CLOSE TO THE EDGE

"What's so special about Close to the Edge? Let's see: 1 - Jon Anderson's crazy lyrical imagery creates a natural sense of fantasy and wonderment 2 - Steve Howe plays guitar leads like no one before him had. sounds like mice scampering up the fretboard 3 - The album contained three epic pieces and none of them were boring 4 - The four parts of the title suite have funny names if you imagine them as pieces about constipation (Total Mass Retain! The Solid Time of Change! I Get Up, I Get Down!)" - HolyMoly, ProgArchives forum

Okay, another victorious round to Yes, five stars again to the (currently) most celebrated album of the Prog Archives, and maybe the most celebrated progressive rock album ever. After a mountain of reviews, I don't know what I have to say about how much I like it. It's absolutly not my favorite album, but is a masterpiece, without any shadow of doubt. That is a fact: Yes had a short period of good music in my opinion. But when this unusual constellation align, the band had everything to be powerful, and they made it perfect with Fragile and Close To The Edge. Yes were playing not only for the fans, they were satisfying themselves. Wakeman said that Tales of Topographic Oceans was boring to record, and the band slowly fell from the top, and the seeming lack of creativity and scarcity of motivation moved them to the lower level.

With Close To The Edge, Yes presented us with symphonic music, with innovative/experimental crescendos, definitive progressive songwriting, catchy atmospheric vibes and technical rocker riffs. Yes music, when did right, is always stimulant to the mind, together with the live-giving Roger Dean's cover/album art. Just like their next album, this one is trippy, BUT Close To The Edge suites are well balanced, between the slow and harder parts, so I never get bored listening to the whole stuff.