What's So Great 'Bout "Close To The Edge?"
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Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
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Topic: What's So Great 'Bout "Close To The Edge?"
Posted By: RoyFairbank
Subject: What's So Great 'Bout "Close To The Edge?"
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:15
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What's So Great 'Bout Close To The Edge? (ITS RANKED #1, AND WAS APPARENTLY VOTED GREATEST ALBUM EVER ON THIS SITE IN 2006) Listening to it, it is obviously a well done album by a great band, but what is the purpose of Close to The Edge that so distinguishes it, what am I supposed to get from it that is so special? WARNING RUNNING WRITING: I know from Selling England By the Pound (to go to down the list) that Society is falling apart at the seams thanks to a loss of culture, I understand each story and mood that goes into it, and the magical sense of hoplessness of the bad- but adequately lyriced Firth of Fifth, the absurdity of trying to be tough and the corruption of everyone expressed in the nations youth from The Battle of Epping Forest etc. I know from Wish You Were Here that we grow up to be F'ed and lose all our friends and have cold isolation from everyone because its an F'ing machine people! and I know from Thick As A Brick that the newspaper had a headline like that and I know from Foxtrot that the aliens are going to find nothing cuz were all gonna extinct ourselves and that history obliterates glory and I know from the Dark Side of The Moon that sanity is a construction to mask terrible hurt and conflict that we experience and I know from In the Court of the Crimson King that the 21st century sucks really bad and CLOSE TO THE EDGE IS RANKED HIGHER THAN ALL OF THEM! |
Replies:
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:19
Oooh, oooh, oooh: because it's close to the edge and the others fell off? 
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:31
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I like other albums more than Close to the Edge. But everybody else says it's the best. So I must be missing something. Or it's overrated. That must be it. Cause I don't like CTTE as much. ------------- 
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Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:33
------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: Any Colour You Like
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:42
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Uh. Why does this thread exist. I personally think Up The Downstair is better than Close to the Edge. But no one else cares, so I deal with it. |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:42
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Are you talking about the album or the song? "And You And I" is quite possibly the best Yes song, and "Siberian Khatru" is really fun. "Close to the Edge" has a lot to offer, is fun, interesting and all that, but not quite as good as those two. And I lol'd at this part: " it is simply undefinable in any further way (a musical blob). Relayer is a cool, jazzy electronic Jam" I'd say Relayer is miles more unfocused as an album than CTTE. ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:49
| More of a fan of Isis' album Oceanic than CTTE if I must say so myself |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:55
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CTTE one of the masterpieces of prog rock, lyrics inspired in the Herman Hesse Book Siddartha.
I recommend to you to read this:
http://www-3.unipv.it/britishrock1966-1976/pdf/covacheng.pdf - http://www-3.unipv.it/britishrock1966-1976/pdf/covacheng.pdf -------------  |
Posted By: TheGazzardian
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 18:57
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I don't get what your post is about, but if you're really curious about what Close to the Edge is about, I'd help you out, but I'm still trying to figure out what a Khatru is. If you're really, really curious, google "Close to the edge" interpretation. The first result I got was: http://yhwh.com/ctte.htm - http://yhwh.com/ctte.htm
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Posted By: RoyFairbank
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 19:07
This is good. I'll read this in depth |
Alberto Muñoz wrote:Posted By: thellama73
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 19:15
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Well, I'm afraid I can't help much as far as interpretation goes, and Yes is not one of my favorite bands, but I find Close to the Edge to be far more melodic and uplifting than Relayer, which I actually can't stand. There is beauty in CTTE (the whole album.) Wakeman's synths are at their bubbly best, Squire thumps along cheerfully, Bruford tap-tap-tapparoos those drums like crazy and Howe tunes his guitar, using harmonics. What can I say, I like it. ------------- 
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Posted By: RoyFairbank
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 19:17
Interesting! I take it as given that something which has to be overly-rationalized is engaged in a certain amount of hiding. Look: Two tear drops across the canvas ocean spray in streaks down the chalkboard surrounded by the metallic pulse of night brace myself to receive the final word see? anyone can write nonsense lyrics. Bob Dylan became a master of it by 1965. I think alot of these bands took after him. |
