Yes.... Yes, Yes, Yes... Seen by many as the height of Progressive Rock's pretentions, an example of all that should be avoided, right? Well no. Prog is hardely the dirty word it used to be, and has one of the largest dedicated audiences of any genre around. I think we all go through that phase where we're anti-prog, but in reality, it's a dumb way of thinking. I'd never really sat down and properlly listened to Yes until a month ago, I had brought this album randomly as I had just started collecting LPs, and my oh my, this was a brilliant introduction to the band.
After a short introductionary soundscape of droning and noise, like a kind of natural sound, Yes break in with a free jazz/fusiony instrumental introduction, a pure cachophony of delicious prog, broken up with the occasional chant of 'Ahhhh' before sequeing into something more musical and melodic. It swings in a pleasant way, very musch what oyu'd expect from prog. John Anderson's vocals creep in, a higher pitched version of your typical rock vocals. There's an element of Sting in his voice? Yes, at times it almost verges on 'white boy reggae', about six years before it hits the mainstream. However it is prog through and through. The music breaks into a quiet water-like section, reflecting the subject theme of The River Man, Siddhartha. A beautiful noise breaks in as we are treated to Rick Wakeman on an organ, becoming something of a spiritual point, like a moment of ecstacy, before erupting into the full Wakeman keyboard majesty. If you have a wizard costume, put it on for this part. the main lyrical theme returns and feels more joyous.
Lyrically, the song tackles the subject of spiritual awakening of Siddhartha, based confusingly on a novel by Hermann Hesse, where the titular character (Siddhartha) is around in the same time as Gautama Buddha (who was originally Prince Siddhartha, and had a spiritual awakening...) Anyways, around this time in the seventies, rock was at a point, leaving the faux-spirituality of the late sixties behind, many had begun to really look into it, and themselves, and this spirituality is a recurring theme of Yes' music at the time. The lyrics are often nonsensical when viewed in a logical sense, but serve as an expression of the abstract ideas found in such a subject.
Side two starts with a nice gentle accoustic piece, folky and playful. Totally light like a field. Wakeman's mooging around adds a gentle breeze and Anderson starts singing, and it eventually becomes proggier, reminding me of King Crimson's 'In The Court Of The Crimson King'-meets-arena-rock. It's that kinda aspirationy sound that'd usually be found at the end of a prog epic. And that it does, It returns to the playful melody and then gets proggy. I'm sensing a pattern here. And it ends. Kinda a fade out, a whimper rather than the bombast of side one.
We're then treated to a funky prog number, propelled by a neat guitar riff, Hendrix-lite, because every guitarist has their Hendrix copying moments. Prog Hendrix though sounds a bit different from most, especially when aided by Anderson's vocals making it totally 100% yes. It plays with prog tropes all too easily, and yes Wakeman has his harpsichord sound breaking through. Howe does his solo bit, it's Howe by numbers, in a track that's totally prog by numbers. I must admit. It's decent, and enjoyable, but I don't know, I find it kinda lacking.
All in all, Close to the edge is a really good album. The second side feels rather uninspired compared to the first, but ultimately, well worth getting. Even if just for the Rodger Dean gatefold painting. But yeah, I think every record collector should have this album, it's totally of it's time yet timeless. One of the best of the 'pure-prog' releases, and Yes' highlight. This is the first of my 'MUST HAVE' reviews.
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