A review from Alan Bisbort printed in "The Daily Tar Heel" had a headline that deemed the album "cosmic hokum". Bisbort wrote about his criticisms of its concept and the idea of the group, "who went East, got a shot of knowledge, came back West, had lots of money at their disposal ... and decided to cut an album guaranteed to give shortcut answers to the question for the multitude". He did not dismiss the album entirely, and recognised the group's musical talents. Tom Von Malder, for "The Daily Herald", thought Yes "seldom disappoints", but named "Tales" an exception, with "Ritual" being the only track that lives up to the strong material on "Close to the Edge" and "Yessongs" as it is the "most cohesive, most lyrical of all". He thought the remaining three sides have some good music, but are too scattered, and claimed the album's concept is "a bit too obtuse for a rock album". Holly Spence, in the "Lincoln Evening Journal", called "Tales" a unique and creative album that displays an "inventive combination of sounds and rhythms" that is more interesting than the "dull repetitive noise" that she thought was typical of rock music at the time.