Posted By: Equality 7-2521
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 19:24
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Why does the album need a purpose? I'm pretty sure the purpose of the album was for the band to express themselves in a format that they enjoy. If you don't like it move on with your life. Albums, lyrics, whatever don't need meaning to be valid or even enjoyed. The lyrics sound cool. The images are cool. Or maybe the fact that they make no sense is cool. Who cares? ------------- "One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. " |
Posted By: RoyFairbank
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 19:42
  "Or maybe the fact they make no sense is cool" I don't have a come back for that! I think this is the problem with ART in general - I mean, look at Avant-Garde ANYTHING, lines of red on white, blue circles in a black field... statue of a triangle... So when we come to Avant-Garde (sic?) rock, Is that simply what they were doing? Obviously its WAY BETTER than pop music, and I like the album more than most albums on this Earth, but is it really saying anything or just fooling with my head? Everyone should listen to Desolation Row by Bob Dylan- then you know when someone is fooling with your head and knows it. In his case he had been writing clear-cut lyrics before he started suddenly writing crap. Dave Van Ronk said That whole artistic mystique is one of the great traps of this business, because down that road lies unintelligibility. Dylan has a lot to answer for there, because after a while he discovered that he could get away with anything—he was Bob Dylan and people would take whatever he wrote on faith. So he could do something like "All Along the Watchtower," which is simply a mistake from the title on down: a watchtower is not a road or a wall, and you can't go along it. EDIT NOTE: I cleaned up the first post, removing the references to Relayer to avoid confusion. For those who missed it, I said Relayer is a seriously cool Jam album with a hard groovin' electronic edge to it and I think its better than Close to Edge. The papers are in order, you may pass! |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 19:47
| You're not alone. CttE is one of the most overrated albums in Prog history, in my view, Although, as has been pointed out before, EVERYTHING is overrated, really. Everybody has his or her own take on it, and worrying about why you don't 'get' something is unnecessary, to say the least. If you want to like it better, then listen to it more, and it may eventually grow on you. Though, I am in complete agreement with you when you say you much prefer Relayer. It's my favorite Yes album by miles. |
Posted By: The Pessimist
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 19:56
SNAP. ------------- "Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value." Arnold Schoenberg |
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 20:12
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What's So Great 'Bout Close To The Edge?
Everything. Absolutely Everything.  ------------- 
Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 20:20
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The album is a fairly decent attempt at writing true symphonic rock... It has its merit... Whether one likes it or not. It's a good album anyway. Not the holy grail for me as it is for many, but good. Above (well above) average... ------------- 
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Posted By: ProgressiveAttic
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 20:20
Agreed!!!
Although I do prefer Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer.... ------------- Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com) 
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Posted By: Johnnytuba
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 20:36
Agreed about Relayer. IMO, Yes's best album! ------------- "The things that we're concealing, will never let us grow. Time will do its healing, you've got to let it go. |
Posted By: Rune2000
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 20:41
I don't see why CTTE has to be analyzed from the conseptual/lyrical point of view to begin with. I believe that the majoraty of listeners, myself included, don't care much for understanding Jon Anderson's lyrics or they listen to them passively. That's probably an importaint appeal of Yes and their music since you don't have to be an over-analyzing intelectual to appreciate their albums. ...more power to the people etc. etc. ... oops, got carried away there. 
Personally I don't consider CTTE to even be Yes' best album but the majority have spoken and I respect that opinion. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 20:56
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Hi,
At the time when it came out, FM radio was still doing just long cuts ... and was not, for the most part (other than the likes of KLOS/KMET in Los Angeles and equivalents in NY/SF for example) .... as commercial and had a limited amount of freedom ... so in the smaller stations that were not owned by the big conglomerates (like those 2 in LA were!) ... you could hear some long cuts and some nice things.
