Close To The Edge vs. Tarkus

Having grown up with both and listened to both extensivly not too long ago.

  Tarkus ROCKS!!!

I like CTTE but it does get stagnant to me in parts (Jon Anderson sings some of those parts with a monotone and at his range it is annoying). 

Tarkus is way more intense. 

CTTE by a mile for me.

CLOSE TO THE EDGE...

i prefer ctte, tarkus has some filler in the second part

hmm well  Tarkus and CTTE are  wonderful songs and that is the only common trait of them so I don't see a point in this comparison...

I like Tarkus very much especially version  which is on Live In Poland
The shape of this version is quite similar to the one from Royal Albert hall but i doesn't contain
any  silly mistakes like some cheap digital leads instead of piano interlude (if you heard this you probably know what i'm talking about)

For me CTTE is the essence of progressive rock of the seventies. I had the oportunity to hear it
live during the Symphonic Tour and it was something not to forget

I'll be the first to like them both equally .

WOW! I was going to do a poll on this, but figured I better check first if it had been done.


results......surprising.

Edited by margaret

apples and oranges.....t*tties and beer....Svedka and Hennessey....

I like both in all pairs, but they're too dissimilar to accurately compare.
I chose the third option.............

eduardossc wrote:  The very best prog prototipe VS. Prog-pop with simple choruses repeated over and over?   Tarkus has way more ideas in the first 10 minutes of the title track than all "Close to the edge" (album).  There is no need to argue. Just listen to the notes on Tarkus. Then listen to the "I get up I get down I get up I get down, I get up I get down , I get up I get down I get up I get down"., the "Close to the edge down by the corner, close to the edge down by the river" choruses repeated all over. Meanwhile, Tarkus never repeats a single word. That is called creativity and songwritting skills. In other words, "talent".

UMMM...WRONG AGAIN!!!!............What YES did is called COMPOSITION...........there is a thing called...HAVING TOO MANY IDEAS IN A PIECE OF MUSIC.....that usually speaks of WEAK composition. I like both Tarkus and Close to The Edge...but first off... Tarkus is an album mostly of songs, with the exception of the first three tracks which are connected....but Close to Edge is only three tracks. There is certainly more unity of form and a stronger sense of direction in Close To The Edge than Tarkus......oh God this is why we need music education in public schools!!!!!!!!!!!

Proglover wrote: eduardossc wrote: Well, definitely most people like CTTE better than Tarkus. I´ll tell you why; Yes has always been more accesible than many other prog bands. Some may try to ignore it or just don´t want to see it, but those choruses repeated all over are just too pop. That´s why CTTE is so likeable. Even among prog heads the melodic element is the most important. Plus, even among prog heads, there are some that are more conventional than others. Those who would rather listen to nice entertaining and sing along choruses will always choose CTTE vs tarkus.   You really have no idea of what you speak...................

Jajaja.....I´m glad you replied.

The way I see it. An 18 minute SONG is too long ¡¡¡. It may be entertaining as well, as "Close" is. But I could not imagine "Broken wings" by Mr. Mister as an 18 minute song with that middle section converted into a 5 minutes section just to make it last that long.

Of course, "Close" has way more instrumental arguments to keep the listener busy during 18 minutes despite that 5 minutes of quiet section in the middle.

That´s the problem with "Close", to me al least. That it is ONE single song with the number of ideas of only ONE song, lasting for 18 minutes ¡¡¡¡. Now, that´s not the problem. Most songs are only one song. In prog as you well know, one song may consist of many moods, with changing intensity. But "Close" has too little of that. Plus, it has those repetitive POP-like choruses over that conventional pop structure that make of "Close" a very predictable song.