Close to the Edge question

moshkito wrote: Spacegod87 wrote: I like Relayer a little better as well. Only because I'm not as big a fan of Siberian Khatru as everyone else seems to be.. This is my thinking .... so don't get any ideas that I believe this to be true. In the past 20 years, most of the fans, progressive or not, have heard a lot of music in rock, from prog to a lot of other things, that included a lot of guitar thrashing, and it made the mode and the idea of it much more viable as a true instrument and a compositional item. Thus, a much younger fan, that has heard a lot of things like Dream Theater, Iron Maiden and many other bands that love to guitar loud and play so many notes and scales, would (more than likely), enjoy RELAYER a lot more and better than they would the more melodic and classical minded CTTE, and then the compositional design of TFTO ... something that RELAYER appears to not have, and gives away to a more ... let it all hang out ... kind of thing. In terms of "better", that is so subjective and crazy that I am not sure that any opinion is representative or the right thought or context, specially within the band's canon and history. It all becomes a part of the ensemble called YES and its music history.  For me, the better album is trivial ... I would tell you in 1.2 seconds that TFTO is the album I love the most, and not name a 2nd or 3rd album from that group at all ... but that would be a bit on the preference side. Composition-ally, I find that they had their best work with Rick Wakeman in those early days, but sadly, he has trashed and talked too much crap about too much of it, and his work on the solo side, has not even half the design and ability that the band showed, including the talent it takes to help define something so different and valuable, which his solo albums did not do ... even past the first solo album, that while nice, was a mess in terms of pure design and composition! And all the rest, is just fan fiction and some money laundering for the fans who suck it all up!

 

patrickq wrote: ^ “isn't it a sin they're so thin?”

^
I’m not sure... I think it’s not only me for whom Relayer takes a lot of plays before it even starts making sense. But I definitely see what you’re saying. Led Zeppelin must’ve sounded like crazy noise or devil music when it wcame out. Now it’s mild compared to many genres!

I like Relayer a little better as well. Only because I'm not as big a fan of Siberian Khatru as everyone else seems to be..

^
“isn't it a sin they're so thin?”

Atavachron wrote: Close to the hedge, down by the flowers This song goes on hours and hours.

BaldJean wrote: patrickq wrote: Posting this in this here subforum because Close to the Edge comes up so often in Personal Top 10 lists. Personally I think Relayer is slightly better, but I agree that CttE is truly a masterpiece. But then again, Yes is my favorite band. My question is what exactly about CttE makes it so broadly popular among PA people? It seems like you could be a Tech Metal or Math Rock fan, and your Top 10 favorite albums will be nine from your favorite prog subgenre, plus Close to the Edge. I totally agree "Relayer" is better, but not just slightly.  "Close to the Edge" is in my opinion not daring enough; it is too "pleasing". it is the aural equivalent of a "Handschmeichler" (German word for an object that is nice to hold; literally it means "hand flatterer")

I think Relayer overall is the superior album. And you & I and Siberian Khatru seem to do less for me than they do for many folk around here, but the track CTTE is up there with Awaken ad The Revealing Science of God.

jamesbaldwin wrote: Isn't the last minute of AYAI a wasted moment? In my opinion AYAI should finish after 6 minutes.

“And You And I” is a bit drawn out. I think it works as part of the album, but yeah, they could’ve accomplished the song in six minutes. It’d be interesting to see what they would’ve done with an extra 3 or 4 minutes on Close to the Edge.

Following from Logan's point, one element I find missing in much of today's prog metal that I miss tremendously from earlier prog rock is the use of classical guitar (or even electric guitar arpeggiated like classical guitar). I started out learning classical music but fell in love with prog rock (with guitarists such as Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Alex Lifeson, Robert Fripp, David Gilmour, Andy Summers, etc.). It was their use of classical/arpeggiated guitar that eventually made me circle back and appreciate classical guitarists such as John Williams (formerly of Sky), Julian Bream, Andres Segovia, Christopher Parkening, and others. The chords, chord inversions, and chord progressions in prog at that time could be very complex and interesting, much like Bach's preludes/fugues for lute, or even those found in jazz guitar. Yes certainly had this complexity, but with a pleasing modern and organic sound that incorporated a number of other styles as well. For some reason, later prog guitar became much heavier, single note oriented sequences/runs with drop-in chords that were harsher and more cacophonous. Not worse - just different. This is not to say that ELP's Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery ... or that Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn weren't heavy/cacophonous. They are. But ... prog back then could be very beautiful and ethereal sounding, too, and I miss that aspect when I listen to much of today's music. If you start out heavy, there's nowhere else to go. Back then, bands focused a lot more, I believe, on dynamics. They could incorporate silence and rests and sweet music in addition to the heavy and bombastic.