CLOSE TO THE EDGE

What can I say at this point about Close to the Edge that hasn't already been said by other reviewers? Well, for a start I can say that this is my favourite of the Yes albums with the short- lived "classic" lineup of Squire, Anderson, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford - Bill Bruford would jump ship from the band after recording this album and join the revived and regenerated King Crimson, and would only appear on two songs of the excellent Yessongs triple live album, and to be honest his participation here is rather overshadowed by Wakeman's keyboard magic, Squire's characteristic bass work and Steve Howe's guitar, not to mention Jon Anderson's singing (the lyrics may not make much sense, but his voice is on fine form here).

Although Bill Bruford wasn't happy about the album's direction, the disc does at least provide a cohesive, unified musical vision, unlike Fragile whose solo pieces I found to be a bit of a distraction from the wonderful full-group tracks. It's certainly one of the most consistently excellent Yes albums, and finds a perfect balance between accessibility and experimentation - whilst the music here is still highly original, novel and complex, at the same time the album is a bit more approachable than Relayer or Tales from Topographic Oceans. This or The Yes Album should be your first port of call when exploring the Yes back catalogue.