Hymn Of The Big Wheel

Top/ Tormato (Atlantic, 1978) is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock group Yes, issued as the follow-up to 1977's acclaimed Going for the One. The original album title was to be Yes Tor, referring to a geological formation in southern England. The photographs taken by legendary design group Hipgnosis for the album cover were seen as so unimpressive that keyboard player Rick Wakeman, in frustration, threw a tomato at the pictures. The cover and title were adjusted accordingly. Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968, generally regarded as one of the archetypal bands and pioneers of the genre. They have sold over 60 million albums. The band's music blends symphonic and other "classical" structures with their own brand of rock music. Although the band's sole consistent member has been bass player Chris Squire, Yes are also generally noted for the distinctive high-register vocals of former lead singer Jon Anderson and the eclectic musical stylings of a succession of guitarists (including Steve Howe), keyboard players (including Rick Wakeman), and drummers (including Bill Bruford and Alan White). Long-term band members Squire, Howe, and White are currently touring with a lineup featuring vocalist Benoît David and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman. Bottom/ Despite acquiring a reputation as an example of the worst excesses of "prog rock", Tales from Topographic Oceans (Atlantic Records, 1973) became the band's fourth consecutive gold album. The album's concept, a two-disc, four-piece work of symphonic length and scope (based on the Shastric scriptures, as found in a footnote within Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi), was their most ambitious to date. The four songs of the album symbolise (in track order) the concepts of Truth, Knowledge, Culture, and Freedom, the subjects of that section of text. On release it received notably hostile reviews. Gordon Fletcher in his review in Rolling Stone described it as "psychedelic doodling". Artwork for the album (design and illustration) was done by Roger Dean. Dean designed many of the group's album covers, forming a continuing story in pictures. Dean had also created the Yes logo. The cover of Tales from Topographic Oceans has often been included in lists of the best album covers of all time.