CLOSE TO THE EDGE

Honestly, I don't get what all the hype is about this album. I'd never heard a Yes album, and I thought I'd start with the best. It's an okay album: yes. I get that it was influential. And I get that I am young and probably know no better. However, I find this album pretentious. Annoying, even.

Sure, there are some catchy choruses, but that really doesn't matter all that much to me. I just find the vox to be shrill and irritating, the melodies to be pedestrian, the musicianship to be average at best, and the overall theme of the album to be vague and uninteresting. For me, this is a 2-star album, but I'll give it a bump up for being influential. I thought that I would find something great in Yes, but I find that I just prefer Gentle Giant, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and even The Moody Blues.