CLOSE TO THE EDGE

I cannot provide you with anything insightful, unique, or unfamiliar about the album because it seems that everything has been said about it in a myriad of other reviews on this site. That's really all there is to it. All I can share with you is my perspective on the album.

Close to the Edge has three tracks, each one with a flavor of its own, particularly the title mini-suite. Style-wise, everything on the album works - moments of rock-n'-roll (one of which sounds curiously Spanish), folky tunes, pop sensibility, Bach-inspired passages, and experimentation that varies from crazy to cool. The band even managed to make reggae sound fitting. The musicianship is there also, with Steve Howe's tasty and invigorating guitar passages, Rick Wakeman's emphasis on keyboard majesty, Bill Bruford's jazzy drum work (which is still in a rough development, meaning that it does not sound as sexy as it would on the King Crimson albums soon to come), and Chris Squire's extraordinary bass melodies filling up the time of the album.

Really what attracts me the most about Close to the Edge is the emotional impact that the music on the album is capable of, whether the music is soft or loud, slow or fast. Another thing that amazes me about the album is the lush production. It is not as neat and sterile as the production on Selling England by the Pound in some places. It is rather deep and rich. On top of it all, I really enjoy some parts of it that just sound mad. This is present in the experimentation and the frequent change of moods implemented on the album.

The only minor flaw I find on the album is Jon Anderson's lyrics, but it's not something worth complaining about, as the music on Close to the Edge gives me that impression that it's not really about the lyrics.

Few prog works reached the heights of Close to the Edge but none sound quite like that album, not even the preceding two Yes albums. Every self-respected prog listener who digs symphonic prog must own at least one copy of this musical miracle because it has everything good symphonic prog needs: power, majesty, musicianship, a sense of adventure, and variety.

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