CLOSE TO THE EDGE

5/5 Close to the Edge is an amazing album, a pinnacle of progressive music by a pioneering band of the genre. On this album, Yes have combined the factors which make up progressive music and executed it flawlessly. This album is very well known in the progressive rock community, and that's not without reason. It's truly a masterpiece. Let's start with the title track, which takes up all of side one. There is a mystifying introduction that lasts for about a minute, painting the image in your head of a forest filled with birds. This launches into a several minute instrumental section, which for me is one of the highlights of the album (which is a silly thing to say, seeing as the whole album is a highlight really). There is a catchy melody introduced in this section. The first two sections that are indexed in the song ("The Solid Time of Change" and "Total Mass Retain") contain some of the best moments in the song, such as the memorable verses and the 'I get up, I get down' sections. This segues into the next section, "I Get Up, I Get Down". This is again a great part. "Seasons of Man" closes the song with a bang, ending the song with the majestic sounding "I get up, I get down" melody, and recapitulating the intro to the whole song. Side two begins with And You and I, which is a well known Yes song. Most Yes fans will probably agree that the main chorus melody in And You And I is one of Yes' most beautiful moments. The whole song, in fact, is melodic beauty. The keyboards really stand out in this track, as do the vocals. Siberian Khatru, however, is the track that the guitar really stands out on. A more straight-forward, rocking song (but by no means any worse) than the others, it again brings us catchy melodies that stay in your head for a long time. This is a Yes classic (as the other two songs on the album are too), and is frequently performed live. It is probably the most accessible song on the album. Overall, this album stands out as one of the albums that defined progressive rock, and it still stands today as one of the greatest albums made in this genre.