Just turned 26 and listened to "Close To The Edge" for the first time a couple of months ago. I bought the vinyl immediately after hearing the first song. By far the best decision of my life.
It's 1972, I'm 11 years old and used to listening to the bland pop music of the day. On a visit to my cousin's house (he's older, has a band, plays guitar and is into prog rock) he gives me a set of headphones and plays me Close To The Edge. Mind blowing and - in terms of musical taste - life changing. The thing is, I can still immerse myself in Close To The Edge almost 50 years later and enjoy it just as much. This is still my favourite Yes album and I still regard it as one of the greatest albums ever made. Classic album.
I love Yes' boldness and courage to just lay it out there, no matter how off-the-wall or unusual the sound or technique! Not copying from anybody and taking amazing musical chances at every corner! Chris squire, one of the most bombastic players of all time - POW! right in the face - like or of not! And then providing the most lyrical and playful bass to accent the vocals. And Howe, and Bruford, Wakeman, and Anderson take the same all-stops-out writing and performing approach - seeming to hold nothing back! What wonderful freedom to explore such fantastic new sounds and ideas.
Six albums in three years: The Yes Album. Fragile. Close to the edge. Larks Tongues in Aspic. Starless and Bible Black. Red. Bill Bruford-just your standard underachiever.'
15:31 - Bill Bruford did study jazz and so that was his big orientation, while embracing an eclectic combination of styles. I did get to see Bill play Close to the Edge in 1989 during Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe's tour. Very impressive with his partly electric set that he used in King Crimson.
@ 32 minutes: 'Steve How is underrated'? Er, no. Was consistently voted best guitarist for several years and the years he didn't win was when they asked him not to be considered because everyone knew he would win it. When they 'let him back in' he won it again. One of the very best. Utterly brilliant and thoughtful.
I remember Yes as a warm up band to Grand Funk in Yale Bowl. Jon Anderson saw everyone lighting up and asked everyone when he said go light up. First time ever done. His closing Yes piece was And You And I. Then they had to come back for three encores until Grand Funk got pissed off. So off went all the Yes equipment (Grand funk refused to let them use their amps) and on came Grand Funk as the stadium emptied out. Not all of them, but a whole lot. They were a really amazing band.
What struck me about CCTE was that it seemed as if the band were painting with music. A dream landscape appears in the mind's eye and one feels as if "inside" the music. When i first heard it i thought it was the best piece of music i'd ever heard...and i still do.
I am lucky enough (and old enough) to see Yes live in Liverpool in the mid 70's (76, I think), and, as well as being bowled over by how amazing they sounded, was struck by how they created an almost dream-like, calm joyous mood.
This record was ground-breaking. Even all these years later, it's incredible And even today, considering the skill sets of all five musicians... amazing.
Towards the end Malcolm Dome says that after CTTE Yes became so self-absorbed they forgot about the audience and produced 'pretentious' albums like "Tales...". and "Relayer". Perhaps Dome didn't notice the sold-out crowds going to see them play during those tours. I'll going along with the self-obsession of "Tales..." especially considering their idea to play the album in its entirety to crowds who had not yet heard it. But that album is a Yes classic in its own right and I only wish I had been old enough to go see them during that tour. Fortunately I was old enough to see the first Relayer tour. Yes never forgot about the audience. They always wrote and performed music for THEIR audience. If you thought Relyer was inaccessible or 'pretentious' (I hate that hackneyed criticism) , then maybe you weren't part of their audience. "Gates..." is a fucking masterpiece.
The dismissal of subsequent albums/line-ups is wrong. Yes!, Close to the Edge is a high water mark, but Relayer, Going for the One, Tormato (underrated I say), Going for the One, Drama all are strong efforts in my book. Also, a photographer who says this album is "not his bag" is commenting here why? Otherwise an enjoyable dive into an amazing recording.
I saw theme first in 1970 if my memory is correct. I was twenty years old. And I still love them. What a great show. I saw them two more times after. Just grand!
I'm not really a prog rock fan, but at its best it could brilliant. Yes were the best of the prog rock crew, and this was their best album. Outstanding musicianship and inventiveness. The sophisticated riot that is Siberian Khatru still blows me away all these years later. Amazing.
The high water mark for this innovative and talented band. Though I think Going For The One has some similar qualities. I was fortunate to see them live 4 or 5 times during the 70's and 80's. I wish my kids could have experienced Yes at that time.
This is my favourite album ever. I love every single second of it, from the birds at the beggining to the last "Khatru"'s note . Music is great and each musician is at his best. (Don't know what lyrics is about, but it doesn't matter to me - Bruford said he doesn't know what "total mass retain" means, ha-ha), IMO this is Yes peack and prog rock peack also.
What a great documentary about a fantastic album, truly pivotal in prog rock history. Shame that Malcolm Dome seems to think that progressive rock doesn't mean progression however. Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer were also great works of musical complexity and took the bands music further. Lucky that Malcolm wasn't around to suggest that Beethoven stopped after his 4th symphony !
