CLOSE TO THE EDGE

What is another 5 for this album. Not much. Closer to the Edge was the first Yes album I bought. The combination of my friend's suggestion and this site's exceptionally high review of the album was all it took for me to go looking for it at my local record store. I have to say I was not at all impressed with it at first, but not because of any fault on the part of Yes or their effort on this Magnificent album. I just wasn't ready for it. I immediately ran off and bought Fragile which was much more agreeable to my as of yet not really broken in progressive rock tastes. After a couple of spins of Fragile and numerous repeats of Roundabout, Heart of the Sun Rise and America, I timidly put Closer to the Edge back in my CD player. During the silence that takes up about the first 20 seconds of the song Closer to the Edge itself I was wary, really really wary. I felt for that long moment that I had wasted money on a pretty expensive album. Then the birds started chirping and then a small sound, then a louder one then a rolling boom like a wave of base tones. This time it wasn't to hard for me to get. This time it was like pure gold to my ears. It seemed to me that I hadn't heard any of these things the first time I listened to it. It was like some had thrown away the album that was a wall of noise and in its stead was an endless staircase and every time I heard it I heard more and more and loved different parts for different reasons. Close to the Edge is now the album I listen to more than any other album I own. It is positively addictive. If you, like me, are still wet behind the ears when it comes to progressive rock and so callously passed over Closer to the Edge on account of its sheer complexity. Stop, go to your CD player or what have you. Throw it in and remove yourself from distraction and really listen, I promice you won't be dissappointed.