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Old 09-27-2009, 06:14 AM   #24 (permalink)
Guybrush
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Yes - Close to the Edge (1972)


  1. Close to the Edge (Jon Anderson, Steve Howe) – 18:43
  2. And You and I (Anderson; Themes by Bill Bruford, Howe, Chris Squire) – 10:08
  3. Siberian Khatru (Anderson; Themes by Anderson, Howe, Rick Wakeman) – 8:55

Listen : Spotify



Introduction :

Yes originally formed in London in 1968 is one of the early popular prog bands coming from the end of the 60s to their peak in the early 70s alongside acts like King Crimson, Genesis, Caravan and many more. Close to the Edge, their fifth album from 1972, is by many if not most considered their magnum opus and featured a lineup of now considered legendary prog-musicians - founding member and frontman Jon Anderson as lead singer, Chris Squire on bass, Steve Howe on guitars, Rick Wakeman on keyboards and Bill Bruford on drums. The five would all collaborate in a kind of hippie democracy when writing and recording their material. Rick would have an idea on the keyboard so they'd put that in the song, then Steve would have an idea for a short guitar riff and they'd include that and so on. In effect, this puzzle piece approach means that a lot of Yes songs are built up from lots of good ideas. This approach is evident on Close to the Edge which only consists of three tracks, focusing on the 18+ minutes long title track. Bill Bruford would leave Yes and join up with King Crimson shortly after recording the album because he felt the peak had been reached.

Quote:
"And when we got to what turned out for me to be the high spot which was Close to the Edge, really, I don't know how that record got made.

For most acts, there were two or three albums that weren't so good - getting you towards the winner. The one that the thing existed for, which was Close to the Edge. That's the moment you exist for in a rock group and it's terrific and you think : "That's the cookie. That's the one right there. Done deal! I'm gone." I left then."

~ Bill Bruford on prog-rock britannia
Also perhaps worth mentioning, especially for those who like vinyls, it featured lush cover art by artist Roger Dean who also worked with them on other albums.



(CD Sleeve)

The album has, since it's release, gained acclaim and is broadly considered an immortal prog classic. In 2006, it was voted the greatest progressive album of all time by progarchives and has also gotten mentions in other various best of lists. But does it still live up to the hype surrounding it?


Song for Song Review :

Close to the Edge opens quietly, then sounds of birds and running water fades in. Suspension builds and the listener is suddenly thrown into a torrent of sounds. The opening has a confusing and almost cacophonous quality to it. This goes on for about 3 minutes until something that actually sounds like a tangible song comes on where Steve plays a somewhat easy to grasp melody on the guitar. This goes on for another minute or so until finally - a steady beat comes in and Jon Anderson's vocals follow and gives the music real structure. At this point, Total Mass Retain despite some unpredictable timings sounds quite radio-friendly with a truly catchy melody and a chorus that is easily spinechilling.

After about 8 and a half minutes in, the song suddenly loses ground and becomes untangible, yet not random this time. Instead, it floats around on drifting harmonies. The music returns with layered vocals, but remains floating. The song at this point sounds like it's balancing on the edge of a knife. It has a fragile, haunting beauty - like it could break apart at any moment. This may be the finest moment on the whole record. Intensity then builds slowly until the song breaks up with a new piece being added to the puzzle, a hymn-like part on a church organ that again starts to break up and throws us back into a torrentlike state and a return to Rick's bit at the start of the song.

The torrent gives way to an awesome sounding jam on the earlier theme. When Jon Anderson comes back, the song is reborn and back on track with some plain awesome rock music. The song at this point sounds absolutely incredible and continues on to it's climax where it finally ends with a return to the sounds of birds and running water preceding it. Holy crap.


And You And I opens with a probing and searching acoustic guitar sounding quite lovely. It soon picks up a rythmn and dives into what is probably the most accessible parts of this album. Unlike the title track which has you listen to the birth of the song before it actually gets going, "And You And I" is a bit more immediate and easily features moments of splendor just as enjoyable and spinechilling as those on the title track. Again you find the variation in themes and the breaking up and rebirth of the song a bit more than halfway in and it all works. However, something magical happens about 6 minutes in. It's just another take on the same theme of the song, but the little changes make for perfection. When the song picks up a groove that carries it towards the end, I'm frankly astonished at how much awesomeness they've managed to cram into a ten minutes song. The track ends with another breaking up and a quick return to the main theme for the nth time which is absolutely stunning. It is perfect. No review can ever do it justice.


Siberian Khatru is slightly different from it's two predecessors which is fine because anymore of that could be too much and leave you emotionally ravaged. The first half is quite upbeat and playful and has a really good groove to much of it. The layered and beautiful vocal harmonies are present here as well as well as the variation between puzzle piece-like themes. In the latter half, it builds up for some really dramatic sounds before it loses some of it's focus and fades out with a faster jam-part. Needless to say, it sounds great. Another immortal prog classic!


Review Summary :

At first, I didn't want to write this review because I think the album is so astonishing that I can't really put down the experience of listening to it in words. I'm just not that good a writer. However, this album has been on repeat the last few days and I feel like I have to give it a shot just to help me move on What I can say is that the title track is obviously the focus here. It starts with the spring-like birth of the song into the random torrents of sound that eventually grow and become a true prog-rock epic before it dwindles back to where it came from. It fits perfectly with the imagery that comes with the album. Also, as I've mentioned many times already, these songs are made up of a lot of ideas, variations and themes. The amazing thing is that just about all of them are very sound-aesthetic and pleasing on the ear. I'm sure you could pick these songs apart and have enough variety for several pop albums. Instead, they've crammed all this into no more than three epic tracks and they are all treasure troves of musical splendors. With so many ideas floating around, you might expect it to sound chaothic, but it never does so unintentionally. An analogy used earlier, the whole sound of at least the first two songs balances perfectly on the knife edge where suspense, timing, playfulness, seriousness, conceptuality and everything else come together at the perfect equilibrium. This makes for an album full of interesting dynamics where melodies are born, broken up, become tangible, intangible and so on, all with perfect timing.

The best parts for me are the dreamy, fragile and tender moments of beauty and there's quite a few of those. New listeners who are not used to prog albums should still remember that despite all my praise, most prog albums by far are growers. This one, although perhaps not particularly difficult, is no exception. It opens up to you as you get to know it. In other words, don't read my praise and then expect to be able to put this album on and instantly like it. You have to let it grow and I also think it helps to understand the music a bit conceptually. If you are a new listener, I recommend you to start with the second track "And You And I" since it's quite easy on the ear and see if you like that. If you do, I can guarantee you will like the rest.

So, is this really the best prog-album of all time? Yes, for me right now, it is. King Crimson, Caravan, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Camel, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, even popular favourites Pink Floyd .. They have nothing on Yes.

Amazing.

Toretorden's Treasure Trove score : 6/6


I love coming across albums like this because it means I've found something that I can treasure and enjoy for the rest of my life. Many thanks to Yes!
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