Just one of the best records I have ever experienced this is what brought me to prog rock . Close to the edge is just the best work I personally have Heard ever in progressive rock ever. Timeless and beautiful. The fazz .
The isolated drums and bass from CTTE can be heard on the internet if you know where to find it. Hearing Bruford (and Squire) clearly really upped my appreciation for Bill's work on the song; he was already a favorite drummer, but the nuance and dexterity of his playing on the title track is nothing short of amazing when heard in isolation. I have to agree that White didn't have quite the depth, uniqueness and musical sensibility that Bill had. That said, though I am not a fan of 'Tales From Topographic Oceans', I do think Relayer is right up there with CTTE (perhaps a half a notch below CTTE), partly due to the fresh jazzy approach and slightly different timbre of Moraz on keyboards. Patrick not only brought new blood and energy to the group when they most needed it, but his style and sounds were perfect for Relayer (he was also on of the nicest musicians I've ever met). It's a shame the band didn't do another record with Moraz. They did start writing with him for 'Going For The One', but when Wakeman decided to rejoin (because they 'were writing songs again'), they rather unceremoniously kicked Moraz out (according to most reliable sources). There is an alternate beginning for Awaken that Moraz released, showing the possibilities of what could have been. Sadly I find 'Going For The One' to be a bit edgy, brittle and overplayed (particularly Howe, who crammed riffs from his Telecaster into every vocal pause). Perhaps the album would have been better had they not been so showy, allowing the songs to breathe a bit more. The production didn't help matters IMO; to me the record comes across as loud, scratchy and noisy - probably an odd take coming from someone who rates Relayer so highly - but Relayer somehow manages to maintain an organic quality despite the frenetic structure, wild riffing and clanging embellishments. The last great album from Yes IMHO. I can't fault Bruford from leaving Yes for King Crimson when he did; an artist needs to grow, and I can't imagine Bruford tolerating the Tales sessions. Sure it's possible that Tales would have been better, but then the trio of killer Crim albums would never have been. A world without Lark's Tongues in Aspic, The Nightwatch, Fracture and Starless would be bleak indeed. RIP Chris Squire and John Wetton: ua-cam.com/video/JK9QUqUGmb4/v-deo.html
Such a shame you couldn't use the original album's music in the album's review. What Bruford laid onto that album was never equaled live by Alan White. Thanks for this video!
CttE was "The Evening Closer" for my group of friends back in high school. we would hang, listen to music, get stoned, discuss life and the world, laugh...but all good things end, so, when the evening as over, we would put on CttE and listen silently and reverently as it played, our spirits soaring and then end with tranquility via the closing forest sounds....it was, indeed, a very special time, one that i'll always cherish. to this day, when i need a spiritual boost, i play CttE and feel refreshed as it closes out. (๑´▿｀๑)♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪✧
Great documentary. I don't think the group went down after this. "Topographic Oceans" was a great album and that was a double album that had only 4 songs on it. I also loved "Going for the one." I also wish you would have included music from the album rather than all live vresions especially since this is a documentary about the album.
I remember well the first time I heard Close to the Edg, in the front room of my mate's house in Cardiff one Saturday morning, aged 12. I had never heard anything like it then and I have never heard anything like it since. Always been a special album for me. Glad it is recognised as such. By all means pigeon-hole it as 'prog-rock' if you find that helpful - it is just a great piece of music.
Mr Malcolm Dome - Never heard you talk nonsense before. Fragile and Roundabout got them a broader audience perhaps, especially in America, But it was the incredible Yes Album that was the blueprint. - Perpetual Change? Starship Trooper? And Yours is no Disgrace on top of the bloody pops? Those were the actualisation of what was coming and there is nothing inferior or unrealised about any of it. And as the awful solo crap that littered Fragile made for a disjointed experience and the first indicator that egos might be flying high - It is definitely the lesser of the two - Even though Roundabout,Heart of the Sunrise and South Side of the sky are literally incredible to this day and are monolithic testaments to, by far The Best Prog rock this country or any other has produced Love ya mostly. Talcy Malcy
I was thinking that as well. They don't discuss Bill's writing credit on And You And I. They demonstrate the acoustic guitar passage but it's not heard in the context of the album as the Yessongs version was all electric.
Alan White had to step into some difficult shoes to fill - he wasn't a jazz drummer but rather a rock/pop drummer who had had impressive accolades with Harrison and Lennon and many others, and yet he pulled it off, giving Yes a different but interesting sound live. His best work I think was on Going for the One and the San Luis Obispo phase.
