Tales From Topographic Oceans - Recording

Recording

"Side one was the commercial or easy-listening side of Topographic Oceans, side two was a much lighter, folky side of Yes, side three was electronic mayhem turning into acoustic simplicity, and side four was us trying to drive the whole thing home on a biggie."

—Steve Howe

Rehearsals, recording, and the arranging of the music on Tales from Topographic Oceans took place across five months at Morgan Studios in London. Eddy Offord assumed his role as producer who had worked with Yes since 1971. The band were split to decide whether the album was to be recorded in the city or the countryside. They agreed to record in the city with a studio decorated like it was outside with white wooden fences and stacks of hay. Rock group Black Sabbath was recording their album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in the studio next door. Their singer Ozzy Osbourne recalled that placed in the Yes studio was a model cow with electronic udders and a small barn to give the room an "earthy" feel. Wakeman took a dislike to the album's concept and structure from the beginning. His musical contributions to the music were little, and often spent time drinking at the studio bar, playing darts, and played keyboard on the Sabbath track "Sabbra Cadabra".

The album is the first studio album to feature drummer Alan White as a full-time member. He joined the group after Bruford's departure in 1972 prior to the release of Close to the Edge.

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Famous quotes containing the word recording:

    “He shall not die, by G—, cried my uncle Toby.
    MThe ACCUSING SPIRIT which flew up to heaven’s chancery with the oath, blush’d as he gave it in;—and the RECORDING ANGEL as he wrote it down, dropp’d a tear upon the word, and blotted it out for ever.”
    —Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)

    “I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
    —Henry Miller (1891–1980)

    “Write while the heat is in you.... The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)