Close To The Edge [Remastered] - Yes > Reviews > Close To The Best

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	classic band line - up on top form
Disadvantages:	very long, multi - part tracks - impenetrable lyrics

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This epic is Yes' fifth album and the second featuring the dream-team line-up of Jon Anderson (vocals), Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass), Bill Bruford (percussion) and Rick Wakeman (keyboards).
Originally released in late '72 it climaxed a year in which Yes had become a top draw on both sides of the Atlantic but despite the frenetic pace they managed to put together an album that rates as not merely one of their best, but one of the best in the entire Prog rock genre.
Their previous album had been recorded straight after Wakeman's recruitment from The Strawbs, and consequently he had not felt too happy with his contribution to that record ("Fragile"). No such problems with CTTE however. The band's gruelling tour schedule had seen Wakeman fully assimilated into the Yes scheme of things and his flamboyant playing pushed Howe and Squire to greater heights of ambition and skill.
Meanwhile Jon Anderson had refined his unique vocal and lyrical talents, creating a frontman persona that relied upon oblique mystical and religious rituals and motifs rather than chest-beating machismo.
The album features just three tracks, although each of these tracks consists of several separate parts with interweaving musical themes. The title track is a twenty minute monster, described by the band members as a mini-symphony. The hissing of crickets introduces the track but soon enough the band crash in with Steve Howe leading the way with a hell-for-leather guitar passage. Bill Bruford is absolutely awesome from the off (and maintains his excellence throughout the album). Anderson's vocals appear and lead us through the "Total Mass Retain" section before everything bar Wakeman's eerie synth drops out, over which Anderson, Squire and Howe croon "I Get Up, I Get Down" punctuated by blasts of church organ. Wakeman delivers a blast of a keyboard solo which leads back into the main theme before an uplifting climax. So much happens during this track that it's impossible to describe each facet and mood change. It's a classic!
The other 2 tracks are shorter. Only ten minutes! "And You And I" begins with almost absently strummed acoustic guitar chords and builds to an absolutely brain-shuddering display with Bruford anchoring Wakeman's flourishes, before fading back to that gentle guitar and Anderson's optimistic valediction.
The final track "Siberian Khatru" almost kicks out the jams as Howe hauls out his electric sitar and Anderson contributes percussive chants over Bruford's impeccable drumming. It's a good move and a good mover! Another build-it-up and slow-it-down epic would have been too much. The simpler arrangement and energetic performance end the album on an upbeat note...or at least it used to, because the CD re-issue is fleshed out with several bonus tracks, including singles edits and a revealing early studio run-through of And You And I that has Anderson la-la-ing through sections with unfinished lyrics. Obviously it can't hold a candle to the final version but it's a fascinating listen for long-term Yes fanatics.
Overall the bonus cuts are OK but the real meat is in the original three tracks--or maybe that's not the proper term to use seeing as Yes were famously vegetarian except for the curry and beer guzzling Wakeman. Whatever, CTTE did find Yes on the precipice between greatness and pretentiousness. They toppled over it on their next album, "Tales From Topographic Oceans", but Close To The Edge manages to hold itself in check. Each band member performs brilliantly on three brilliant Prog-Rock compositions, the production is perfect, the cover by Roger Dean is effective. Yes had been building up to this one. Enjoy it!