After Roundabout made it big, Close to the Edge busted it wide open ... and I would say that it just was one of those compositions ... that came at the right time and place, and ... was actually fairly good ... but that is not to say that Echoes (Pink Floyd), or stuff by Jethro Tull at the time (Thick as a Brick and Passion Play) were not as powerful ... they were, and were being played ... but unffortunately, the #1 ... is there, and not many folks know what to make of Passion Play ... that is way more important and valuable in relation to the history of the music and the time, than Close To The Edge ever was ... and very few of the Jethro Tull fans listen to it, because they prefer the more commercial side of his ... which is nice ... but not as great as what he can do ... and his bootleg versions of "My God" that were 15 or more minutes long, still are ... the best flute playing that you will ever hear in your life ... left behind ... and he makes the best ever ... behind in a cloud of dust ... but it probably is something that Ian says ... I was too ripped to care ... and I didn't think it was good ... and he could easily make Jean Pierre Rampal look like a fool and someone that thinks he can play the flute!
Sadly, the numbers game is NOT about the music ... it's about the FANS ... and while I do not think I should criticize the fans, it could be said that I am a fan of other things ... my opinion still stands that you either stand up for the art and the music ... and forget the numbers ... or you are not going to be remembered long ... you have to ...
It's the real secret behind "prog" ... but too many of us here ... simply don't care! ... and would rather make sure that all our friends agree with what we say ... ! ... how socially un-prog that is ... but ... not everyone has gone to school to know/realize what that means ... so ... ok .. Close To The Edge is #1 ... and in my book it is not ... since Tales of Topographic Oceans is by far one of the most important and best things ever written in rock music ... but since most folks here have no idea what it is about ... they prefer to trash it ... Close To The Edge is easier to "know" what it is about!
Let's ask Picasso what his art is about! ... let's ask Stravinsky what his art is about ... let's ask T S Elliot what his art is about ... perhaps you should see what makes art ... and it ain't "favorites" or "#1's" ... it's everything else but ... ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Equality 7-2521
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 21:03
Referring to avant-garde art in general is problematic because composers/performers/writers/painters/etc. are not one uniform class. Some avant-garde is probably saying nothing, some is weird for weird, and some has a clearly defined purpose and meaning, but such differences have become meaningless to me really. Once again I don't know why people have such a lowly opinion of pop music. ------------- "One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. " |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 21:08
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Close to the hedge, Down by the flowers This thing goes on, Hours and hours |
Posted By: thellama73
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 21:08
Amen to that. Sure there is plenty of bad pop, but that's true of every genre. Really good pop takes just as much talent and creativity as any other style of music. That's why the Beach Boys and ABBA will always rank quite high in my estimation. -------------
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Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 21:25
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CTTE is quite possibly my favourite Yes album, either that or the Yes Album. ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |
Posted By: RoyFairbank
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 21:39
The Yes Album ROCKS! It's the only Yes Album I actually went to the store and bought! I don't even have Fragile, Relayer or 90125 or Drama, the other albums I really, really like from them. The YES album is a more down-to-earth Yes, instead of big-headed cosmic Yes of Close To The Edge-Tales From Too Long. Then they started to come back down again with Going For The One, before hitting the ground (Tormato) and rebounding (Drama), and then being grabbed by Trevor Rabin's hand (90125). |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 22:19
| Why is it so greatly regarded? Well, I just know that I love it. All songs are excelent. However, if it bothers you to some extent that it's rated higher than Wish you were here, Thick as a Brick, or Selling England by the Pound, well, don't worry, in any moment any of those other albums will scale and beat Close to the Edge. At some point, some other poster started a Thread asking others to explain why Wish you were here the top album at the time. |
Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 22:25
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I don't know also. I, personally, don't have the album in such high regard and i really think that yes did much better in other albums, as a whole. The title track is great, but the other two songs are just a mood killer . . . Anyway, just my opinion. -------------   
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 22:34
Don't you see it's all about personal taste?
