History Music / TalesFromTopographicOceans

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The album combines both the single and double-LP variants of this trope in an unusual way: every side of the album is a single song, each based on one of the four Shastras in Hinduism. In order, the songs focus on the shruti, the smriti, the puranas, and the tantras.

* AlternateAlbumCover: Most early CD releases (barring Japanese ones) zoom in on the band logo and album title at the top-center in order to account for both the smaller size and different proportions of a fatbox jewel case compared to an LP sleeve. The booklet inside the fatbox contained the full artwork. Later remasters would switch to slim hinged jewel cases containing two discs, as was becoming standard for double-CD albums starting in the '90s.

* AlternateAlbumCover: Most early CD releases (barring Japanese ones) zoom in on the band logo and album title at the top-center in order to account for both the smaller size and different proportions of a fatbox jewel case compared to an LP sleeve.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Nous sommes du soleil"'']]

* VariantCover: Most early CD releases (barring Japanese ones) zoom in on the band logo and album title at the top-center in order to account for both the smaller size and different proportions of a fatbox jewel case compared to an LP sleeve.

''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' is the sixth album by British ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Yes}}, released on 7 December 1973 through Creator/AtlanticRecords. It was also the first album to feature former [[Music/JohnLennon Plastic Ono Band]] drummer Alan White, who replaced Music/BillBruford on the drums after the latter left for Music/KingCrimson after recording ''Music/CloseToTheEdge''. While on the Japanese leg of the ''Close to the Edge'' tour, Jon Anderson was inspired to create a next album based upon Paramahansa Yogananda's ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', and pitched the ideas to Steve Howe while in Australia and the US. At the conclusion of the tour, the band reconvened in London to record a double-album with four side long tracks. When the album finally saw release, it became certified Gold on preorders alone in the UK, and was similarly commercially successful in the United States, but Music/RickWakeman had famously expressed his dissatisfaction with the creation of the album multiple times[[note]]for instance, he spent a good deal of the recording time playing darts, headed to Music/BlackSabbath's studio next door to record the keyboard lines for ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'''s "Sabbra Cadabra", and ordered and ate a curry on stage while in a Manchester concert[[/note]] before departing the band at the conclusion of the album's tour.

* EpicRocking: An infamous example of this, where each of the four tracks fits an entire LP side and comprises of several movements and changes.

''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' is the sixth album by British ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Yes}}, released on 7 December 1973 through Creator/AtlanticRecords. It was also the first album to feature former [[Music/JohnLennon Plasic Ono Band]] drummer Alan White, who replaced Music/BillBruford on the drums after the latter left for Music/KingCrimson after recording ''Music/CloseToTheEdge''. While on the Japanese leg of the ''Close to the Edge'' tour, Jon Anderson was inspired to create a next album based upon Paramahansa Yogananda's ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', and pitched the ideas to Steve Howe while in Australia and the US. At the conclusion of the tour, the band reconvened in London to record a double-album with four side long tracks. When the album finally saw release, it became certified Gold on preorders alone in the UK, and was similarly commercially successful in the United States, but Music/RickWakeman had famously expressed his dissatisfaction with the creation of the album multiple times[[note]]for instance, he spent a good deal of the recording time playing darts, headed to Music/BlackSabbath's studio next door to record the keyboard lines for ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'''s "Sabbra Cadabra", and ordered and ate a curry on stage while in a Manchester concert[[/note]] before departing the band at the conclusion of the album's tour.

''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' is the sixth album by British ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Yes}}, released on 7 December 1973 through Creator/AtlanticRecords. It was also the first album to feature Alan White, who replaced Music/BillBruford on the drums after the latter left for Music/KingCrimson after recording ''Music/CloseToTheEdge''. While on the Japanese leg of the ''Close to the Edge'' tour, Jon Anderson was inspired to create a next album based upon Paramahansa Yogananda's ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', and pitched the ideas to Steve Howe while in Australia and the US. At the conclusion of the tour, the band reconvened in London to record a double-album with four side long tracks. When the album finally saw release, it became certified Gold on preorders alone in the UK, and was similarly commercially successful in the United States, but Music/RickWakeman had famously expressed his dissatisfaction with the creation of the album multiple times[[note]]for instance, he spent a good deal of the recording time playing darts, headed to Music/BlackSabbath's studio next door to record the keyboard lines for ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'''s "Sabbra Cadabra", and ordered and ate a curry on stage while in a Manchester concert[[/note]] before departing the band at the conclusion of the album's tour.

