For myself, Close to the Edge was not my first Yes album, but I was familiar with the material from having bought the live album Yessongs first. Then I bought The Yes Album and Fragile before finally buying Close to the Edge. This album left me in a state of awe-inspiring wonder for a good portion of my 16th-17th year, and to this day, it's my favorite of the albums that feature both Steve Howe and Bill Bruford.

While this topic has probably been covered before, let's hear your stories about what this album has meant to you as we celebrate the golden anniversary!  

Damn... I can't believe it's a 50 year old album.

I was lucky to catch Yes performing in Bonn, Germany, where they played both Close to the Edge and Fragile albums live in 2018(?)

It was an odd experience. I was in my late 20s then, and a friend and I decided to enhance the experience before we went to the concert.

Upon entering, we were surprised to find the whole event was seated. Of all the audience members my friend and I were the youngest, which isn't bad, but the general mood was a bit staggered since it felt like we were about to be tucked into chairs and switch on our evening program. We lifted the mood by munching on some Oreos that we had snucked in and just laid back to enjoy the mastery.

I was very impressed with Steve Howe and how he remained agile switching between guitars, sometimes even using his foot to wheel the slide guitar into place. The bassist who replaced Chris (RIP) did a great job sticking to the material. Rick Wakeman was absolutely stellar with his throne of equipment towering over him. Jon Anderson's replacement was okay.

Once the concert ended, no one chanted encore, (the older generation of Germans are not so indulgent), and everyone stood up and left on queue. I took the time to go thank the Mixer who really brought everything to life in that hall.

The whole experience was mixed. Their performance was outstanding, but the vibes in that room were so dull, that my friend and I felt isolated watching the whole thing.

Anyways, happy birthday Close to the Edge.

That's Great and a Great Album BUT YES is Dead!!!

Come on Steve , give it up already!!!!

...I've turned 60...

Yes didn't say much to me in the 70's. In 1993 I got The Yes Album, and have been rather fond of it. I listened to some 

of CTTE in the following years, but it was first in 1997 that I was enough fond of it to buy it. I've listened to it quite a lot of

times since, but it was not earlier than in the recent years that I got more into it, and first today can really say that I'm 

fond of it.

Yes, CttE was a fabulous album, but I got to Foxtrot first and it meant more to me at an earlier age.  

It's for sure a brilliant album and I spin it often to this day.

My thoughts exactly. Though side 1 of CTTE is wonderful, side 2 is nowhere near as good.

I hadn't heard the LP "Close to the Edge" when I went, so I was looking forward to hearing their radio single "America!"  Needless to say, when the famous sparkle ball descended to start CTTE, I was in awe....as I am to this day. 

To my many Brit friends, God Save the King! 

The Eagles opened up for Yes in 1997? Sorry but that doesn't seem likely. I know The Eagles opened for Yes in 1972 but 1997? After Hotel California it's unlikely they would have opened for anyone. 

Edit. Ok, according to forgotten yesterdays Yes did not play any shows on that date in 1997. www.forgotten-yesterdays.com

I don't think I've seen a more pointless post around here... 

good thing you admit you made a pointless post... 

I don't really listen to the title track and I much prefer the early assembly/ rough mix of it that was included in the Steven Wilson remix edition.

I don't remember where I read this, maybe it was in a youtube comment, but I remember someone saying they worked in a record store back in the 70s and they sold a lot of TYA and Fragile but not so much CTTE. CTTE probably sells just as well today though. It's interesting how things change. Sometimes our mind is made up and we won't change that. To each their own.

I'm a strange case.

I never heard the studio stuff first.

I heard it live first.

And "I get up...I get down" was stuck in my head the next morning.  Ended up buying Yessongs.

I'm surely not the biggest Yes fan around here but kudos for CTTE. I can hear that one from beginning to end and love all of it. As worthy of being PA all time number 1 as they come. I also find it heartwarming that Howe, Wakeman, Anderson are still active 50 years later, even though the music they now do doesn't interest me a lot. Long may they last anyway! (I never get why some who don't like the new music some old heroes are doing think that "they should stop" - I mean, nobody is forced to listen to the new material anyway, so what harm does its existence?)

By the way, I'm also part of the "heard live versions first and prefer them" crowd. Must've been something like 1982 when I got Yessongs and heard this stuff for the first time.

Same here, I got 'Relayer' first then 'Yessongs' when I was 13.  When I first heard the studio versions, they seemed tame in comparison...

All joking aside, I've always seen The Yes Album and Fragile as more significant albums (not to mention more enjoyable to me), so I was a bit surprised when I first found out this album held the top spot on PA. Then again, it's not significance, but how much people like the album that determines its ranking. But to me this was always just another prog rock album. To be quite frank, I thought that Yes were getting a bit stuck up their ass on this album already, with Tales just exacerbating that, rather than starting it.

Even so, it's a great album, no doubt. I gotta start buying some Yes albums in decent versions, because the 2013 box set remaster kind of butchers the title track with how brickwalled it is.

That's the issue... they expanded and remastered it and sold it at a 'nice price' 30 years ago and it's still freely available for £3. The market reached saturation point, so there are more second hand CDs on ebay than new. I guess they might sell a few more LP's to the early retired, but as good as the music was, the cover art hardly inspired, did it?

I do try to give people the benefit of the doubt, Ian... 

 You know you can be banned from this site for this kind of blasphemy .

 Repent now Sinner!! 

Maybe for many on here but I doubt the rest of the world would even notice.