This is another of those albums that I've probably been listening to for half a century, and am overly-familiar with. I owned the vinyl, and somewhere along the line felt the need to replace it on CD.
For many people, this is the definitive Yes line up, certainly the most interesting in my opinion, nothing after 1977's Going For The One made me remotely curious.
Opening with the birdsong and babbling brook, Close To The Edge, pounds into life with a Steve Howe guitar intro and it's two minutes before a couple of "ahhs" from Jon Anderson and Chris Squire and the first strong guitar theme, oft repeated later leads us into some of Anderson's lyrics - nonsense yet beautifully delivered - and the two opening songs of the piece romp along jauntily. On about the halfway mark, proceedings slow down, heralded by Rick Wakeman's first obvious keyboard appearance leading into the quieter I Get Up, I Get Down, Squire and Anderson passing the vocal baton between themselves, before Wakeman interrupts with a church organ piece, which after a quick vocal reprise , takes us on a frantic synth ride, and the earlier themes and songs are reprises to a finish. It's a sprawling behemoth of a piece, yet quite compelling. Possibly the band at their peak.
But there are two more songs (on the metaphorical other side). And You And I, is over ten minutes long, again with different movements, opening with acoustic guitar, and the song is another interesting and gently listenable piece. It's possibly more coherent than its predecessor, but that's not necessarily a positive - it just doesn't contain the variety of Close To The Edge.
Final song, Siberian Khatru is a much more orthodox rock song, yet still displaying the musical virtuosity of the band, even in the middle allowing Wakeman what sounds like a harpsichord solo, Howe guitar solo, before a long outro.
This really is a fine album, which I'm not convinced the band ever bettered. Other subsequent albums had their moments, but nothing held together quite like these 37 minutes.
4* - Probably Yes' finest album, a fantastic listen
Comments