CLOSE TO THE EDGE

An incredible achievement, this is the LP that catopolted Yes to the stratosphere commercially and artistically. It was so good that Bill Bruford decided it couldn't get much better and promptly left to see if he was ready for King Crimson, as Fripp put it to him.

Much has been written about this album, and I am not sure if I can add much more, but as I am going through each Yes LP, I have to try!

For me, this LP marked the proper emergence of Rick Wakeman as a world class keyboardist. Fragile, as I previously noted, was too bitty and his solo spot too short. On CTTE, Wakeman is allowed to shine and express himself properly in the band for the first time, and what a result it is.

It is impossible for any rock fan, let alone progressive rock fan, not to marvel and get carried away with the exceptional organ solo Wakeman produces in the title track's I Get Up sequence. You realise just what an incredible combination Anderson's soaring voice and the majestic organ sound are, and the blasting sequence that follows with Squire's thundering bass is magnificent.

Everything about this track shouts out BIG. It was an incredibly complex piece of music that absolutely stayed away from the pomposity that many complex pieces fall into. It holds the listener's interest right through the 18 minutes plus it runs. Incredible, and rightly a classic of the genre.

Many might think that, having produced such an incredible side one, that the flip side would fall into comparative obscurity and ordinariness. Not a bit of it. Both And You and I and Siberian Khatru are amongst the finest tracks committed to vinyl that the band produced. The former is a beautiful piece of music, with Steve Howe's sympathetic guitar very much to the fore, whilst the latter is another incredibly complex track which means you cannot single out any particular individual. From the beauty of Anderson's lyrical performance to another incredible Wakeman performance, via very complex drums by Bruford, Howe's virtuosity, and Squire's huge bass, the song again holds the interest all the way through.

There were still some great LPs to follow from this band, but this was the first that convinced the world as to the fact that progressive rock was not merely a phase - it was possible to make exceptionally complicated pieces of music that rocked and entertained, and, crucially, sold by the truckload.

For those very few reading his site that do not own it, please get it. An absolutely indispensable part of any prog rock collection.