You've said it yourself, you prefer the more "down-to-earth Yes" which in your opinion those albums are Going for the One, The Yes Album, Fragile...
I, for one, love The Yes Album and Time and a Word, Tony Kaye was a unique presence in Yes. Still, I also like a lot Fragile, Tales, Relayer and Drama. I'm not that fond of Close to the Edge, but can easily understand why it's held so high with the stunning title track showing masterful interplay from the band, the heaven-like And you and I, and the more rockin' Siberian Khatru.
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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 23:46
And that paper was a terribly depressing waste of the author's time. ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 01:56
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Its a beautifully balanced prog album with no weak moments played by the best 5 peice prog ensemble that ever existed all then at the peak of their considerable powers.
Other candidates
Thick as a Brick - agreed its also brilliant
 ''Itchycock'' - ground breaking but left behind by other later King Crimson releases IMO
DSOTM - always found this a bit dull and I struggle to enagage with it emotionally
SEBTP - mostly great album but The Battle Of Epping Forest bores the pants off me!
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Posted By: friso
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 02:33
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Close to the Egde is a stander. It's a starter's point, though I wouldn't recommend it that much. The recording is quite ugly and the second site is not that interesting.
I think all these highest rated albums in our PA tot 5 are not the best records there are. They are widely know and considered to be the best records of some of our most beloved bands. The more reviews, the bigger it's influence. In a top 5 I'd rather see: Jan Dukes the Grey - Mice and Rats in the Loft King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King Van der Graag Generator - Pawn Hearts Gentle Giant - Tree Friends Khan - Space Shanty |
Posted By: TODDLER
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 08:07
| I personally liked Close to the Edge when I first heard it. I still like it, maybe for a listen once a year. The experience I had with kids my age, playing with their hair nervously while waitinf for Mr. Anderson to enter the stage was annoying. Smoking bowls of hash and telling me that they were about to see God. Anderson with his ridiculous white long sleeved shirts and mormon waving arms and hand motions. His stupied pathetic spiritual lyrical content that made drug induced kids feel as if they were about to be positive. I will never forget how ridiculous kids my age reacted over Yes........"King Crimson are noisy and negative"......Jon Anderson is like seeing God. The whole anti-Crimson movement that worshipped Yes, formed after the release of C.T.T.E. The whole scene in 1972 was such a turn off for me regarding even my personal love for Yes. |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 08:23
I could choose words at random for lyrics to a song, and get some grad student with a little mustache and a penchant for overpriced coffee to spell out what it all means in painful detail. ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 08:33
Typically coruscating wisdom from Robert Always remember that analysis already ships with 'anal' on board. ------------- 
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Posted By: rdtprog
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 08:46
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CTTE is the perfect cd of Yes, discography, period. Not a bad tracks, with 3 tracks! I must have listened to this cd 200 times and i can't explain why and can't change others opinions. ------------- Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness. Emile M. Cioran |
Posted By: Negoba
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 09:48
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When it plays I get enjoyment. There is a huge proportion of the music I listen to that the lyrics really don't mean that much to me. It's their sound and how they relate to the melody. This certainly true of most pop music, bad and good.
To me it's a good candidate for best classic prog album. There are many.
