Doing a 180: Yes, Tales from Topographic Oceans

Rhino has made it a point to reissue classic albums on 180-gram vinyl on a regular basis. This is the latest to get that treatment. You're welcome.

When it comes to prog-rock concept albums, there are few that are held in quite the same esteem as Yes’s TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS, a 4-song, 2-LP affair – yes, that’s right: it’s one song per side – featuring lyrics based on Jon Anderson’s interpretation of a footnote in the 1946 book AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI, paired with Steve Howe’s musical themes and instrumentation.

There’s a famous story about how Anderson had wanted to record the album in a forest at night under a tent with electric generators buried into the ground so they’d be inaudible, but as Anderson himself has confirmed, “When I suggested that, they all said, ‘Jon, get a life!’” In the end, they recorded the album at Morgan Studios in Willesden, England, and the result was an effort which made it into US top 10 and climbed all the way to the top of the charts in the UK.

Is TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS an epic affair? You bet. And if you thought it blew your mind before, just wait ‘til you hear it on 180-gram vinyl…