YES - GFTO, Tormato, Drama, Asia - Asia Update

[FVDnz]

Someone on the Yesfans website has posted that someone in the know has told him that the original tapes for Tormato have been transferred to digital. Putting 2 and 2 together, this hopefully means that a surround remix of this album is on the way at some point Excellent news for any Yes fans out there. While its nowhere near their best album, imho they've not done anything as good since.

Oooooooh, Yes (not necessarily pun intended) please! Like Wilson's remix of Relayer, a remix of Tormato has the potential to be the best sounding version of the album, ever! Count me excited if the rumour is true.

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[rtbluray]

I have to admit, when I saw this thread pop up again and read the new posts within it, I did not get very excited at all.
"Tormato" has a few stellar tracks on it, like "Don't Kill The Whale" and "Onward", but a lot of the rest of the album for me is like listening to nails scratching down on a chalkboard.
Whoever would end up remixing the album (be it Steven Wilson, Jakko Jakszyk, or whomever) would have to take some really radical liberties with the mix to make it sound anywhere near as good as the previous 6 albums or the 2 that followed "Tormato", all of which show Yes in a much better light than "Tormato" does.

Now on the other hand, if someone had said that all of the "Going for the One" tapes had been newly transferred to digital, then THAT would get me really excited, but beyond that, my primary focus is on getting more XTC, Tears for Fears and Roxy Music remixes out there because all of those catalogues still offer a lot more potential than whatever remnants remain of the progressive rock catalogues ("Going for the One", "Songs from the Wood", and "Heavy Horses" being strong exceptions)

 

[DennisMoore Jr.]

Someone on the Yesfans website has posted that someone in the know has told him that the original tapes for Tormato have been transferred to digital. Putting 2 and 2 together, this hopefully means that a surround remix of this album is on the way at some point Excellent news for any Yes fans out there. While its nowhere near their best album, imho they've not done anything as good since.

Hello me m8

First, I'm not a Tormato apologist at all, I love that album. As Wakeman has said, it had much more even contributions from the 5 members. GFTO was basically done by the time Wakaman rejoined YES(In his own words). In addition, seeing On The Silent Wings of Freedom live in concert was a God-Like experience and perhaps was Chris Squires' most intense live performance. I was lucky to have seen that song performed thrice. Wow.

About this recent leaked tid bit: It sounds to me to be dubious, since digital transfers are done by tech professionals and they are the last people to leak information, such technical machinations are done quietly and without fanfare. I assume you mean the multi-track transfers.. However, I for one appreciate the news nugget, since silence is indeed our greatest enemy in the struggle to realize further surround recordings. And we've had far too much silence regarding further YES in surround.

Yes, the sound of Tormato sucks and the Dolby fiasco is well documented, so Tormato in 5.1 would be a HUGE improvement indeed.

Release, Release Tormato in 5.1 post haste, I say!


uploading picturescertificity.com

 

[colsky]

Hello me m8

First, I'm not a Tormato apologist at all, I love that album. As Wakeman has said, it had much more even contributions from the 5 members. GFTO was basically done by the time Wakaman rejoined YES(In his own words). In addition, seeing On The Silent Wings of Freedom live in concert was a God-Like experience and perhaps was Chris Squires' most intense live performance. I was lucky to have seen that song performed thrice. Wow.

About this recent leaked tid bit: It sounds to me to be dubious, since digital transfers are done by tech professionals and they are the last people to leak information, such technical machinations are done quietly and without fanfare. I assume you mean the multi-track transfers.. However, I for one appreciate the news nugget, since silence is indeed our greatest enemy in the struggle to realize further surround recordings. And we've had far too much silence regarding further YES in surround.

Yes, the sound of Tormato sucks and the Dolby fiasco is well documented, so Tormato in 5.1 would be a HUGE improvement indeed.

Release, Release Tormato in 5.1 post haste, I say!

Hear hear, Tormato is a great album! And I love the photo in your post!

What we need is our own informed insider (Plan 9 where are you?!!)

 

[ssully]

I have to admit, when I saw this thread pop up again and read the new posts within it, I did not get very excited at all.
"Tormato" has a few stellar tracks on it, like "Don't Kill The Whale" and "Onward", but a lot of the rest of the album for me is like listening to nails scratching down on a chalkboard.

Yikes...those two would not be my picks for 'stellar tracks' on Tormato, if such even exist.

Whoever would end up remixing the album (be it Steven Wilson, Jakko Jakszyk, or whomever) would have to take some really radical liberties with the mix to make it sound anywhere near as good as the previous 6 albums or the 2 that followed "Tormato", all of which show Yes in a much better light than "Tormato" does.

Whoever does it will have to sort out the inconsistent Dolby A encoding/decoding issues that plagued the recording and mixing of this album, which gave it a sound unlike (and worse than) most of Yes's other 70s output.

Tormato could become more interesting/convincing with a good surround mix, a la Lizard. There's a lot going on in tracks like 'Future Times' and 'Arriving UFO' that gets muddled in the 2 channel mix. Howe and Wakeman were overplaying a lot on that album, and spreading the mix out could help make that sound better.