If you were to ask me what the absolute best albums on this site were, few would qualify as classic prog. Pat Metheny's "The Way Up," Univers Zero's "1313"
BTW, don't rag on Watchtower. Jimi's version is the best rock song ever recorded. Not because the lyrics are coherent. It just sounds friggin amazing. ------------- You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all. |
Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 10:08
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Close to the Edge doesn't really claim to give you understanding, but some of the motifs and ideas lyrically are brilliant. Honestly, I don't pretend to think it makes absolute sense or has a didactic scheme but as someone who writes and reads poetry, I think there is certainly some sort of quality to Anderson's lyrics to the album. The word choice is usually interesting, and offers some unusual emotional effects. If anything, the album as a whole offers a sense/mood of spiritual growth (from the political in You And I to the more anthropological in Siberian Khatru), occasionally contrasted with a seemingly negative backdrop. Much as I'm not Anderson's biggest fan, either as a singer or a writer, I think he was pretty crucial in making that album as great as it is. Besides, if you want to know why CTTE is too highly rated, listen to the music. Much as I'm not a huge fan of Yes outside of that album and Fragile, it's a musically fantastic and consistent album. (and on the question of what we learn from albums... how would we fit into that scheme a lyricist as poetically able as Peter Blegvad who has no interest in teaching us anything, or albums by Magma whose lyrics have no discernable meaning even down to the word level for essentially all of their listeners?) |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 10:40
 It's not compulsory to love or even like CTTE. It's also possible to love it without having any understanding of the apparent meaning of the lyrics. Just listen to that church organ at the end of "I get up, I get down" or the middle section of "And You and I" and marvel.
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Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 10:59
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It's a brilliantly executed piece of music, balancing excitement with beauty, musical complexity and rich melody. Lyrically, like most of Yes' output in the 70's, it's rather ambiguous, but certainly at the time it was made, it sounded fresh, bright and was very well produced.
The album is a good all round package, without any obvious flaws or weakness. But then guess it's all subjective. It jostles for the top spot as their best album, along with The Yes album, and Going for the One. In my opinion.. Different listerners have different perspectives, and tastes. Like any album, by any band within any genre of music, it's not for everyone. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 11:52
First i don't know if it's worth to response to you, because you always see the negative side of the things. and i don't like that.
Second, if you read well, i say that is inspired in the book, not an intepretation of the main idea of the book, see, there are sometimes that we have to think before we reply.
Third, i don't care about what you think about the paper that i put in the thread, i think that if you don't share the opinion of the author's point of view, at least you can say why you think that is "a terribly depressing waste of the author's time". and not only bashing around with you so called statements.
Ps. And i do like a lot CTTE, FYI.   ------------- |
Posted By: TheGazzardian
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 11:53
Some of the stuff in those analysis' are pretty weird indeed. I saw one that actually talked about some interesting history behind the importance of the liver and what a seasoned witch actually was ... I really didn't care enough to read further, but it seemed like it had some real factual basis. The one in my previous post, from my skimming, wasn't very good, but...*shrugs* As far as I'm concerned, you get some oregano, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper, put it on your witch, you got yourself a seasoned witch...
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Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 12:01
I think to be dubbed as the Number 1 on this website, it should be disected, pulled apart, analyzed, spell checked and re-interpreted.
This forum is loaded with intellectual, prog music masters, who should be able to tell me why this album is so GREAT!! Its number one....WHY? What does it have over all the other great albums which are not #1?
The feeling from this thread is more why it is not their best work, rather than why it IS their best work and why it IS the number 1 rated album.
I'm not dissing anyone...please, I am talking more in the 3rd person to find out for all who wonder as the OP states....
"What's so great about CTTE??
-------------   
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Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 12:05
I hope that you find useful. ------------- |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 12:16
This is all what drove me to hate half of all my English classes in high school. The author had a specific intention when writing something. Unless we know his intention, it's abherrent to try to put words in their mouth and say, "The author here is trying to communicate what about [life/death/freedom/nostalgia/blahblahblah]. Most of the time I think the so-called Great Books are generally just those which allow the most bullsh*t reading-into. At least concerning 20th century books I know. ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: February 23 2010 at 12:49
I think that most classics do have symbolism, but not to the degree my 11th grade teacher seems to believe. It completely ruins the book. Also, CTTE is pretty good and stuff. |
Posted By: Sckxyss
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 04:25
Well, statistically speaking, a lot of people think it's really good, with relatively few who think it's really bad. That's how top albums lists are usually determined, and that's all you can really take from them. For specific opinions, there are several hundred reviews on that specific album if you feel like reading them . I could give my opinion, but I'm not here to write a review (if I felt like doing that, I'd actually submit it to the proper place). I'll just say that I'm satisfied with it's position at the top, but obviously most of the top 20 are pretty damn good too. I'd also say it's the best Yes album; easily their most focused and consistent work. |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 04:33
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No disrespect to anyone, but this is a fairly pointless discussion, isn't it....
