November 15, 2016 by

Yes, “Future Times / Rejoice” from Tormato (1978): YESterdays

Tormato, Yes’ ninth studio album and the last of the main sequence featuring the classic line-up, also signaled a change of fortune for the band.

Coming a year after the highly regarded Going For the One album, Tormato continued the trend of more direct and accessible Yes songs. Recorded in a nine-month period, Tormato also indicates that all was not quite right with the world’s greatest progressive rock band.

Engineer/coproducer Eddie Offord came and quickly went, leaving a majority of the engineering to Geoff Young and Nigel Luby at Advision studios in London. The recordings lack a sonic sheen and clarity of many of Yes’ finest moments. Perhaps the band was sonically influenced by the punk/new wave music, but the almost-dull recording did little in bringing to life the compositions.

“Future Times/Rejoice,” the lead off track, was not enhanced by Yes’ self-production or the recording techniques. Written by the entire band, the song is a good venue for Steve Howe’s guitar; he and Alan White sound particularly motivated. Unfortunately, Rick Wakeman’s keyboards sound thin and Chris Squire’s bass is not well mixed.

Lyrically, Jon Anderson also seems to be recycling ideas.

In the fountains of the universe (set time in accord)
Sits the boychild Solomon (Ever turning round and round)
In the cities of the Southern Sky (set points universe)
Dreams he of glory (pulsating round and round)
Future times will stand and clearly see (highest dancing)
Of the course of innocence (Drifting drifting)
See it all
See it all
Till tomorrow
See it all
See it all
Till tomorrow
Future times will stand and clearly smile
Of the course of innocence

It’s almost inconceivable this is the same group which ended their last album with “Awaken.” The vocal mix of Squire and Anderson does not come close to their best moments, again hampered by the recording, the mix, and having nothing too interesting to say.

As an opening track, “Future Times/Rejoice” is not a good omen for the rest of Yes’ Tormato.


Preston Frazier’s YESterdays is a song-by-song feature that explores the unforgettable musical legacy of Yes. The series runs every other Tuesday.

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3 Comments

  1. ivorytower says:
    December 14, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    So much of this record feels like half-polished demos.

  2. ringmod76 says:
    February 7, 2017 at 10:26 am

    Counterpoint: Future Times/Rejoice is the best track on Tormato (I would say Silent Wings, but Rick ruins it with that awful Polymoog solo *and* it’s so badly mixed, though in fairness the entire album is badly mixed).

  3. Carl Matthews says:
    March 24, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    I don’t listen to mixes I listen to the songs themselves. The three standout songs for me on this album are Future Times, Arriving UFO and On the Silent Wings of Freedom. It isn’t their best album but it certainly isn’t their worst either and I don’t think the whole album deserves to be panned