Yes – Tormato

Lacks the bass and presence of the UK first. Does have a treble lift that improves the high end compared to the original, but this isn’t a great sounding version overall. Also my copy seems tilted towards right channel. Not sure what’s going on there.

I don't care what anyone says to the contrary, having been a Yes fan for a number of decades, "Going For The One" and "Tormato" are my top two favorite Yes albums and I love them even more now than I did during the early '80s. After a number of generally higher-regarded albums during the '70s featuring (sometimes overly-)long tracks, Yes returned to their early days of shorter tracks but did so in complex, accomplished ways that naysayers don't recognize or appreciate. Another aspect of "Going For The One" and "Tormato" that I appreciate is a sense of humor being demonstrated at times, which seemed to be lacking during their previous '70s albums.

My review based on a VG+ copy:

Nice and crisp, good soundstage and stereo separation, but lacking the low end that was present years earlier on Fragile, for example. A bit dry. But overall a good listening experience for a young-ish Yes fan (just turned 37!)

I'm on a run of listening to all my Yes records in order of release, and have now reached this one. Supposedly it is the first real misstep the band made in the 70s, but that is only a relative assessment. Truth is, side 1 plays like a more conventional, concise version of the Going for the One album, with shorter compositions played beautifully. Yes updates its sound for the punk/pre-new wave era and do a good job of it. The only true dissonant is the crowd noise during the drum solo in Release, Release.

Side 2 is spottier, but not for lack of effort by the band. Arriving UFO contains enough virtuosity to bowl over any Yes fan. The only track that is hard to defend is Circus of Heaven, and that is mostly due to a level of sappiness that even Anderson can't sell. It is, however, nowehere near bad. Finally, Onward and On the Silent Wings of Freedom have been canonised as absolute classics in the decades hence. Overall, this album was perhaps a bit too diverse and ahead of its time, but it keeps on looking better and more prescient in the rearview mirror.

Next to this one, I have listened to two other vinyl versions of this record: an early Dutch pressing and the picture disc, and this one has the most balanced and high-quality sound. It is also cheap, so it comes highly recommended.

Is this the cassette that has Richard as a hidden track?

This pressing is reasonably decent. I find it a bit shrill is some ages. A little noisy on the groove floor. Not audiophile quality but a decent listen. Don’t pay a lot for this.

As I can see, a comment of mine from four and a half years ago (December 18 or 19, 2018) has been deleted by someone.
I had pointed out in it that at least the then second of two images for this CD edition (ed by a previous contributor about seven years ago, as a replacement for an old first small image by the original submitter) was wrong on this release page. It showed page 12 = the back of the booklet of the European reissue Yes - Tormato, which was released in the summer of 1994 (made in and remastered by George Marino). This was evident from the catalog number 7567-82671-2 in the upper right corner.
My suggestion of removing this incorrect picture has been executed about three years ago by another member, who in fact disabled both images, adding four own new ones. He explained this in his submission notes with the former pics being "from a different release" - see the Discogs Release History for this CD. So I guess this was the occasion for the deletion of my comment, as it had thus become somewhat irrelevant.
It's completely alright with me if my observation gave this the idea for that useful correction, but I would have liked to be informed about its removal from this reviews section.

Early copies came with a huge green “Yes Tormato” refrigerator magnet. Very hard to find.

Early copies came with a huge green “Yes Tormato” refrigerator magnet. Very hard to find.

Long time Yes fan who never bought the album when it was released. Due to poor reviews or me just moving on . I bought the remastered cd and frankly that is a horror show of compression. I urge listeners to purchase an original as the compression is noticeably absent . The sound is fresh and solid.