My favourite colour is blue. Who can tell me, what the hell is so good about the colour red? I just dont get it.. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 07:47
but everyone knows red is more prog than blue Andy. After all Red is a prog album and Blue is a boy band.
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Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 09:11
So why is Thriller the best selling album of all time? |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 09:49
No the violet is super prog, more prog than blue and red. ------------- |
Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 10:03
And the good thing about music is its all about personal opinion.
I like red -------------
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Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 11:34
But surely you cant dispute that the most prog colour is magenta!! 
These days I tend to not listen to anything pink, but then ones tastes change. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 11:50
Magenta is awesome dude!! -------------
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Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 15:52
 ------------- 
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Posted By: clarke2001
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 16:47
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Nah. It's a good album, but I'd never call it a masterpiece, much less so a masterpiece of the entire progressive rock genre. It's just not that good. While there are great moments, it leaves a lot to be desired.
------------- |
Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 16:58
I agree. |
Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 22:41
Oh man, you're accusing me of not thinking, I must have really upset you if you're going to be so condescending. ;-) I'm fairly certain that to qualify as inspired by, it needs to be in some sense an interpretation of the main idea of the book, otherwise, how is it functionally any different from something that is not inspired by it? You are saying that it's not an interpretation of the primary elements of the book, so how can reading the book help you understand it? I didn't even read the whole paper, my point was that he wasted his time saying pretty much nothing. '60s and '70s music was influenced by the hippie movement? And technology allowed rock bands to accomplish things that weren't possible before!? I WILL HAVE TO RETHINK EVERYTHING I TOOK FOR GRANTED! By spending so long stating the obvious, it is just as much a waste as spending so long stating the non-obvious in the CTTE lyrics "analysis". ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: February 25 2010 at 11:02
Well, Selling England/Pound is now #1.....funny how that changed 
....
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Posted By: twostikks
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 19:12
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Two words: "Great sounds". I mean, the lyrics are non-sensical -- they're written to fit with the music, which is great, atmospheric stuff.
A ridiculously simplified explanation, I suppose ... but I don't have a lot of time right now...!
Peace & Love. ------------- Gary "... people will always be tempted to wipe their feet on anything with WELCOME written on it" Andy Partridge |
Posted By: Mouse444
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 19:45
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Oh Dear, My Fav Yes album is Tales From Topographic Oceans although I haven't listened to it in years. Does this make me completely sad. All the bad press that existed for "Oceans" and I loved it. I think Fav albums are also about the time you hear it and what memories they evoke. I don't need a message or a life changing story or a moment of truth. I just need to like it and obviously a lot of people liked CTTE. It is a nice album and I was young and impressionable back then. Mouse ------------- Mouser |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 12:47
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Of course, saying that an album is better than an other is most often biased. But Close to the edge is ONE of the albums that made the prog myths. -------------  One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 13:00
Exactly, the myth that it's a great album. If people love it, that's fine, I never got much from it. To each his or her own. I don't know why it's so applauded, but obviously it had huge impact. It's hardly bad for my tastes, just rather mediocre (I'd still give it a three, which means a good album).------------- Watching while most appreciating a sunset in the moment need not diminish all the glorious sunsets I have observed before. It can be much like that with music for me. |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 13:49
It didn't often hear an album as good as Close to the edge, but what would you suggest ? :-) ------------- One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 13:49
Something better than CTTE ? What would you suggest ? ------------- One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 13:59
