Double 180 gram vinyl LP pressing. Tales from Topographic Oceans is the sixth studio album from the English rock band Yes, originally released as a double album on December 7, 1973 by Atlantic Records. It is a concept album based on singer Jon Anderson's interpretation of a footnote in Autobiography of a Yogi (1946) by Paramahansa Yogananda that describes four bodies of Hindu texts, collectively named the shastras. After he pitched the idea to guitarist Steve Howe, the two wrote the themes and instrumentation of four, side long tracks based on each text. The album was a commercial success, becoming the first UK album to qualify for Gold certification based on pre-orders alone. It topped the UK Album Chart for two weeks and reached #6 in the US, where it reached Gold certification for over 500, 000 copies sold.