..:: audio-music dot info ::..


Main Page     The Desert Island     Copyright Notice
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz


Yes: Close to the Edge

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 1972
Time:
 37:44
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Yes, Eddie Offord
Rating: ********** (10/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: yesworld.com
Appears with: Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire
Purchase date: 1998.03.14
Price in €: 4,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Close to the Edge: (Anderson/Howe) - 18:50
          I. Solid Time Of Change
          II. Total Mass Retain
          III. I Get Up I Get Down
          IV. Seasons Of Man
[2] And You and I (Anderson/Bruford/Squire) - 10:09
          I. Cord Of Life
          II. Eclipse
          III. The Preacher And The Teacher
          IV. Apocalypse
[3] Siberian Khatru (Anderson) - 8:57

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Rick Wakeman - Keyboards
Jon Anderson - Vocals
Bill Bruford - Percussion, Drums
Steve Howe - Guitar, Vocals
Chris Squire - Bass, Vocals

Roger Dean - Design, Photography, Cover Design
Barry Diament - Mastering


 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Track 1 is based in part on Hermann Hesse's book, "Siddhartha."

The group's sound broke more boundaries here, as side-long suites allowed Jon Anderson even more opportunity for vocal acrobatics and Wakeman an even bigger canvas on which to paint his electronic-synthesizer swirls and organ arpeggios. The poetry also had a peculiarly hypnotic quality, which overcame its relatively obscure passages.



One of the high-water marks of progressive rock (and thus of 1970s rock in general), CLOSE TO THE EDGE found British prog godfathers Yes firing on all cylinders. Throughout their history, they've undergone numerous lineup changes, but thisalbum featured the "classic" formation responsible for their absolute finest achievements. Here Rick Wakeman is at his Moog-goes-Baroque best behind the keyboards, Steve Howe sounds like a blues guitarist from Mars, Chris Squire delivers confoundingly contrapuntal bass lines, and Bill Bruford seemingly solves complex mathematical equations from his drum stool. The lion's share of the album is occupied by the title track, a complex piece that moves through numerous modes and moods. In latter decades, the extended song-suite has been denigrated as indicative of the worst rock pretensions, but, on CLOSE TO THE EDGE, it was a fascinating new concept, and Yes made it work more convincingly than anyone else before or since.

Amazon.co.uk


For most fans, this album represents the peak of Yes' work. Side-length suites allowed Jon Anderson even more opportunity for vocal acrobatics and Rick Wakeman an even bigger canvas on which to paint his electronic synthesizer swirls, organ arpeggios, and great swathes of Mellotron-generated color. Steve Howe's playing took on a particularly urgent quality here, but never lost sight of its lyricism, while Chris Squire's bass is practically another lead instrument, and Bill Bruford -- in his then seeming swansong with the band -- contributed some of his most elegant drumming. The 1995 remastering, referred to on the top back of the jewel box, was especially welcome on this album, the new CD version being many steps superior to the old one in terms of sound.

Bruce Eder - All Music Guide



What's it all about? "A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace / And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace." Actually, it really doesn't matter. Later they would fragment and lose focus, but here is Yes functioning for once in the band's tortuous career as an organic unit, and individual elements--such as Jon Anderson's trippy lyrics--are less important than the whole. Even Rick Wakeman's Rachmaninoff-for-Hammond-organ excesses work in context, compensated for by Steve Howe's amazingly fluid guitar (equal parts Charlie Christian and Chet Atkins), in turn counterbalanced by Chris Squire's behemoth Rickenbacker bass and Bill Bruford's jazzy drumming. This is rock music informed by the improvisational spirit of jazz and allied with the grandiosity of the classics. Love it or hate it, Close to the Edge is the definitive prog album.