If you mean inside Yes, I would suggest the one in your avatar, though my favorite is The Yes Album. Inside progressive rock/metal, I would suggest http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=10592 - Odyssey - The Greatest Tale . My favorite album ever. -------------
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Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 14:06
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OK, gonna listen to it to make a decision :) ------------- One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 14:08
| Actually there is nothing great about it, don't worry your little mind, keep moving right along... |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 14:12
Not better, merely better for me, and in that regard I could mention hundreds of albums (it's just a matter of taste; heck, I prefer Yes' Fragile). For starters, how about Greaves et al's Kew Rhone, Herbie Hancock's Crossings, Magma's Kobaia, Art Zoyd's Generation sans Futur, Bubu's Anabelas, Comus' First Utterance, Heldon's Un Reve..., Davis' Get up With It, Soft Machine's Third, Art Bears The World as it is Today, Vannier's L'enfant, Sheller's Lux Aeterna, Henderson's Realization, Spirogyra's debut, Area's Radiation, BdMS debut, Khan's Space Shanties, Univers Zero's debut,U Totem's debut, Agitation Free's Malesch, Edgar Froese's Epsilon, Priester's Love, Love etc. Still, I'll sugest Bubu's Anabelas for your possible listening pleasure. But I'm not saying it's better, merely better for me. To each his or her own taste. http://www.myspace.com/bubuprog - http://www.myspace.com/bubuprog ------------- Watching while most appreciating a sunset in the moment need not diminish all the glorious sunsets I have observed before. It can be much like that with music for me. |
Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 14:16
I second this. Anabelas is great. -------------
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 14:41
| I've got some Bubu on the way it may blow the Edge out of the way by virtue of its new to me ness. |
Posted By: twostikks
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 14:45
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May I suggest McCoy Tyner's "Fly With The Wind"? With Billy Cobham?
The very first track will blow your mind. ------------- Gary "... people will always be tempted to wipe their feet on anything with WELCOME written on it" Andy Partridge |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 15:57
A diversion of topic but Cobham is a mighty fine drummer. 
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 17:11
True. -------------
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Posted By: twostikks
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 17:44
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I think the title track from "Fly With The Wind" is THE track that convinced me that Billy Cobham is the best drummer in existence, if you bass it on chops, technical ability, speed, time-keeping ... he's unbelievable. And then there's his solo output, which for the most part is brilliant as well.
By the way CCVP ... "punk explained" is hysterical! ------------- Gary "... people will always be tempted to wipe their feet on anything with WELCOME written on it" Andy Partridge |
Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 18:00
The real world is a funny thing by itself. -------------
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Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 19:43
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Posted By: Xanthous
Date Posted: March 03 2010 at 16:21
| I guess it just an album that most Prog-fans happen to be satisfied with. I personally think out of Yes' output, Tales From Topographic Oceans is better, and there are many albums by other artists that are much better than Close To The Edge, but somehow, Close To The Edge just seems to be fun for everyone (mostly). |
Posted By: Chicapah
Date Posted: March 03 2010 at 16:45
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I guess you had to be there. When that album came out it was akin to living with only candles for illumination and suddenly acquiring an electric light bulb. ------------- "Literature is well enough, as a time-passer, and for the improvement and general elevation and purification of mankind, but it has no practical value" - Mark Twain |
Posted By: Nuke
Date Posted: March 03 2010 at 21:24
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I dunno, I used to love it, and then I stopped loving it. If only I remembered why I used to love it, I might be able to explain why it's great. Or maybe if I listened to it again. I had a bad experience last listen, which was like 2 years ago, but since then I've become significantly more accepting of all music, so I might "get" it more now. It's probably a great pop song first and foremost, which explains why I started hating it during my avant-garde/extreme metal phase. I'm vaguely recalling the melodies, and it sounds good inside my head, so I guess you just have to treat it like the 70's pop that it is, and not take it too seriously. Meticulously designed to be fun.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Seabury">  
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