Great expose! As a struggling self taught (by ear) near deaf guitarist of many, many decades I found the explanations and demonstrations of Les Davidson to be especially enlightening. His explanation of Yes's use of keys, scales and modes on Close to the Edge et al, certainly opened up some new vista's for me. I suspect we're talking some heavy Rick Wakeman influences here because he was the most musically trained and knowledgable member of the group at that time. It would be fascinating to find out ho suggested A Dorian mode or D harmonic minor scale as underlying foundations. Chris Welch said "Jon Anderson knew so little (in spite of so many ideas) while Rick Wakeman knew so much." I just wish Les had demo'd the licks a bit slower and that his guitar had inlays on the fretboard so I wouldn't have to constantly try and count frets to figure out where he is on the fingerboard. 50 years ago I was picking up the phonograph needle and resetting it to repeat a sequence I was trying to learn(and scratching up the vinyl!). Fast forward to You Tube and its pressing and repressing the pause, sliding counter bar and run button Still tedious but in a different way..... LoL
19:26 Chris Squire did a lot of 2 part vocal harmony with Jon. It wasn't always 3 part with Steve Howe. And, if you listen closely, Chris is harmonizing in a higher register than Jon through falsetto on I. The Solid Time Of Change A lot of Yes songs were written with both Jon & Chris doing 2 part harmonies that were sung in counterpoint as opposed to one singing a diatonic 3rd to the melody. Chris would often back off the mic giving Jon more to the front sonically.
It WAS a high point. And yes, by comparison, there WERE problems with many of their future releases. But I don't think it's fair to discount the magic moments that do come from Tales, Relayer, GFTO...or for that matter more maligned records such as Union and Talk. They continued to make extraordinary music. In some cases, it wasn't that what they were doing had changed...they were still making music they wanted to make. It was that the times had changed...the audiences had changed. And that's okay. Tracks like "Awaken", "Holding On" and "In The Presence Of" are superb pieces of music in their own right, and I would challenge any musician to compose pieces of such care and complexity as those. Most could not.
"...pseudo intellectual hippy dippy airy fairy lyrics"? What wankers some critics are. Anderson used 'the sound of words' to create poetic imagery, something like fragments of dreams, and his impressionist style perfectly suited the music.
Great documentary! Though I don't appreciate all the Topographic Oceans bashing ... I think that album needs to be revisited by many of its critics, it's a fantastic album.
I gotta say, that if Chris Squire had not set out to dominate the sound of this entire album--with the other guys happy to follow his lead--this album/creation would never have achieved its well deserved fame. To me, Yes was ultimately "Chris Squire's Band", populated with very talented musicians who recognized his talent and were able to see themselves wrapping their own contributions around his powerful sense of direction. A singular achievement in Progressive Rock history...
CTTE is a "high point of Western civilization" album for me. Everyone in the band at this point in time was not only a master of their craft, but a highly unique and individualistic player. Alan White is a phenomenally powerful and accomplished drummer, but his style is fundamentally identical to virtually any other rock drummer. You could put in him any other rock band. When they lost Bruford, they no longer had an inimitable voice on every instrument, and eventually Squire's bass style settled into the same groove---the two of them became a nimble, but typical, rock rhythm section. Some of Yes' greatest work was still ahead of them, but the lineup was never again as perfect as it was here.
I hear people say that what really led Yes to Close to the Edge was Fragile but I think a lot of it started one album before that. As good as Wakeman is, and I’m definitely a fan, his introduction didn’t change Yes nearly as much as Steve Howe’s did. Time and a Word is forgettable. The Yes Album is really good and also quite sophisticated. Really, they were at their best for three albums, from the time Steve Howe joined until the time that Bill Bruford left. Alan White is good but Bruford is in a league of his own, as became further evident with his work with King Crimson.
Yes did not lose their way after Close to the Edge. Relayer was their ultimate Masterpiece and then Going for the One was superb. Alright they did lose their way after that.
I enjoyed this video, but I think it gave a great disservice to many of the later albums. I think that Tales From Topograpic Oceans is a masterpiece, but agree that it would not be the album I would introduce a Yes newbie to. Relayer is a fantastic piece of work, and it demonstrated how the band could adapt and work with a different keyboard player. Then move on to Drama. Hear how Yes could stil create a great album without Jon Anderson as the vocalist. I could carry on, but I think you catch my drift.
great review was at the Spectrum 79 show that they use clips from 71 thru 78 where Yes's high water years even the Pat Moraz Relayer was great thencame Tourmato and things were never quite the same
OK. Who is the clown with the shaved head, who keeps giving YES backhanded compliments? "airy fairy, pseudo intellectual lyrics", "splitting 'Close to the Edge' into 4 parts because it was pretentious". Prog had a premature death in the mid 70's in large part because of people like this in the music press. IT wasn't that punk killed prog, as many people claim, it was the music press's response that killed prog. What a great thing that prog had a major revival in the mid to late 90's, and has been going strong ever since. THe fact that major labels and the music press just kind of forgot about prog, and let musicians, and small labels, produce it without the need to have commercial success, was the best thing to happen to music.