Mark Walker - Amazon.com essential recording



Diese Platte kann man nicht beschreiben, man muß sie hören! Keine noch so gelungene Aneinanderreihung von Superlativen wird der Qualität dieses makellosen, unglaublich vielschichtigen Meisterwerks der progressiven Rockmusik gerecht. Das Intro des 19minütigen Titelsongs teleportiert jeden halbwegs sensiblen und musikalisch aufgeschlossenen Menschen in ein Paralleluniversum, aus dem man erst nach zwei weiteren Longtracks -- dem zehnminütigen "And You And I" und dem Neunminüter "Siberian Khatru" -- wieder entkommen kann, nur um nach einem zittrigen Druck auf die Play-Taste wieder zurückzukehren in jene Klanglandschaften, die keine Grenzen und Unmöglichkeiten kennen. Jeder der fünf Musiker tastet sich bis an den äußersten Rand seiner kompositorischen und spielerischen Fähigkeiten vor, verschmilzt in einem Akt extremer Feinfühligkeit mit seinen Nebenleuten, bis fünf eindringliche, fesselnde Melodiezauber völlig gleichberechtigt neben- und miteinander existieren. Als Reiseführer agiert Sänger Jon Anderson, der den Hörer mit seiner hohen, klaren Stimme herumführt und ihm mittels kryptischer philosophischer Texte die Wunder des bizarren Yes-Universums zu erklären versucht. Und weil's so schön war, wird noch einmal die Play-Taste betätigt...

Michael Rensen - Amazon.de

 

 L y r i c s


Close To The Edge

I. The Solid Time Of Change
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.
And assessing points to nowhere, leading ev'ry single one.
A dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun,
And take away the plain in which we move,
And choose the course you're running.

Down at the edge, round by the corner,
Not right away, not right away.
Close to the edge, down by a river,
Not right away, not right away.

Crossed the line around the changes of the summer,
Reaching to call the color of the sky.
Passed around a moment clothed in mornings faster than we see.
Getting over all the time I had to worry,
Leaving all the changes far from far behind.
We relieve the tension only to find out the master's name.

Down at the end, round by the corner.
Close to the edge, just by a river.
Seasons will pass you by.
I get up, I get down.
Now that it's all over and done,
Now that you find, now that you're whole.

II. Total Mass Retain
My eyes convinced, eclipsed with the younger moon attained with love.
It changed as almost strained amidst clear manna from above.
I crucified my hate and held the word within my hand.
There's you, the time, the logic, or the reasons we don't understand.

Sad courage claimed the victims standing still for all to see,
As armoured movers took approach to overlook the sea.
There since the cord, the license, or the reasons we understood will be.

Down at the edge, close by a river.
Close to the edge, round by the corner.
Close to the end, down by the corner.
Down at the edge, round by the river.

Sudden call shouldn't take away the startled memory.
All in all, the journey takes you all the way.
As apart from any reality that you've ever seen and known.
Guessing problems only to deceive the mention,
Passing paths that climb halfway into the void.
As we cross from side to side, we hear the total mass retain.

Down at the edge, round by the corner.
Close to the end, down by a river.
Seasons will pass you by.
I get up, I get down.

III. I Get Up, I Get Down
In her white lace
You can clearly see the lady sadly looking.
Saying that she'd take the blame
For the crucifixion of her own domain.

I get up, I get down,
I get up, I get down.
Two million people barely satisfy.
Two hundred women watch one woman cry, too late.
The eyes of honesty can achieve.
How many millions do we deceive each day?

[Thru the duty she would coil their said
amusement of her story asking only interest
could be laid upon the children of her domain]

I get up, I get down.
I get up, I get down.

In charge of who is there in charge of me.
Do I look on blindly and say I see the way?
The truth is written all along the page.
How old will I be before I come of age for you?
I get up, I get down.
I get up, I get down.
I get up, I get down.

IV. Seasons Of Man
The time between the notes relates the color to the scenes.
A constant vogue of triumphs dislocate man, so it seems.
And space between the focus shape ascend knowledge of love.
As song and chance develop time, lost social temp'rance rules above.
Ah, ah.

