CLOSE TO THE EDGE

Close to the edge.... One of the strongest pieces of prog music to hit the grooves, and for a number of reasons -- Mainly, the three very solid pieces of music, none of which ever gets boring and none of which ever sound the least bit flawed.

CLOSE TO THE EDGE, the opener, and the main attraction to this album for most. This song starts leading you into a mystical sounding overture, then blasts you with Steve Howe's guitars, Chris Squires bass and Rick Wakeman's Synthesizers along with Bruford's Drums. This is a classic line-up of prog heros and it sounds just as good as one would expect it to. Everything clicks on this song, and even the slow section "I get up, I get down" is not at all boring and fits in place.

AND YOU AND I, opens side 2, a bit slower than it's predecessor. However, what it lacks in speed it makes up for in musical integrity. This is a great song to relax to, and it's probably one of the better mid-tempo songs ever written.

SIBERIAN KHATRU... it's hard to spell, but it sounds excellent. Howe opens the track with one of his memorable riffs to date and the rest of the band does a great job of keeping up. Really, there's not much more to say about this song, it just sounds really good, really really good. It's easy to get lost for words on this one.

All in all there's no complaints about this album, it is one of the pinnacles of progressive rock as a genre in whole. Covering all the bases, this is the album that may very well characterize best what so many musicians were trying to achieve at the time (and indeed, to this day). My review of this album is over, may others review it in my place.