial artwork despite finding it expensive; he later stated that Lane subsequently picked up the artwork with the tomato running down it, laid it down flat, and suggested the result be photographed for the cover along with a name change to Tormato. Howe claimed it was a Hipgnosis employee who threw the tomato, which insulted him. This was corroborated by White, who stated that the band was unable to decide on a cover and the tomato was thrown by Hipgnosis designer Aubrey Powell: "I think Po ... put a picture of a guy with divining sticks on the front. Po took the artwork home one night and decided it wasn't working. So he threw a tomato at it". Yes manager Brian Lane said the band disliked the pictures that Hipgnosis had taken at Yes Tor, "and we threw the tomatoes. [...] It wasn't [Wakeman]". Squire compared the tomato gimmick to the lunacy of the Marx Brothers.

The sleeve includes a photograph of the band that was taken in Regent's Park, London, with each member wearing a bomber jacket and sunglasses and looking in a different direction. Each jacket was labelled with the member's name on the front, but Squire had forgotten his and had to wear one labelled "Jim", belonging to tour manager Jim Halley. The name "Chris" was then drawn onto the final cover.

Release

Tormato was released in the UK on 22 September 1978. It reached No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 10 on the US Billboard 200. On 25 August 1978, "Don't Kill the Whale" was released as a single in the UK which peaked at No. 36. Yes donated money for every copy of the single that was sold to Greenpeace, a charity helping to end large scale whale slaughter.

The album reached Gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry on 13 September 1978. It became Yes's first album to be certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies in the US. A reception for the band was held after their gig at the Los Angeles Forum to commemorate the award and their tenth anniversary.

Reception

|rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = |rev2 = Pitchfork |rev2score = 3.8/10 |rev3 = Rolling Stone |rev3score = (unfavourable) | rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev4score = Record World summarised that Tormato brings "the Yes stamp of intriguing music" and recognised "Don't Kill the Whale" as a potential hit single. Audio magazine gave the album's sound an "A" and the performance an "A−" rating. In its review, Tormato "shows the most song consciousness of any Yes has done in a long while", with its "song-sized ideas, instead of murals". The result shows Yes more economical in its song arrangements, with "exemplary" production and "excellent" sound quality. "Don't Kill the Whale" was praised for its musical power and message without sounding "heavy-headed", as was "Future Times/Rejoice" and "Release, Release" for their "progressive thrusts with solid beats". The review compared "Circus of Heaven" to the fantasy comedy film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964). Cashbox thought with Tormato, "Yes reaffirms its strong artistic and popular stature" and, like Going for the One, "is a welcome away from Yes' extended jamming and massive concept works of the mid '70s". The album has "intricate, sophisticated yet rocking textures" with "first-rate" riffs from Howe and Wakeman.

A more critical review was published by Sheila Prophet in Record Mirror, who summarized it as "The Sunday school of rock" and "maximum pomposity, maximum pretension, maximum elaboration, all covering up minimum inspiration". Steve Pond gave a mixed review in the Los Angeles Times, noting a lack of distinctive melodies and more experimental and extended instrumental sections similar to that of Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) and Relayer (1974), which made them "distant and unappetizing". However, Pond continues to note that "eventually, it emerges as one of Yes' strongest and most important albums" with its balance of songs that display the band's traditional sound along with the contemporary progressive rock approach. He picked up on the album's "raw energy and forcefulness" which made Going for the One such a success, with "Future Times/Rejoice" as a good example of the band's new approach and praised White and Squire as a rhythm section. Pond was critical of "Arriving UFO" and "Circus of Heaven", which he considered are overwhelmed by "studio trickery and sound effects". Yes biographer Chris Welch said the weakest thing about the album is the production quality, typified by a compressed and dull sound. Wakeman later called Tormato "a tragedy" because of its poor artwork and production, despite the record containing good music.

Reissues

1988 – Atlantic – CD
1994 – Atlantic – CD (Remastered)
2004 – Rhino – CD (Remastered with bonus tracks)
2018 – Atlantic – LP (40th anniversary picture disc edition issued for Record Store Day, limited to 5,400 copies).

Tour

Yes supported the album with a 101-date tour of North America and the UK, between 28 August 1978 and 30 June 1979. The UK dates comprised just six consecutive nights at London's Wembley Arena in October 1978. The tour featured the band performing in-the-round with a six-ton circular revolving stage placed in the middle of the arena that cost £50,000 to build, with a 360-degree lighting and sound system fitted above it. Anderson stood on a raised platform in the middle of the stage that turned the opposite way to the band to avoid dizziness. The sound crew sat beneath the stage in an area that had a drinks cabinet. The stage revolved at 1 mph four times per hour; the driving motor failed during one early gig, so the band's roadies had to come out and rotate the stage by hand. The idea was conceived by their longtime technician Michael Tait, who worked with their sound company, Clair Brothers, to develop the sound system to go with it.