Then according to the man who showed his outstretched arm to space,
He turned around and pointed, revealing all the human race.
I shook my head and smiled a whisper, knowing all about the place.
On the hill we viewed the silence of the valley,
Called to witness cycles only of the past.
And we reach all this with movements in between the said remark.

Close to the edge, down by the river.
Down at the end, round by the corner.
Seasons will pass you by,
Now that it's all over and done,
Called to the seed, right to the sun.
Now that you find, now that you're whole.
Seasons will pass you by,
I get up, I get down.
I get up, I get down.
I get up, I get down.


And You And I

I. Cord Of Life
A man conceived a moment's answers to the dream.
Staying the flowers daily, sensing all the themes.
As a foundation left to create the spiral aim,
A movement regained and regarded both the same,
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you.
Changed only for a sight of sound, the space agreed.
Between the picture of time behind the face of need,
Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid,
Emotion revealed as the ocean maid,
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you.
Oh.

Coins and crosses

   Turn round tailor, assaulting
Never know their fruitless worth;

all the mornings of the interest shown,

presenting one another to the cord,
Cords are broken,

   All left dying, rediscovered

Of the door that turned round,
Locked inside the mother earth.

   To close the cover, all the

interest shown,
They won't hide, hold, they won't tell you,

   To turn one another, to the

sign at the time float your climb.
Watching the world, watching all of the world,
Watching us go by.

And you and I climb over the sea to the valley,
And you and I reached out for reasons to call.

II. Eclipse
Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid,
Emotion revealed as the ocean maid,
As a movement regained and regarded both the same,
All complete in the side of seeds of life with you.

III. The Preacher the Teacher
Sad preacher nailed upon the coloured door of time;
Insane teacher be there reminded of the rhyme.
There'll be no mutant enemy we shall certify;
Political ends, as sad remains, will die.
Reach out as forward tastes begin to enter you.
Ooh, ooh.

I listened hard but could not see
Life tempo change out and inside me.
The preacher trained in all to lose his name;
The teacher travels, asking to be shown the same.
In the end, we'll agree, we'll accept, we'll immortalize
That the truth of the man maturing in his eyes,
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you.

Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid,
As a moment regained and regarded both the same,
Emotion revealed as the ocean maid,
A clearer future, morning, evening, nights with you.

IV. Apocalypse
And you and I climb, crossing the shapes of the morning.
And you and I reach over the sun for the river.
And you and I climb, clearer, towards the movement.
And you and I called over valleys of endless seas.


Siberian Khatru

Sing, bird of prey;
Beauty begins at the foot of you. Do you believe the manner?
Gold stainless nail,
Torn through the distance of man
As they regard the summit.

Even Siberia goes through the motions.
Hold out and hold up;
Hold down the window.

   Outbound, river,
Hold out the morning that comes into view.
   Bluetail, tailfly.
River running right on over my head.

How does she sing?
Who holds the ring? And ring and you will find me coming.
Cold reigning king,
Hold all the secrets from you
As they produce the movement.

Even Siberia goes through the motions.
Hold out and hold up;
Hold down the window.

   Outbound, river,
Hold out the morning that comes into view.
   Bluetail, tailfly.
River running right over the outboard, river,
Bluetail, tailfly,
Luther, in time.
Dood'ndoodit, dah, d't-d't-dah.

Hold down the window;
Hold out the morning that comes into view.
Warm side, the tower;
Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru.

Gold stainless nail,
torn through the distance of man as they regard the summit.
Cold reigning king,
Shelter the women that sing
As they produce the movement.
River running right on over my head

   Outboard, river.

Bluetail, tailfly,
Luther, in time,
Suntower, asking,
Cover, lover,
June cast, moon fast,
As one changes,
Heart gold, leaver,
Soul mark, mover,
Christian, changer,
Called out, saviour,
Moon gate, climber,
Turn round, glider.

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


Currently no Samples available!