CLOSE TO THE EDGE

This one is overrated to no end...just like Aqualung and Brain Salad Surgery (the EL&P one being really awful). I don't get how people prefer this to Relayer, but i was never a huge lover of YES so that may explain the fact that this album does almost nothing for me.

The title track sure is very worthy of attention, but it gets a bit repetitive when the vocals appear. I love that guitar intro, though. It is the album's best moment though it lasts just a little. The vocals go getting more chaotic as the time passes, and then we have a cool organ solo leading to the song's climax with the same style as before. The song is good, but i think that a 19- minutes epic should have more variation, and not follow the same rhythm during almost all its lenght. "Gates of Delirium" is 145,678 times better than this, though this one doesn't disappoint, it just gets very dry with the time (as the rest of the album). "And You And I" is a prog number that doesn't move me as, say, the "Soon" single. I am not a fan of this song though i admit it is a nice effort by the guys. "Siberian Khatru" is a cool song with a cool intro and an even cooler slide guitar solo but i got bored of this song pretty fast after some listenings, but again is a nice effort that opens most of YES' shows.

They make good upbeat songs to cheer our moods up, but their kind of music doesn't interest me too much and i get bored of their albums very easily. The only one i still listen from YES is Relayer, which remains amazing in my opinion, but i honestly could live without the rest.

3 stars, and just that.