Huh, always wondered what Yes was about. Glad I saw this thread and proceeded to check out the band and the album. Fantastic is all I can say.

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Having said that, I wish starship trooper was more concise.

Gotta tip in on this one too! CTTE was the first Yes album I ever bought (and heard) and it just blew me away at first listen. Imagine the first thing that hit me were those dynamite bass lines making way for the barbwire guitar frenzy during the first minute, only to be interrupted by "AAAAH" out of nowhere, and then again, "AAAAAH..DA! DA!", what the hell was that? This is crazy! And then the simplest of guitar lines played over the most complex chords. And the song hadn't even started yet! Those lead lines throughout the verses, which weren't even lead lines; every instrument were intertwined around each other and the choral vocal melodies as the marrow, reaching for repeated crescendos in the chorus. And when it got to a halt only to drift away into the most beautiful melodiy I've ever heard, harking back to the main hook I already had been acquainted with; "I get up, I get down", all coming to a celestial conclusion with a church organ. And then again, frenzy! Is this for real?! All coming to a conclusion that even today brings me to tears, when the final chorus line actually descends in contrast to the earlier occurences. How such small details can bring such an emotional impact upon you! (I actually find the live version on "Yessongs" inferior in that respect when it comes to the final climax where they repeat the ascending part instead of releasing the built up tension as they do on the studio version).

And then we of course have the most beautiful love song (really!) ever recorded by a bunch of artsy-fartsy snub-nosed intellectuals; "And you and I" is a perfect showcase of acoustic purity combined with bombastic lapsteel/synth fanfares. The chords and the melody are as simple as anything but it's set to an ingenious arrangement proving that Yes was and is the number one prog band once and for all. He who claims prog rock has no heart, soul or feeling is just thick as a brick and he surely hasn't heard Yes.

This was a world unto itself and I couldn't wait to explore the vast landscapes of progressive rock (which I much later learned was the term). The next one I got hold of was "Relayer", but that's another story.

It's nice to see how this story is repeated in some form so many times in the past and continues to be in the present as new people discover this marvel of an album. Brilliant write-up dotoar and welcome to our little prog community on MusicBanter. :)

Pure genius

it's my favourite Yes album, followed by Relayer and 90125

90125 just because The Art of Noise are on it

If you haven't listened to CTTE yet, you're in for a real treat. One of my all time favorites. (:

Close To The Edge, would hold "1st Place" with me.

CTTE is one of the greatest albums. I love returning to this album every so often and letting the music wash over me anew.

Brilliant and I never use the word.