The Batlord

Actually it is. Cobain was basically a pop songwriter in the vein of the Beatles and the Kinks, he was a Pixies fanatic, and the whole grunge sound basically came from Black Flag's My War album which was hardcore punk directly influenced by Black Sabbath. So Unknown is spot on.

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Taxman

Nirvana was basically just a solid pop band that played loud. At least, on Nevermind. Bleach and In Utero are more edgier. Having said that, Nevermind is, in my opinion, one of the best albums from the nineties, but then again,I really know nothing about music.

Nice journal, though. Even if I don't agree, I enjoyed it a lot.

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Taxman

Oops. I just noticed I'm three months late...anyway.

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Trollheart

Okay then Briks and powerstars: you've had your fun but it's time for the return of the original and best. Accept no substitutes!

Title: Close to the edge
Artiste: Yes
Year: 1972
Chronological position: Fouth album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Mostly later stuff: “Big generator”, “Union”, “90125”, that sort of thing. I've always found seventies Yes overlong and meandering and boring...
Why is this considered a classic? I think it was the first time Yes had written an album with so few tracks and two of these being so long, and I guess it captured the zeitgeist of the seventies and prog in general. But I'm not convinced personally.

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Good but not blowing me away
One track in --- (Considering track one is over eighteen minutes long this would be a long time to wait to form some sort of impression, so I'll go for about five minutes into the title track) Good
Halfway through --- Great
Finished --- Great

Comments: You guys have been bugging me to listen to this almost as much as you did about Slayer, so here it is. I'm already on record as saying I don't like seventies Yes much but we'll see if this changes my mind. Nice soft opening with birdsong and nature sounds (you'd expect that of Jon Anderson I guess) then you can see where bands like Spock's Beard and IQ got their inspiration as the mammoth title track gets going. I hear guitar and bass phrases that would resurface a decade later on “90125”. Piano part at the tenth minute is really nice, but sort of the first time I've really sat up and taken notice so far. Seems to be part of Part III: I get up I get down? Superb organ solo from Wakeman. Now I'm interested.

Nice guitar opening to “And you and I”, very Steve Hackettish. I of course have always loved Anderson's voice, just something about earlier Yes albums has never quite clicked with me and I don't know why. Maybe it's because the stuff I heard from them so far was typically shorter and less convoluted than this. But then, I'm well known as a lover of long epic songs. So where does the problem lie? It's the same with IQ: they should be a band I'm totally into, and yet every time I listen to them I end up losing interest or occasionally falling asleep! This is turning out to be good, but I'm absolutely not blown away as everyone expected me to be, asking myself why didn't I listen to this twenty years ago or anything. Unless it gets amazing in the next short while I don't see myself listing it as one of my favourite prog albums, unlike it would seem ninety-nine percent of you.

Favourite track(s): Well there are only three so I can't really pick but Close to the edge III: I get up I get down, Close to the edge IV: Seasons of Man; And you and I is pretty solid all the way through and the last track is good too, so not much not to like other than
Least favourite track(s): Close to the edge I and II

Final impression --- Yeah really quite good but not the revelation I expected it to be, and if people think I'm going to be banging my head against a wall saying why didn't I listen to this sooner they'll be waiting. I certainly see why it's a classic but I don't see why it's considered THE classic??

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?

Mixture of E and F I guess: hard to put into words. I do like it, I see it's a classic but it would not be top of my list, ever. The old problem with seventies Yes continues, it would seem.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Frownland

Glad you got around to listening to it, TH. I share the same feelings on the album in that it's great, but definitely not their best. When you say that you don't like 70s Yes, does that mean you've not heard Fragile, Tales From Topographic Oceans, and Relayer?

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Neapolitan

Strange, I totally avoid “Big generator”, “Union”, “90125”, on purpose. 90125 grates my nerves to no end. Close to the Edge is an absolute classic. It's better than most of the 70s albums like The Wall, Quadropenia, maybe ties with Selling England by the Pound, better that Aqua Lung and and ever other hard Rock or Prog albums. Albums of 1972 CttC is better than Honky Château, Can't Buy a Thrill, Chicago V, and Obscured by Clouds. I think albums like Ziggy Stardust, and Exile on Main St. are objective just as great, I don't know how that Rolling Stone rag would rank them. Harvest, Foxtrot, near equal. Wow a year! You probably could have a whole journal dedicated to 1972!

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Trollheart

TBH I have not heard any Yes 70s albums at all. I've seen them live (on TV) and was bored to tears. Of course that could stem from the fact I knew none of the material. But it just seemed to ramble on forever and I didn't like it. I may try some other albums --- oh wait, I have heard Drama --- no that's 80s isn't it? --- but for me the whole 80s/90s Yes was where I came to love their music, along with the totally underrated ABWH album.

It's all relative as I say. I'm one of those who much prefers "Trespass", "Wind and wuthering" and even "Nursery cryme" to "Selling England." It's not my least favourite Genesis album but it's definitely not my favourite. That said, it's a great album. I just think I was disappointed, after the fanfare put up about "Close to the edge", that I expected to be totally smacked upside the head and I wasn't. It was a good, even a great Yes album but I'd still rather listen to "Big Generator", "Union" or "90125", maybe even "ABWH". It's just how I feel.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Anteater

What makes Close To The Edge special is not only the spontaneous process that went into its recording compared to Yes's other albums, but also the way its constructed and its relative brevity compared to other "prog" records of the era. There's so much going on in just those three songs, however, that people are still talking about it nearly half a century later. There's a reason why its been #1 on ProgArchives pretty much forever: it simply has that level of staying power for the majority of progheads.

That being said, I think you'd like 1971's Fragile or 1980's Drama more than Close To The Edge.

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Unknown Soldier

The fact of the matter is that Close to the Edge needs several listens even by an experienced music listener to fully absorb what's on offer. Personally I think its better than anything comparable put out by the likes of Pink Floyd and Genesis.I'd also recommend reading several reviews about the album to give you a good lowdown on the album.

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I love it but it is in no way superior to Pink Floyd's Animals.