Yes were a band that wanted to get both the harmonious singing and complex playing just right. All their hard work and vision has paid off here more than anywhere else. Lead singer Jon Anderson sings with passion and energy, anything that comes out of his mouth is filled with emotion. Likewise, everything that master guitarist Steve Howe plays is moving. Chris Squire is one of the funkiest bass players around, and his work is just as fascinating now as it would have been back then. He can put a groove into the most difficult and intricate of places. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman is an important part of the sound, adding classical inspired themes to the songs. Most of the time he's background, but when he does get a solo it adds so much to the music. His choice of synthesizers, keyboards, organs and sequencers is also very clever, he knows just what to pick to highlight the mood of the song. Then, there's Bill Bruford, who can keep just about any time, any pace, and make it just about as exciting as it can be. They cover a lot of emotion in their songs, but for the most part they are very, very happy and optimistic. The polar opposite of Pink Floyd maybe.

There are only three tracks, but they are worth more than every penny. Each song is complex, thoughtful and evocative. The title track is twenty minutes long and even then it's seems too short and you're left wanting more, unlike many of Yes' longer songs. It cycles through ambience, skittering experimentation, jazz, sadness, joy, speed, space, using probably every instrument and effect Yes had at their disposal at the time. It's an experience, it really is. Everything on this album sends shivers up my spine, but this song particularly.

"And You and I" follows, a less intense experience, beginning with a guitar intro a lot like "Roundabout" from "Fragile". It then flows from a folky sound to an effect that sounds like a singing organ and into a moving Mellotron string section, a very emotional moment, and then all the way back again.

It all ends with the rocking "Siberian Khatru", probably the most well known song from this album, and most accessible. Lots of echoey mellotron, energetic guitar and bass, and great harmonies from Jon, Steve and Chris.

You'll get a lot more from this record if you put on headphones, but they aren't neccessary. Close to the Edge is just as powerful without them.

Just a note. If you're a bit of a lyrics person, you might get a bit lost, as some of the lyrics are quite vague and often don't make a lot of sense. But the music is so very, very good it doesn't matter.

Easily 5 stars. Easily. Some might say 6.

Yes put out three great albums in 1972 but this is the best
"Close to the Edge" is the last and definitely the best of the three albums Yes produced in 1971-1972, when the Progressive Rock group founded by vocalist Jon Anderson was at its creative peak. Back in the good old days of vinyl, the title track was the entire first side of the album and represented the group's formulaic pattern at its best: a nice long instrumental introduction that leads to the song's main figure which everyone in the band takes turns playing. With Anderson the thing is to always enjoy his soaring tenor voice and forget about the inane lyrics; trying explaining "A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace/And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace/And achieve it all with music that came quickly from afar/Then taste the fruit of man recorded losing all against the hour." Compare that with how the "I get up, I get down" from the end of "The Solid Time of Change" works a lot better because what matters are not the words but the sound. Anderson's voice and the falsetto harmonies he creates with Steve Howe and Chris Squire are as much an vital instrument in these songs as Howe's guitar or Rick Wakeman's keyboard. Howe's acoustic guitar work is featured on "And You and I," while "Siberian Khatru" features a nice musical duel between Howe on sitar and Wakeman on harpsichord. The promise evidenced by "The Yes Album," and developed further on "Fragile," reaches full maturity on "Close to the Edge." Listen to those three albums again in order and you will reach the conclusion that this was Yes' best album.