 

[Frogmort]

Given my druthers, I would prefer to get Going for the One or maybe even 90125, but I grew up with Tormato and would love to get a surround mix for it, or even Drama which has some great music too. I love the whole album, but I do agree that it has always sounded rather dull and lifeless compared to most of their other albums. I do remember reading about the Dolby processing errors, and surely with today's technology that could be corrected, which might result in the best sound by far for the album.

Also, I'm from the southeast US and I have always pronounced the album 'Tor-mah-toe'

 

[sebbykin]

I would like both GFTO and Tormato on 5.1, but I really, really...yes really want to hear "Awaken" as I reckon it could give "A Prophet's Song" a run for it's money as being on of the best surround tracks out there

 

[sunra]

I would be excited about GFTO in surround. I would be Really excited if they put a 1977 live version of Awaken with th Flight Jam on as a bonus track!

 

[MCDave]

I asked Geoff Downes about the multi-tracks for Drama. He said they are lost and he also said the tapes for Asia - Asia are lost
and he reminded me of what we all know that "nobody back then really thought to keep those tapes..."

That's really disappointing. Drama is my 3rd favorite Yes album after Relayer and Fragile. I was hoping to see a surround remix of Drama one of these days.

 

[haikubass]

There is a new Mike Mettler interview with Steve Howe, plenty of fresh info on topics discussed here:

Steve Howe, Perpetual Sound Chaser

"I'm a Soundist." Forward-thinking guitar legend Steve Howe, the maestro of many iconic, nimble guitar riffs that have literally defined a generation or two of aurally challenging songs by the likes of Yes and Asia, is describing his raison d'être. "I'm a sound recorder, in a way," he continues...

www.soundandvision.com

 

[humprof]

There is a new Mike Mettler interview with Steve Howe, plenty of fresh info on topics discussed here:

Steve Howe, Perpetual Sound Chaser

"I'm a Soundist." Forward-thinking guitar legend Steve Howe, the maestro of many iconic, nimble guitar riffs that have literally defined a generation or two of aurally challenging songs by the likes of Yes and Asia, is describing his raison d'être. "I'm a sound recorder, in a way," he continues...

www.soundandvision.com

Thanks for that--and for reviving this thread, which I missed the first time around.

 

[5.1 4 Life]

Wow, thanks for getting us that tidbit, DMJ!
So it looks like based on what Steve said about the multi-tracks for "Going for the One", when SW says they are 'unavailable', it doesn't mean they are missing.
What it probably means is there has been no agreement made (up till now) to remix and reissue that album.
So if you all want "Going for the One" to get remixed and released, go buy "Tales from Topographic Oceans" and all of the other Yes definitive editions!
As for "Tormato", no amount of remixing can save that record, so I really don't care if that one is ever remixed.

I've already got all the 'Definitive Editions' by Yes (The Yes Album thru Relayer) on Blu-Ray. I Love all of them and I hope that they go ahead with a new version of Going For The One in 5.1. Fingers Crossed!

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I would also be interested in GFTO in surround. When it comes to Yes, for me anyway, some of the related sub-group type recordings are more appealing than many of the later full-on Yes albums (GFTO being an exception). I find Anderson,Buford,Wakeman & Howe' to be a great listen, as well as the Jon & Vangellis releases. Those would be true gems if ever reissued in surround. Dream-on.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Awaken is (IMHO) the best Yes track. The one where everything came together. A 5.1 version of it could, possibly, be the ultimate surround track of all time.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Now Now Now...let´s not be too hasty regarding Tormato!!! It does have some awesome moments...also cause the follow up, DRAMA is a hell of an album!!!!...and much more Yes than Tormato despite Jon and Rick being AWOL!

 

[SHB]

I liked reading he wants to release his solo albums in 5.1 starting with beginnings & the Steve Howe Album. I’m all for that!

 

[5.1 4 Life]

The only version I have of GTFO sounds like pure ass. Does anybody have a recording that actually sounds good? I like the songs, but not the production.

Agreed! Both GFTO & Tormato suffered in sound quality from the absence of Eddie Offord who co-produced the other Yes albums during their classic period. So, if it's true that the multi-tracks for these albums do exist and Steve Wilson can remix them in 5.1, it would be a revelation for Yes fans.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Now Now Now...let´s not be too hasty regarding Tormato!!! It does have some awesome moments...also cause the follow up, DRAMA is a hell of an album!!!!...and much more Yes than Tormato despite Jon and Rick being AWOL!

I would like to hear what Rob Reed would do with a 5.1 of Drama. It's his favourite Yes album, and I'm certain that he could do at least as good a job as Steven Wilson could on it.

 

[mongojr]

Disappointing news about the lost tapes. Asia always sounded muddy and I heard the stereo SACD wasn't much better than the CD release. I did find the Universal 2CD Asia Gold release from 2002 that was remastered by Erick Labson and pretty much contains Asia, Alpha, Astra & 7 b-sides or bonus tracks. It is the best sounding version of this album that I have heard. If anyone knows otherwise I would be happy to hear about it.

 

[Woody71]

Such a shame about Asia, and sadly not surprising at the same time. I have the 2011 SACD from Japan and it sounds good, a little better than the 'Gold' version above. Would definitely benefit from a remix to toughen it up a bit, but it's not going to happen unfortunately.