CLOSE TO THE EDGE

What more is there to be said about this classic album, truly a masterpiece of progressive music if ever there was one, people will argue about close to the edge being overrated and debate about which album is the best prog album of all time but really all that matters is that this is a fantastic prog album by a group of musicians at their collective and individual peaks.

Close to the edge is my favourite song that I have heard to date of any band in any genre, it has such a wide range of dynamics and is so emotionally involving and sincere without ever getting boring - it's everything to me that is good about prog. I remember when I was first getting into prog I got a yes compilation disc upon strong recommendation and I found myself listening to close to the edge a fair bit even though I didn't really understand or comprehend it (or even enjoy it) at that point but now it is clear what I was thinking about.

The other 2 songs on the album are fantastic but it's easy to be let down by them after the side long magnum opus that preceded them, 'and you and I' is a very beautiful more acoustically inclined song that I think deserves more credit. Siberian khatru is generally considered the weakest song on the album and I'm inclined to agree but it is still among yes' best works and is a great song in it's own right.

Overall I couldn't rate this lower than 5 stars, it's a shining beacon of what prog is about and it has changed my life for the better.