[[AC:Side one]]

[[AC:Side two]]

[[AC:Side three]]

[[AC:Side four]]

''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' is the sixth album by British ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Yes}}, released on 7 December 1973 through Creator/AtlanticRecords. It was also the first album to feature Alan White, who replaced Music/BillBruford on the drums after the latter left for Music/KingCrimson after recording ''Music/CloseToTheEdge''. While on the Japanese leg of the ''Close to the Edge'' tour, Jon Anderson was inspired to create a next album based upon Paramahansa Yogananda's ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', and pitched the ideas to Steve Howe while in Australia and the US. At the conclusion of the tour, the band reconvened in London to record a double-album with four side long tracks. When the album finally saw release, it became certified Gold on preorders alone in the UK, and was similarly commercially successful in the United States, but reviews at the time were highly polarizing. Detractors had pointed to the album as a sign of excess for progressive rock, and Music/RickWakeman had famously expressed his dissatisfaction with the creation of the album multiple times[[note]]for instance, he spent a good deal of the recording time playing darts, headed to Music/BlackSabbath's studio next door to record the keyboard lines for ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'''s "Sabbra Cadabra", and ordered and ate a curry on stage while in a Manchester concert[[/note]] before departing the band at the conclusion of the album's tour. Nonetheless, some retrospective reviews of the album have been kinder, with [=AllMusic=] giving it a good review and Website/AcclaimedMusic listing it in its [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list of all-time best albums]] at #2471 as of 2020.

''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' is the sixth album by British ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Yes}}, released on 7 December 1973 through Creator/AtlanticRecords. It was also the first album to feature Alan White, who replaced Music/BillBruford on the drums after the recording of ''Music/CloseToTheEdge''. While on the Japanese leg of the ''Close to the Edge'' tour, Jon Anderson was inspired to create a next album based upon Paramahansa Yogananda's ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', and pitched the ideas to Steve Howe while in Australia and the US. At the conclusion of the tour, the band reconvened in London to record a double-album with four side long tracks. When the album finally saw release, it became certified Gold on preorders alone in the UK, and was similarly commercially successful in the United States, but reviews at the time were highly polarizing. Detractors had pointed to the album as a sign of excess for progressive rock, and Music/RickWakeman had famously expressed his dissatisfaction with the creation of the album multiple times[[note]]for instance, he spent a good deal of the recording time playing darts, headed to Music/BlackSabbath's studio next door to record the keyboard lines for ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'''s "Sabbra Cadabra", and ordered and ate a curry on stage while in a Manchester concert[[/note]] before departing the band at the conclusion of the album's tour. Nonetheless, some retrospective reviews of the album have been kinder, with [=AllMusic=] giving it a good review and Website/AcclaimedMusic listing it in its [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list of all-time best albums]] at #2471 as of 2020.

# "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" (20:27)

''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' is the sixth album by British ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Yes}}, released on 7 December 1973 through Creator/AtlanticRecords. It was also the first album to feature Alan White, who replaced Music/BillBruford on the drums after the recording of ''Music/CloseToTheEdge''. While on the Japanese leg of the ''Close to the Edge'' tour, Jon Anderson was inspired to create a next album based upon Paramahansa Yogananda's ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', and pitched the ideas to Steve Howe while in Australia and the US. At the conclusion of the tour, the band reconvened in London to record a double-album with four side long tracks. When the album finally saw release, it became certified Gold on preorders alone in the UK, and was similarly commercially successful in the United States, but reviews at the time were highly polarizing. Detractors had pointed to the album as a sign of excess for progressive rock, and Music/RickWakeman had famously expressed his dissatisfaction with the creation of the album multiple times[[note]]for instance, he spent a good deal of the recording time playing darts, headed to Music/BlackSabbath's studio next door to record the keyboard lines for ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'''s "Sabbra Cadabra", and ordered and ate a curry on stage while in a Manchester concert[[/note]] before departing the band at the conclusion of the album's tour. Nonetheless, some retrospective reviews of the album have been kinder, with [=AllMusic=] giving it a good review and being listed in Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list of all-time best albums]] at #2471 as of 2020.