Yes entered the stage to The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten and an excerpt of the opening to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The tour marked the group's tenth anniversary, and the band performed a 30-minute medley that included excerpts from as far back as their debut album, Yes (1969). The 1978 leg included four consecutive sold out nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City that sold out in three days and earned the group a Gold Ticket Award for selling 100,000 tickets and grossing over $1 million ($4.8 million in 2024) in box office receipts. Yes performed three additional dates there in June 1979. Recordings from the tour were included on the live album Yesshows (1980).

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's 1978 liner notes.

Yes

Jon Anderson – vocals, 10-string Alvarez guitar (1, 5, 8)
Steve Howe – Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar (1, 2, 5–7), Martin 000–45 (1), Fender Broadcaster (4), Gibson ES-175 (8), Gibson acoustic guitar (6), mandolin (6), Spanish guitar (3), vocals
Chris Squire – harmonised Rickenbacker bass (1, 2, 5–8), Gibson Thunderbird bass (4), bass pedals (1, 3, 5), piano (2), vocals
Rick Wakeman – Birotron (1, 2, 4–6, 8), Hammond organ (1, 4), Polymoog synthesizer (all but 3), piano (5), harpsichord (3), RMI Electra Piano (8)
Alan White – drums (1, 2, 4–6, 8), military snare drum (1), glockenspiel (1), crotales (1, 3, 6, 7), cymbals (3), bell tree (3), drum synthesizer (5), gongs (5), vibraphone (7), percussion and vocals (4)

Technical personnel

Geoff Young – engineer
Nigel Luby – engineer
Peter Woolliscroft – additional engineering
Pete Schwier – additional engineering
Sean Davis – disk cutting at Strawberry Studios, London
Brian Lane – executive producer
Hipgnosis – sleeve design, photography
Rob Brimson – photography (Yes Tor and tomato)
Colin Elgie – graphics
Roger Dean – Yes logo design

Charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1978) | Peak position | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) | French Albums (SNEP) | Japanese Albums (Oricon) | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 22 | | | | | | | 21 | | | | | | | 9 | | | | | | | 41 | | | | | | ::

Certifications

References

Citations

Sources

References

"Release Release (1978)".
Sullivan, Steve. "Yes Shows – 1970s – 1977". Forgotten Yesterdays.
Wasahla, Steve. (31 August 1978). "In the Groove: Original Interview". Messenger-Press.
Giles, Jeff. (20 September 2013). "35 Years Ago: Yes' 'Tormato' Album Released".
Milano, Dominic. (February 1979). "Rick Wakeman: On the Road and Beyond with Yes".
Tiano, Mike. (13 December 1993). "Conversation with Steve Howe". Notes from the Edge.
Crane, Larry. (January 2013). "Brian Kehew (bonus): Digging in the Vaults".
Gill, John. (23 September 1978). "Yes".
Morse, Steve. (24 August 1978). "Yes: Getting Back to Basics". The Boston Globe.
Perlah, Jeff. (8 March 2017). "Rick Wakeman's Piano Journey into Yes, Bowie". Yahoo News.
Braunstein, Bill. (19 November 1978). "Rick Wakeman just can't say no to Yes". Detroit Free Press.
Tiano, Mike. (1 October 1996). "NFTE: Interview with Chris Squire". Notes from the Edge.
Wright, Jeb. (May 2002). "Rick Wakeman of Yes". Classic Rock Revisited.
Tiano, Mike. (3 September 2008). "Conversation with Roger Dean (nfte #308)". Notes From the Edge.
Ewing, Jerry. (9 May 2014). "Q&A: Rick Wakeman". Loudersound.
(29 September 1978). "Yes' 'Tormato' spins at midnight on WIOQ". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
(2 September 1978). "Autumn tour for Yes".
"Certified Awards". BPI.
"Gold & Platinum – "Tormato"". Recording Industry Association of America.
(18 November 1978). "Yes honored as 'Tormato' goes platinum".
[{{AllMusic
"The Yes Album / Fragile / Close to the Edge / Tales from Topographic Oceans / Relayer / Going for the One / Tormato / Drama / 90125".
Emerson, Ken. (28 December 1978). "Yes: Tormato".
Cross, Charles R.. (2004). "[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide". [[Simon & Schuster]].
(8 October 1978). "Hits of the Week – Albums – Yes, "Tormato"".
(April 1979). "The Column – Tormato: Yes".
(30 September 1978). "Album Reviews – TORMATO – Yes".
Shearlaw, John. (28 October 1978). "Tales of Rotographic Motions". Record Mirror.
Pond, Steve. (1 October 1978). "Affirmative vote on Yes' new album 'Tormato'". Los Angeles Times.
(1978). "Discogs: Yes – Tormato, Versions". Discogs.
(21 April 2018). "Yes – Tormato". [[Discogs]].
(March 1979). "Travels With Yes".
Sherlaw, John. (28 October 1978). "Tales from Rotographic Motions".
Watkinson, David. "YES Opening Music Year Guide". YesWorld.
Taylor, Barry. (23 September 1978). "Yes refuses to show their age".
(1978). "Tormato". [[Atlantic Records]].
Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
Pennanen, Timo. (2006). "Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972". Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
"Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – Y".
(2006). "Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005". [[Oricon.
(12 May 1979). "Yes Mines Canadian Gold".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::