The studio recording is a different animal. I first heard all the songs from the record on Yessongs at the age of seventeen in the back of a Rambler with the typical shit sound system (an 8-track cartridge) of the day (1974). I then got the "Close To The Edge" record and at first I didn't like it. But I soon realized that it was an awesome work. That the band had Eddie Offord pictured on the back of the record along with the band members speaks to the huge impact the producer had on the sound. It's an amazing record, their best, and timeless. I still listen to it today, the only record from that era by any band that I still listen to.
Steve Howe 1st member in Guitar Player's Gallery of Greats. Best overall guitarist 5 years in a row. Only 3 total. Eric Johnson and Steve Morse are the other two. All that and people rarely talk about him these days.
I was assigned to do a painting w/a fantasy theme. I painted mountains coming out of the sky in a prophetic shine from the tip of an Tolkien elf's sword flanked by statues of Rohan horses ...thank you Yes
Good documentary! A couple of corrections: 7:29 Fragile was released in November 1971, not early 1972. 34:22 This statement implies that Close to the Edge was the first time the band worked with Eddie Offord. It wasn't, he co-produced The Yes Album and Fragile, and engineered Time and a Word.
Fun exploration and analysis. I feel like the assertions in too many cases discounted the achievements of subsequent albums. Tales did, indeed, have too much "padding." But the themes and gestures there were real and singular. Relayer's Gates and To Be Over are every bit as good as anything they ever did, and the entirety of Going For the One is masterful. Even the flawed Tormato has Future Times/Rejoice, which I consider to be the spiritual heir of CTTE.
YES ...so much incomparably great music. But CTTE ...well, not to dismiss or deny the continued legacy of great music by YES, but ...if I had to chose just one YES album to be stuck on an island with, it would be Close to the Edge - the first YES album that stopped me in my tracks and made me just stand there in awe. But the idea that YES forgot the audience after CTTE is moderately absurd. Their enormous audience that continued for decades and is still quite strong is proof of just how loopy that idea is.
One my favorite pieces of music (besides CttE and Awaken) is Amarok by Mike Oldfield. Amarok is the only "song" I know that I can look at my player and say, "crap! only 23 minutes left." It's a 59 minute song that is made of many, many parts. The Lore is that Mike Oldfield hated Richard Branson and made an album with nothing in it that could be carved out as a single. There is also supposed to be Morse code in it that spells out something like "Fuck you Richard Branson." Personally, I put Awaken slightly ahead of CttE.
Yes kinda reminds me of the Beach Boys on Hallucinogenics. Obviously the vocal harmonies are the dead giveaway, but the music is so much... More!! Been a fan for longer than i care to admit. Pink Floyd "Animals" is right up there with it...
They're a bit too tough on Topographic Oceans here. The first track, Revealing Science of God, was really amazing too. If the track Close to the Edge was a 10/10, which is was, Revealing Science of God was a solid 9.
Great and comprehensive documentary, with insight and dedication, but like the comment before, the album itself and not various live out takes should have formed the back drop, although there could be copyright issues of course, epic in any event.
Just turned 26 and listened to "Close To The Edge" for the first time a couple of months ago. I bought the vinyl immediately after hearing the first song. By far the best decision of my life.
Damn near 50 years old and still sounds fresh and crisp as it did years ago. Fell in love with Yes back in 73.
It's 1972, I'm 11 years old and used to listening to the bland pop music of the day. On a visit to my cousin's house (he's older, has a band, plays guitar and is into prog rock) he gives me a set of headphones and plays me Close To The Edge. Mind blowing and - in terms of musical taste - life changing. The thing is, I can still immerse myself in Close To The Edge almost 50 years later and enjoy it just as much. This is still my favourite Yes album and I still regard it as one of the greatest albums ever made. Classic album.
I love Yes' boldness and courage to just lay it out there, no matter how off-the-wall or unusual the sound or technique! Not copying from anybody and taking amazing musical chances at every corner! Chris squire, one of the most bombastic players of all time - POW! right in the face - like or of not! And then providing the most lyrical and playful bass to accent the vocals. And Howe, and Bruford, Wakeman, and Anderson take the same all-stops-out writing and performing approach - seeming to hold nothing back! What wonderful freedom to explore such fantastic new sounds and ideas.
Six albums in three years: The Yes Album. Fragile. Close to the edge. Larks Tongues in Aspic. Starless and Bible Black. Red. Bill Bruford-just your standard underachiever.'
15:31 - Bill Bruford did study jazz and so that was his big orientation, while embracing an eclectic combination of styles. I did get to see Bill play Close to the Edge in 1989 during Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe's tour. Very impressive with his partly electric set that he used in King Crimson.
@ 32 minutes: 'Steve How is underrated'? Er, no. Was consistently voted best guitarist for several years and the years he didn't win was when they asked him not to be considered because everyone knew he would win it. When they 'let him back in' he won it again. One of the very best. Utterly brilliant and thoughtful.
The best Yes line up of all times, the best album and the landmark of prog rock ever. Simply a master piece. Greetings from Mexico.
