CLOSE TO THE EDGE

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Close To The Edge. This was the fifth studio release by Yes, their third to feature guitarist Steve Howe, their second to feature keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and their last to feature original drummer Bill Bruford (who soon left to join Robert Fripp in a new version of King Crimson). Rounding out the lineup are Chris Squire on bass and Jon Anderson taking lead vocal duties. At this point the band had achieved major critical and commercial success with the release of the album Fragile which was their first to feature cover art by renowned artist Roger Dean. The song, Roundabout, which has since become a classic rock staple was released as a single and helped the album to become a big seller (eventually selling two million copies in the US alone). Close To The Edge would also become a big selling album(although without a top forty single like Fragile) and would be the second album to feature the Squire, Anderson, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford lineup. This same lineup minus Chris Squire would form the band ABWH (Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe) way later on but that's a whole other story.

The album Close To The Edge starts with the title track which begins with the sounds of a river complete with water sounds and birds. Apparently Jon Anderson found a tape with nature sounds and wanted to incorporate it into the band's work. The nature sounds soon give way to a blast of sound with the band, propelled by Squire's loud thumping bass and Steve Howe's fluid guitar work. Until the album relayer which came out two years later this section would probably be the bands most fusion sounding section in any of their music. After a few minutes of intense instrumental fireworks the piece settles down a bit and the vocals kick in (not counting the wordless vocals that appear during the instrumental part). Now we hear the main theme of the track. At some point after the vocal section this track gets really quiet and dreamy as if the band not only went close to the edge but over it and we are now floating dreamily in the river. We can hear what sounds like water drops and synth sounds. Vocals eventually kick in and then after that we are back to the main theme again but this time with a funky groove followed by a dexterous Rick Wakeman organ solo (which along with the one in Roundabout is one of his best). Eventually, the vocals kick in again and we are back to the original them again with the "seasons will pass you by.." lyric which eventually takes us back to the river sounds again which close out the title track. This is one of the most sublime side long epics in all of progressive rock.

Next up is "And You And I" which makes up half of side two. This one starts with acoustic guitar (with Steve Howe saying "OK"). Before too long we hear Chris Squire's thumping bass and then the vocals kick in. This track is one of the most orchestral sounding Yes songs that was done without an orchestra. The song is highlighted by a big mellotron crescendo but the whole song is arguably the best track on the album (and of their career). If this song doesn't move you then no progressive rock song ever will.

The third and final track on the album is "Siberian Khatru." This one starts out with electric guitar before kicking into high gear. At around one minute and five seconds the vocals kick in and then at around three minutes and five seconds an electric sitar can be heard and then a harpsichord solo and then a soaring guitar solo and then another guitar solo before the vocals kick in again. Towards the end we hear what sounds like wordless vocals that might be one of the strangest moments in Yes music up to that point in their career. It could be a bit jarring for those who aren't used to such a thing but it also gives the song an other worldy element that shows how adventurous and outlandish sounding the band could be (of course the relayer album would be even more wild). At the end we hear another Steve Howe guitar solo that gives his playing an almost 3-D kind of effect (that is if 3-D could be applied to music). This concludes the album.

While Close To The Edge is probably not my personal favorite album by Yes (that would be Relayer) it is their most iconic and widely considered (and rightly so) to be one of the quintessential albums in the history of progressive rock. All you need to do is go to the wikipedia page for this album to see all the accolades it has received over the years. Of course there really is no "best" prog rock album because everyone has their own personal taste but this one is an album that will possibly only become more legendary as time goes on.