TORMATO

Tormato is the ninth studio album by YES. Issued as the follow-up to 1977’s acclaimed Going for the One, Tormato received less than charitable reviews upon release and its virtues are still a matter of debate for Yes fans and critics. Many fans and some band members – particularly Rick Wakeman – state that the production was faulty, resulting in compressed and dull sound.

It is the last album featuring singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Wakeman before the band’s disbanding in 1981. However Anderson returned to YES when the band reformed in 1983, and Wakeman returned in 1990.

Personnel

Jon Anderson
Vocals

Steve Howe
Guitars, Vocals

Chris Squire
Bass, Vocals

Rick Wakeman
Keyboards

Alan White
Percussion

Dan Hersch & Bill Inglot 2003 Stereo Remasters for Warner Music UK/USA

Isao Kikuchi 2013 Stereo Remasters for Warner Music Japan

Spotify

Rick summed it up by saying, “Tormato could have been tremendous but suffered from appalling production. If I could be given one album to remix and to get the guys to add a couple of extra bits to, it would be that one. If ever an album had unfulfilled potential it was Tormato, but totally our fault as it had probably the worst final production mix of anything I have ever been involved with.”

What started as a change of direction with Going For The One continued with Tormato. It was a conscious effort to lighten the band’s material and increase the number of tracks on an album. Following the hit single ‘Wondrous Stories‘, which had been a pleasant surprise to everyone, YES realised the potential of a wider audience for their music and the need for hit singles to make it happen. From this point, they would continue to record their albums with some tracks aimed at mass­market appeal.

If the album had been a disappointment to some, then the 1978 shows on the Tormato tour more than made up for it! Touring from August to October, YES absolutely blew the audiences away with the spectacular, unforgettable In-the-Round stage show, which topped all previous tours, something that seemed impossible beforehand. Whilst discussing the future presentation of the Yesshow in 1978, Chris Squire had suggested to Michael Tait that the band should play in the middle of an auditorium.

Once an auditorium was filled to capacity, the lights were dimmed and the overture music began (either a piece from Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra, or the soundtrack from the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind by John Williams) as the band emerged from the side entrance of the arena. Picked out by spotlights, YES would walk towards the stage. Once set up, they would open with the classic ‘Siberian Khatru‘. The stage slowly moved round at about two to three miles per hour, giving the crowd an unrestricted view of the band from all angles, bringing the audience much closer to them than ever before.

At one point, however, the audience got too close, as Rick Wakeman recalls. “I remember the second night in Chicago when we were on stage… when you’re moving, you tend to look at the audience; you don’t normally. There was a whole block in the front of about twenty seats that were empty and this was very strange because I knew the show was sold out. Now, with any show that is sold out with thousands of seats, there are going to be twenty to thirty no-shows, it’s a fact of life. But I thought this is really weird that there’s twenty to thirty no-shows, but they’re all in the front row – this is crazy! We came to the part of the show where Steve Howe played Clap and while he played we all used to disappear. I would jump off stage and go to where my road crew were. When I went under there… I’d never seen so many people in my life! And I said to my guy, “What on earth is going on?” He said, “The motor that turns the stage burned out. So we’ve taken twenty people from the front two rows.” And they were underneath pushing the stage around!’

Excerpted from David Watkinson’s ‘Perpetual Change‘.