I remember Yes as a warm up band to Grand Funk in Yale Bowl. Jon Anderson saw everyone lighting up and asked everyone when he said go light up. First time ever done. His closing Yes piece was And You And I. Then they had to come back for three encores until Grand Funk got pissed off. So off went all the Yes equipment (Grand funk refused to let them use their amps) and on came Grand Funk as the stadium emptied out. Not all of them, but a whole lot. They were a really amazing band.
What struck me about CCTE was that it seemed as if the band were painting with music. A dream landscape appears in the mind's eye and one feels as if "inside" the music. When i first heard it i thought it was the best piece of music i'd ever heard...and i still do.
Truly their best work. I've since also become fond of Relayer.
Been following YES since1974 about 46 years now seen them live probably over 50 times in over 6 states they are the band of my life for sure
I am lucky enough (and old enough) to see Yes live in Liverpool in the mid 70's (76, I think), and, as well as being bowled over by how amazing they sounded, was struck by how they created an almost dream-like, calm joyous mood.
This record was ground-breaking. Even all these years later, it's incredible And even today, considering the skill sets of all five musicians... amazing.
Best album of all time. Genius.
Man oh man oh man oh man was this ever a mind blowing album! It was a tour de force
Towards the end Malcolm Dome says that after CTTE Yes became so self-absorbed they forgot about the audience and produced 'pretentious' albums like "Tales...". and "Relayer". Perhaps Dome didn't notice the sold-out crowds going to see them play during those tours. I'll going along with the self-obsession of "Tales..." especially considering their idea to play the album in its entirety to crowds who had not yet heard it. But that album is a Yes classic in its own right and I only wish I had been old enough to go see them during that tour. Fortunately I was old enough to see the first Relayer tour. Yes never forgot about the audience. They always wrote and performed music for THEIR audience. If you thought Relyer was inaccessible or 'pretentious' (I hate that hackneyed criticism) , then maybe you weren't part of their audience. "Gates..." is a fucking masterpiece.
I am surprise there arent any comments. I love hearing people talk about YES. Actually theyre one of few bands I can talk about for hours
Close to the Edge, what can In say, that's when YES became YES, I fell in love with this album, came out of my shell.
My favorite rock Album the first
i heard it 46 years ago... and still is today.
Love this yet somewhat torn. Listen to 70's Yes and I picture 5 wizards hanging out at the Shire, making magic.
The dismissal of subsequent albums/line-ups is wrong. Yes!, Close to the Edge is a high water mark, but Relayer, Going for the One, Tormato (underrated I say), Going for the One, Drama all are strong efforts in my book. Also, a photographer who says this album is "not his bag" is commenting here why? Otherwise an enjoyable dive into an amazing recording.
40+ years later and it still gives me chills!
I saw theme first in 1970 if my memory is correct. I was twenty years old. And I still love them. What a great show. I saw them two more times after. Just grand!
I'm not really a prog rock fan, but at its best it could brilliant. Yes were the best of the prog rock crew, and this was their best album. Outstanding musicianship and inventiveness. The sophisticated riot that is Siberian Khatru still blows me away all these years later. Amazing.
The high water mark for this innovative and talented band. Though I think Going For The One has some similar qualities. I was fortunate to see them live 4 or 5 times during the 70's and 80's. I wish my kids could have experienced Yes at that time.
This is my favourite album ever. I love every single second of it, from the birds at the beggining to the last "Khatru"'s note . Music is great and each musician is at his best.
(Don't know what lyrics is about, but it doesn't matter to me - Bruford said he doesn't know what "total mass retain" means, ha-ha),
IMO this is Yes peack and prog rock peack also.
What a great documentary about a fantastic album, truly pivotal in prog rock history. Shame that Malcolm Dome seems to think that progressive rock doesn't mean progression however. Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer were also great works of musical complexity and took the bands music further. Lucky that Malcolm wasn't around to suggest that Beethoven stopped after his 4th symphony !
Just one of the best records I have ever experienced this is what brought me to prog rock . Close to the edge is just the best work I personally have Heard ever in progressive rock ever. Timeless and beautiful. The fazz .
It's interesting how people are so challenged by the introduction to CTTE, for whatever reason, when I first heard the piece I totally got it...
The isolated drums and bass from CTTE can be heard on the internet if you know where to find it. Hearing Bruford (and Squire) clearly really upped my appreciation for Bill's work on the song; he was already a favorite drummer, but the nuance and dexterity of his playing on the title track is nothing short of amazing when heard in isolation. I have to agree that White didn't have quite the depth, uniqueness and musical sensibility that Bill had.
