CLOSE TO THE EDGE

Being a prog fan you cant help but here people rave about Close To The Edge as not just being one of the best albums but possibly the best album that has ever been produced. Sadly after listening to this album I'm afraid I cant share that view.

CTTE starts of with a pounding intro but I find it quickly settles down into a dull song that lacks some spark for me, this holds all the way until the final few minutes were it picks up to finish on high. Personally I think if this song was cut down to about 10 minutes it would be an amazing masterpiece but from the 4th to the 14th minute (roughly) this song is uninspiring.

And You And I has a lovely acoustic start to it that I find sets the tone for the rest of the song really well. Again though I just find this song a bit cold and lacking in the "spark" department. That is until you reach the last 3 minutes of this song witch is very nice and generates a bit more interest from me, sadly though more than half the song has already past and as before it could have done with being a bit shorter, but this song is generally very dull and is forgotten after only listening to the next song.

Siberian Khatru grabs you from the opening notes and never lets go, its fantastic, I love it and for me its the highlight of the album. Its an uptempo song that never fails to bring a smile to my face. Pefect atmosphere for the entire song and one of the best that Yes has ever created.

The only other gripes that I have with this album is that the sound of Chris Squire's bass is particularly annoying to my ears, more so on the title track than the rest of the album with the supprising exception of SK. I'm also no fan of Jon Andersons lyrics and find them annoying, but the same cant be said for the sound of his voice, hes definatly a good, solid singer if nothing special.

Of the four bonus tracks on the 2003 Rhino/Elektra remaster, America is the only song that holds any interest for me. Its an OK song considering that it was ment to be a single, it holds all you would expect from Yes. This is followed by the Total Mass Retain single, and this I dont like at all, I am very much against cut parts out of epics to use as singles as they lose context without the rest of the song. I have to admit I dont find to much different in the alternate version of And You And I, so you already know what I think of it. The same pretty much goes for the studio run-through of Siberia (would be renamed Siberian Kahtru on release) although it does sound like it has lost some of its energy compared to the official release.

Overall I think this is a dull album, nothing special, but with a few really good moments, some of witch can last for minutes, a bit dissapointing really. It just gives me the impression that their warming up to something and as a result this album leaves me cold, witch is very supprising considering the line up. The extra tracks I find very pointless and I personally end the album after Siberian Kahtru. I'll give it 2.5 stars, so round that up to 3 stars from me.