CLOSE TO THE EDGE

First off, I'm giving this 4 rather than 5 stars only because the album is rated *too bloody high* on PA. It has the highest cumulative points of every single album in this database. Yes, it's a great album. But is it the greatest prog album ever made? Does it deserve to sit at the top perch, over Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Selling England by the Pound, or Foxtrot? I would argue no. In fact, I'm not sure it's Yes' best album; Fragile is arguably the album you'd introduce to a newcomer to hook them into the Yes-verse.

As for the songs themselves: And You and I is doozer. No one would ever slot Yes into the Psychedelic/Space Rock sub-genre, but on this glorious tune, they out-space Pink Floyd themselves. Just as perfect is the sublime title track. The song builds to its long denouement, which is the best aural realization of Roger Deans' album covers of any song in their arsenal. As a kid, I used to put on this song and just stare at the gatefolds and imagine these exotic planets; it's just the perfect soundtrack to the alien words depicted by Dean.

Poor Siberian Khatru. It gets overshadowed by the other two tracks, but it can hold its own next to the other two.

Thus ends Yes' imperial phase. Everything after Close to the Edge will forever be compared to the work that went before - namely The Yes Album, Fragile, & CTTE. The next album was an unlistenable, unmitigated disaster that even much of the band can't stand. ccasionally they would make tunes that came up to their previous standards (e.g. The Gates of Delirium, Awaken, Wondrous Stories), and every album's worth checking out, even if they aren't masterpieces. So, to sum up, CTTE is a great album - a 5 star album, of course - closing out Yes' classic phase. But the greatest prog album ever made?....