That said, though I am not a fan of 'Tales From Topographic Oceans', I do think Relayer is right up there with CTTE (perhaps a half a notch below CTTE), partly due to the fresh jazzy approach and slightly different timbre of Moraz on keyboards. Patrick not only brought new blood and energy to the group when they most needed it, but his style and sounds were perfect for Relayer (he was also on of the nicest musicians I've ever met). It's a shame the band didn't do another record with Moraz. They did start writing with him for 'Going For The One', but when Wakeman decided to rejoin (because they 'were writing songs again'), they rather unceremoniously kicked Moraz out (according to most reliable sources). There is an alternate beginning for Awaken that Moraz released, showing the possibilities of what could have been. Sadly I find 'Going For The One' to be a bit edgy, brittle and overplayed (particularly Howe, who crammed riffs from his Telecaster into every vocal pause). Perhaps the album would have been better had they not been so showy, allowing the songs to breathe a bit more. The production didn't help matters IMO; to me the record comes across as loud, scratchy and noisy - probably an odd take coming from someone who rates Relayer so highly - but Relayer somehow manages to maintain an organic quality despite the frenetic structure, wild riffing and clanging embellishments. The last great album from Yes IMHO.
I can't fault Bruford from leaving Yes for King Crimson when he did; an artist needs to grow, and I can't imagine Bruford tolerating the Tales sessions. Sure it's possible that Tales would have been better, but then the trio of killer Crim albums would never have been. A world without Lark's Tongues in Aspic, The Nightwatch, Fracture and Starless would be bleak indeed.
RIP Chris Squire and John Wetton: ua-cam.com/video/JK9QUqUGmb4/v-deo.html
Great commentary on the greatest album. Fine insight about how Wakeman held the songs together.
Amazing album. I memorized every word. This album is timeless.
Definitely one of the greatest prog. Rock albums ever released. And one of my most favorite prog. Albums also. It's an amazing piece of music.🙂
Pretty enjoyable listen. I loved them back in the day and still appreciate the music and how talented each member is.
Such a shame you couldn't use the original album's music in the album's review. What Bruford laid onto that album was never equaled live by Alan White. Thanks for this video!
words fail to describe . thankfully.the music is incredible. thats it.
Simply the Best ALBUM. Ever!
CttE was "The Evening Closer" for my group of friends back in high school. we would hang, listen to music, get stoned, discuss life and the world, laugh...but all good things end, so, when the evening as over, we would put on CttE and listen silently and reverently as it played, our spirits soaring and then end with tranquility via the closing forest sounds....it was, indeed, a very special time, one that i'll always cherish. to this day, when i need a spiritual boost, i play CttE and feel refreshed as it closes out.
(๑´▿｀๑)♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪✧
Their CTE tour was my first concert ever. Absolutely amazing.
Great documentary. I don't think the group went down after this. "Topographic Oceans" was a great album and that was a double album that had only 4 songs on it. I also loved "Going for the one." I also wish you would have included music from the album rather than all live vresions especially since this is a documentary about the album.
Steve Howe is absolutely underrated as a player...so versatile and creative...
Close to the Edge = epic prog rock masterpiece.
I remember well the first time I heard Close to the Edg, in the front room of my mate's house in Cardiff one Saturday morning, aged 12. I had never heard anything like it then and I have never heard anything like it since. Always been a special album for me. Glad it is recognised as such. By all means pigeon-hole it as 'prog-rock' if you find that helpful - it is just a great piece of music.
Mr Malcolm Dome - Never heard you talk nonsense before. Fragile and Roundabout got them a broader audience perhaps, especially in America, But it was the incredible Yes Album that was the blueprint. - Perpetual Change? Starship Trooper? And Yours is no Disgrace on top of the bloody pops? Those were the actualisation of what was coming and there is nothing inferior or unrealised about any of it. And as the awful solo crap that littered Fragile made for a disjointed experience and the first indicator that egos might be flying high - It is definitely the lesser of the two - Even though Roundabout,Heart of the Sunrise and South Side of the sky are literally incredible to this day and are monolithic testaments to, by far The Best Prog rock this country or any other has produced Love ya mostly. Talcy Malcy
That record, a new world was opening before us... 🌏
Excellent documentary! Thanks for the upload.
I was thinking that as well. They don't discuss Bill's writing credit on And You And I. They demonstrate the acoustic guitar passage but it's not heard in the context of the album as the Yessongs version was all electric.
Alan White had to step into some difficult shoes to fill - he wasn't a jazz drummer but rather a rock/pop drummer who had had impressive accolades with Harrison and Lennon and many others, and yet he pulled it off, giving Yes a different but interesting sound live. His best work I think was on Going for the One and the San Luis Obispo phase.
I love the allowance for individual tracks on Fragile. That they let each band member shine.
The Yes Album and Fragile are just as good. Those three albums are what Yes made their living re-creating for the rest of their lives.
16:03 I love the way Jon Anderson prepares us with that 'announcement' !
Its sad how even the people being interviewed talk bad about Tales and Relayer. I think they were Yes's two best albums personally.
Thank you for publishing this video.
