close to the edge

Yes took their classic lineup in a constant vogue of triumphs to the progressive precipice with this mystical musical landmark.   'Close to the Edge' was recorded with the same lineup as 'Fragile' with Jon Anderson on vocals, Steve Howe on guitars and vocals, Chris Squire on bass and vocals, Rick Wakeman on keyboards, and Bill Bruford on drums and percussion.  The band produced the sessions with Eddie Offord at Advision Studios in London. 

Hermann Hesse's book 'Siddhartha' inspired the epic title track, which took up the entire first side of the album.  Anderson muses:  "What I haven’t seen, I can’t tell.  It’s not very whole until I’ve seen it. So it’s all metaphors.  That’s when I went through that very strong period of just sketching and writing whatever I sang as being a state of consciousness. I would smoke a joint and just have fun and write:  'A seasoned witch can call you from the depths of your disgrace and rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace.'  And I know exactly what it means.  'A seasoned witch can call you from the depths of your disgrace' – your higher self can call you from the depths of your disgraceful feelings, your doubts.  “And rearrange your liver” – your body – you can rearrange your body to a 'solid mental grace'.  The liver is a very powerful part of the body, so it can rearrange your physical self to a higher state of mind. 'Close to the edge, round by the corner' – 'Siddhartha'.  I was reading 'Siddhartha'.  So, everything means something to me.  And people can say what they want – I don’t care – because I know what I was saying was what I was thinking, what I was dreaming."

Bruford considers his compositional contributions:  "There were snippets in there...Jon Anderson pushed me into doing bits and pieces. So I would come up with odd movements of the bass or... Riffs mostly. I heard the music from the bottom up: a bass line that could be doubled with the guitar, which would turn into some kind of riff or lead part." 

Howe compares the band's different recording stratagies:  "I shouldn’t be saying it myself, but some of this old material we’re playing still blows me away. To think that we did 'Fragile' and 'Close to the Edge' in the same year is astonishing to me now. I don’t know how the hell we did that. We were very young, very keen and prepared to work hard. And we still are – the 'work hard' bit, anyhow...There are two schools of thought. In one, you start making an album, and then you never stop until you completely finish it. The opposite of that is you do tracks, and then you come back to them. You do some more tracks, and then you come back even later to the mixing. So, you’re always thinking fresh. You’re not thinking, 'God, I’ve been on this record for three months. I just want to stop hearing it!'...This is how we made our earlier records, and it may prove to be a much better way. In the early days, we could never have one period of total immersion, until we did 'Topographic Oceans'. That was the first time we said, 'Okay, life stops until we finish this record.'...But the records made before that were made around, and involved, life. 'Close to the Edge', 'Fragile' and 'The Yes Album' were made as we lived and toured, and stopped and started. I think, most probably, they were better because of it. They benefitted from renewing that fresh approach."

Wakeman remembers the difficulties of touring:  "It was bloody nightmare on stage, because there was quite a lot of Mellotron, and Mellotrons, they were so difficult to behave themselves on stage. I mean they were worse than naughty boys; they were just escaped convicts. They just had minds of their own and never did what you asked them to do, and because that involved the Mellotrons a lot, you used to just tear your hair out--you really did tear your hair out...I mean, now it's fine; it's great, because with the keyboard setup and things you've got now, you don't have those worries about when I hit this note, is it going to be anywhere remotely in tune, in another key, on another planet; or is it not going to do anything at all or is it going to catch fire? Are the bits going to come out the back? Those days are long since gone."

Squire says that he didn't want to rest on the success of 'Fragile':  "You’re only as big as your last hit...I know I always worked hard on making sure we came out with the best possible product and of course we were working with four other people, you have to balance that as well."

Bruford left the band after the album was completed to join King Crimson.  The members of the band lived in a house together and personality conflicts between Bruford, Anderson, and Squire began to wear on the drummer.  He and Squire would argue over chords and even got into a fistfight after a show.  Bruford admits: "Chris is, I'm sure, a wonderful guy. But in those days he also very, very late. For all appointments and departures and arrivals and sound checks and anything...That, in a way, is the most grievous form of offense that one musician can visit upon another. Because it's simply keeping everybody waiting. Like the last guy who enters the room is the biggest guy. So there was a lot of that about him and eventually... you know, I was a hot-blooded guy back then and I'd had enough of waiting for him, really."

'Close to the Edge' went to number four in the UK, three in the US, and number one in the Netherlands.  It has been certified platinum in Canada, the UK, and the US.  










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'Close to the Edge'
full album:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNkWac-Nm0A



1. "Close to the Edge"  (Anderson, Howe) (0:00-18:43)

I. "The Solid Time of Change" 00:00
II. "Total Mass Retain" 06:05
III. "I Get Up, I Get Down" 08:01
IV. "Seasons of Man"  14:12

2. "And You and I" (Anderson, Howe, Bruford, Squire) (18:45-28:56)

I. "Cord of Life" 18:45
II. "Eclipse"   19:59  22:33
III. "The Preacher the Teacher" 24:32
IV. "Apocalypse"  28:11


3. "Siberian Khatru"   (Anderson, Howe, Wakeman) (28:57-37:49)