How would you rate Yes' Close to the Edge album?

You probably have a general idea how this thread is going to go.

I guess it depends partly on what parametres I would choose to use. Listening my way through it now...

Following up on my comment, this is an album I would say is probably 5 stars looking at it objectively, but for my own personal taste, or subjective opinion, there is stuff I enjoy a lot more. So i'll give it 4 stars for that reason. There is nothing else that quite sounds like CTTE, but generally it doesn't move me like some of my favorites do (Camel, Harmonium etc). I am actually of the crowd that thinks Tales is the best Yes album, that music is absurdly beautiful and equally as creative as CTTE is in my opinion. I will say about CTTE, i've never really cared for that pipe organ section if i'm being honest.

Edited by dougmcauliffe - May 20 2020 at 09:01

One thing I'd like to say is that in Yes vs Genesis, Close To The Edge vs Foxtrot, and Close To The Edge vs Supper's Ready polls, it is Yes all the way.

I'm thinking about writing a review of this album, despite it having been been rated/reviewed so much already, and despite me being a very poor music reviewer. I'd have to give it a fresh listen to rate it. I do suspect that I would rate it for PA (to go with my review) higher than my actual appreciation would warrant. Right now I'd say that I might be around the 2.5 mark in terms of enjoyment. I think it's a good album, but it's not one that ever excited me. It never connected with me very much, and there are literally thousands of albums that I have enjoyed much more than it. I like the title track. I do think an early bias against it came into play. When I was introduced to it back in the late 80s by a friend, Fragile was one of my very favourite albums (the same friend had introduced me to that). He told me this was better still, but this album just didn't move me nearly as much. Since then I have tried listening to it again many times, but it never really clicked. I have enjoyed all of the earlier Yes albums more than it, and Yes isn't one of my favourite bands -- I tend to prefer Krautrock, RIO, Canterbury Scene, Prog Folk and Progressive Electronic to those in Symphonic Prog. A favourite album included in the Symphonic Prog category may be Clearlight's Clearlight Symphony. In Symphonic Prog-type music, many of my faves hail from France and Italy. And for a three track Prog album, I find, say, Bubu's Anabelas far more exciting.

Edited by Logan - May 20 2020 at 08:58

Judging by the results so far, it's a very popular album.

I say a solid 4 stars for me - yes, it’s a classic, but over the years I’ve spun it so much that the freshness and magic has faded significantly for me. I rarely spin my record of it any more.

I am thinking that I should have used the word enjoyment rather than appreciation as they can have different connotations. I can appreciate something without necessarily enjoying it much and I had meant in terms of how much one enjoys the album. So my rating if I reviewed it would be higher than how much I have enjoyed it. I hope to become more precise in my language, but I get less precise as I age.

I clicked 4, probably that's because today I'm not in the mood for it. Not the slightest impulse to play it today, although I know I actually appreciate it and also like it on a good day. Probably between 4 and 5 depending on mood. I wrote before that it's impressive and also beautiful, but I think at times they do some showing off on the album that doesn't really help the music.

Being that there is no 4.5 star rating on this site I voted for 5 stars.