Great expose! As a struggling self taught (by ear) near deaf guitarist of many, many decades I found the explanations and demonstrations of Les Davidson to be especially enlightening. His explanation of Yes's use of keys, scales and modes on Close to the Edge et al, certainly opened up some new vista's for me.
I suspect we're talking some heavy Rick Wakeman influences here because he was the most musically trained and knowledgable member of the group at that time. It would be fascinating to find out ho suggested A Dorian mode or D harmonic minor scale as underlying foundations. Chris Welch said "Jon Anderson knew so little (in spite of so many ideas) while Rick Wakeman knew so much."
I just wish Les had demo'd the licks a bit slower and that his guitar had inlays on the fretboard so I wouldn't have to constantly try and count frets to figure out where he is on the fingerboard.
50 years ago I was picking up the phonograph needle and resetting it to repeat a sequence I was trying to learn(and scratching up the vinyl!). Fast forward to You Tube and its pressing and repressing the pause, sliding counter bar and run button Still tedious but in a different way..... LoL
This confirms what I always felt, Close To The Edge is the G.O.A.T.
Well done. Thanks for being substantive.
19:26 Chris Squire did a lot of 2 part vocal harmony with Jon. It wasn't always 3 part with Steve Howe. And, if you listen closely, Chris is harmonizing in a higher register than Jon through falsetto on I. The Solid Time Of Change
A lot of Yes songs were written with both Jon & Chris doing 2 part harmonies that were sung in counterpoint as opposed to one singing a diatonic 3rd to the melody. Chris would often back off the mic giving Jon more to the front sonically.
Close To The Edge, The Who's Quadrophenia and Pink Floyd's Animals are my top 3 records ever made. I never tire of any of them...
Mood for a day was one of the first few songs I learned, thanks YES 🎸🇨🇦
Tremendous video. Thanks for posting.
It WAS a high point. And yes, by comparison, there WERE problems with many of their future releases. But I don't think it's fair to discount the magic moments that do come from Tales, Relayer, GFTO...or for that matter more maligned records such as Union and Talk. They continued to make extraordinary music. In some cases, it wasn't that what they were doing had changed...they were still making music they wanted to make. It was that the times had changed...the audiences had changed. And that's okay. Tracks like "Awaken", "Holding On" and "In The Presence Of" are superb pieces of music in their own right, and I would challenge any musician to compose pieces of such care and complexity as those. Most could not.
The slow power piece in You and I is the best THING I've ever heard.
"...pseudo intellectual hippy dippy airy fairy lyrics"? What wankers some critics are. Anderson used 'the sound of words' to create poetic imagery, something like fragments of dreams, and his impressionist style perfectly suited the music.
One of the best parts of Yes is the fact that their music is never boring, not for a single second.
Fantastic! Thank you!
This is the best Prog-Rock album ever, I was very fortunate to see this album live after seeing the Yes Album/ Fragile live a year earlier.
Great documentary! Though I don't appreciate all the Topographic Oceans bashing ... I think that album needs to be revisited by many of its critics, it's a fantastic album.
Now go and listen to Relayer; my favorite truly 'progressive' Yes recording. It has it all.....
"...legendary drummer Bill Bruford." You got that right, and that's on a bad day.
I gotta say, that if Chris Squire had not set out to dominate the sound of this entire album--with the other guys happy to follow his lead--this album/creation would never have achieved its well deserved fame. To me, Yes was ultimately "Chris Squire's Band", populated with very talented musicians who recognized his talent and were able to see themselves wrapping their own contributions around his powerful sense of direction. A singular achievement in Progressive Rock history...
CTTE is a "high point of Western civilization" album for me. Everyone in the band at this point in time was not only a master of their craft, but a highly unique and individualistic player. Alan White is a phenomenally powerful and accomplished drummer, but his style is fundamentally identical to virtually any other rock drummer. You could put in him any other rock band. When they lost Bruford, they no longer had an inimitable voice on every instrument, and eventually Squire's bass style settled into the same groove---the two of them became a nimble, but typical, rock rhythm section. Some of Yes' greatest work was still ahead of them, but the lineup was never again as perfect as it was here.
I hear people say that what really led Yes to Close to the Edge was Fragile but I think a lot of it started one album before that. As good as Wakeman is, and I’m definitely a fan, his introduction didn’t change Yes nearly as much as Steve Howe’s did. Time and a Word is forgettable. The Yes Album is really good and also quite sophisticated. Really, they were at their best for three albums, from the time Steve Howe joined until the time that Bill Bruford left. Alan White is good but Bruford is in a league of his own, as became further evident with his work with King Crimson.
That bald guy acts like Close to the Edge is the only good album by yes lmao. Topograhpic and Relayer are great albums too
the explanations of the chord structure and scales are very interesting
Yes did not lose their way after Close to the Edge. Relayer was their ultimate Masterpiece and then Going for the One was superb. Alright they did lose their way after that.
I enjoyed this video, but I think it gave a great disservice to many of the later albums. I think that Tales From Topograpic Oceans is a masterpiece, but agree that it would not be the album I would introduce a Yes newbie to. Relayer is a fantastic piece of work, and it demonstrated how the band could adapt and work with a different keyboard player. Then move on to Drama. Hear how Yes could stil create a great album without Jon Anderson as the vocalist. I could carry on, but I think you catch my drift.
19:30 "...albeit in a lower register." Erh, sometimes perhaps, but actually Chris Squire generally sang the top harmony.
Their first real Masterpiece.Followed later by Ritual,The Gates of Delirium, and Awaken
I disagree that they got lost after close to the edge they just went on their way and took a lot of us with them!
"Wakeman actually, literally became the glue that held together the music."
great review was at the Spectrum 79 show that they use clips from 71 thru 78 where Yes's high water years even the Pat Moraz Relayer was great thencame Tourmato and things were never quite the same
OK.
Who is the clown with the shaved head, who keeps giving YES backhanded compliments?
"airy fairy, pseudo intellectual lyrics", "splitting 'Close to the Edge' into 4 parts because it was pretentious".
Prog had a premature death in the mid 70's in large part because of people like this in the music press. IT wasn't that punk killed prog, as many people claim, it was the music press's response that killed prog.
What a great thing that prog had a major revival in the mid to late 90's, and has been going strong ever since. THe fact that major labels and the music press just kind of forgot about prog, and let musicians, and small labels, produce it without the need to have commercial success, was the best thing to happen to music.
The studio recording is a different animal. I first heard all the songs from the record on Yessongs at the age of seventeen in the back of a Rambler with the typical shit sound system (an 8-track cartridge) of the day (1974). I then got the "Close To The Edge" record and at first I didn't like it. But I soon realized that it was an awesome work. That the band had Eddie Offord pictured on the back of the record along with the band members speaks to the huge impact the producer had on the sound. It's an amazing record, their best, and timeless. I still listen to it today, the only record from that era by any band that I still listen to.
My favorite yes album!
Steve Howe 1st member in Guitar Player's Gallery of Greats. Best overall guitarist 5 years in a row. Only 3 total. Eric Johnson and Steve Morse are the other two.
All that and people rarely talk about him these days.
I was assigned to do a painting w/a fantasy theme. I painted mountains coming out of the sky in a prophetic shine from the tip of an Tolkien elf's sword flanked by statues of Rohan horses ...thank you Yes
The vocals are an instrument the same way Claptons guitar is a voice by itself
Good documentary! A couple of corrections:
7:29 Fragile was released in November 1971, not early 1972.
34:22 This statement implies that Close to the Edge was the first time the band worked with Eddie Offord. It wasn't, he co-produced The Yes Album and Fragile, and engineered Time and a Word.
My all-time favorite LPs
1. Who's next
2. Piece of mind
3. Close to the edge
4. Abbey Road
5. Physical graffiti
Fun exploration and analysis. I feel like the assertions in too many cases discounted the achievements of subsequent albums. Tales did, indeed, have too much "padding." But the themes and gestures there were real and singular. Relayer's Gates and To Be Over are every bit as good as anything they ever did, and the entirety of Going For the One is masterful. Even the flawed Tormato has Future Times/Rejoice, which I consider to be the spiritual heir of CTTE.
Best album ever recorded.
And then came the Ramones
I love them both
🎸
YES ...so much incomparably great music. But CTTE ...well, not to dismiss or deny the continued legacy of great music by YES, but ...if I had to chose just one YES album to be stuck on an island with, it would be Close to the Edge - the first YES album that stopped me in my tracks and made me just stand there in awe.
But the idea that YES forgot the audience after CTTE is moderately absurd. Their enormous audience that continued for decades and is still quite strong is proof of just how loopy that idea is.
One my favorite pieces of music (besides CttE and Awaken) is Amarok by Mike Oldfield. Amarok is the only "song" I know that I can look at my player and say, "crap! only 23 minutes left." It's a 59 minute song that is made of many, many parts. The Lore is that Mike Oldfield hated Richard Branson and made an album with nothing in it that could be carved out as a single. There is also supposed to be Morse code in it that spells out something like "Fuck you Richard Branson."
Personally, I put Awaken slightly ahead of CttE.
Yes kinda reminds me of the Beach Boys on Hallucinogenics. Obviously the vocal harmonies are the dead giveaway, but the music is so much... More!! Been a fan for longer than i care to admit. Pink Floyd "Animals" is right up there with it...
They're a bit too tough on Topographic Oceans here. The first track, Revealing Science of God, was really amazing too. If the track Close to the Edge was a 10/10, which is was, Revealing Science of God was a solid 9.
And you and I is one of there best songs.
“Going for the one” was the last great album
Very nice.
Great and comprehensive documentary, with insight and dedication, but like the comment before, the album itself and not various live out takes should have formed the back drop, although there could be copyright issues of course, epic in any event.
Stellar!