"With Anderson the thing is to always enjoy his soaring tenor voice and forget about the inane lyrics; try explaining '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.'"

"A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace."

Disgrace is a condition people find themselves from time to time. It is a state of ignorance, sorrow, dishonor, humiliation, or whatever. A witch...well, witches aren't necessarily evil. They are people who can draw upon natural powers beyond metaphysical realities. Seasoned means to have been around for a while. So, you will be called from the depths of your disgrace, but you will not be taken from it. That's something you have to do yourself.

"And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace."

This is the line for which Yes is most often ridiculed. But it's actually quite smart. What is the liver? Well, one of its functions is the detoxification of drugs, poisons, and endogenous toxins. However, these are physical maladies. There are greater impurities than those of the corporeal form -- like those of the mind and the spirit. Of course, the use of the word "liver" is highly metaphorical here; what's important is that we must purify our minds and spirits. Putting the first two lines together, we see that something will call us, so we can elevate to a state of mental/spiritual grace (which is the opposite of disgrace). (I think the adjective "solid" is just used to aver the strength of the mind.)

"And achieve it all with music that came quickly from afar."

What is this "music"? It could be God (afar=not of this world; quickly=through prayer), or it could be some other form of spiritual revelation. Now I'm not sure on Jon Anderson's religious background, but he seemed like a pretty spiritual fellow, so I think this makes sense. In any case, this line tells us that spiritual revelation, divine or simply epistemological (I like to think it's the latter), is the way to rise above the depths of disgrace. Another interesting point is music "came," not music "comes." This implies that this spiritual strength has been here all along for those who wish to seek it.

"Then taste the fruit of man recorded losing all against the hour."

Fruit...that's something we produce; it's the results of our efforts. Depending on where you see the song going from here, you might think that this fruit of man is virtues like love, benevolence, compassion...you know, all that good stuff. Unfortunately, many people have lost touch with virtues. There are many morally gray people in today's world. But rising up from the depths of our disgrace, we can again taste the righteousness of man's life. So without some kind of spiritual epiphany, we cannot get back on the right path.

That's my take on those four lines. There's so much more depth to the lyrics of this song, and I'd like to share it, but I don't have the time nor the space with the 1,000 word limitation. But hopefully this little review has given some of you something to think about -- hopefully you're reconsidering the idea that Yes' trippy lyrics have no value beyond their sound.

Close to the Edge's music is brilliant; it's absolutely brimming with tasteful complexity. Yet the composition works harmoniously to express the song's deeper meaning. Note how the song is cyclical (which corresponds with the "Seasons Of Man" theme), and the music moves from the oh-so-chaotic opening to a more melodious arrangement. The concord between music and lyrics is part of what scores the album five stars. Were it to only consist of the title track, it's still enough to qualify for the highest rating possible here at Amazon. Close to the Edge's lyrics may be "inane," but they mean a lot to me.

Close To The Edge is undoubtedly the greatest of all Yes albums (and that says a lot), and its beauty is entrancing every time I listen to it. The title track consumes an entire side of the record version, and is the ultimate progressive piece, ever. How many bands can successfully climax with a church organ solo? Just one, Yes. Jon Anderson's lyrics are as vague and confusing and utterly beautiful as they ever get. He sings excellently, with wonderful melodies. Steve Howe imparts his EXCELLENT guitar chops to the album on not only his traditional Gibson hollowbody electrics, but also on electric sitar, pedal steel guitar, and acoustic 12-string. Wakeman is full of power, at his best with the band, undoubtedly. The Hammond organ in Close To The Edge is definately the best I've heard. He also gives us exceptional MiniMoog parts and solos. Chris Squire, my favorite of the Yes-men, is unbelievable. This album inspired me to buy a Rickenbacker bass guitar, and I have spent over a thousand dollars on effects and amps in pursuit of Squire's fat, rich, and clear tone. His style is brilliant and creative. Bruford, the final piece in the band, not only meshes well with Squire and the others, but adds his wacky but oh so creative jazz influences. What a inimitable creation. Deserves more than 5 stars.

This is a classic album. A classic. A classic of it's and every other genre. It's all to easy to sneer at progressive rock but not quite so to sneer at the superlative playing exhibited throughout this fine disc. 'Close To The Edge' features the classic Yes line-up of Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Rick Wakeman - a line-up that was soon to fall apart as first Bruford left to join Robert Fripp's King Crimson and then Rick Wakeman de-camped after the release of their next LP 'Tales From Topographic Oceans'. Things would never quite be the same for Yes after 'Close To The Edge' but who on earth could follow such a record? From the jungle noises at the opening of the title track which give way to a claustrophic and utterly chaotic piece of Steve Howe acid guitar brilliance; through the elvish combination of majesty and subtle folk touches that is 'And You And I'; to the closer 'Siberian Khatru' which provides us with one of Steve Howe's greatest riffs - this is an amazing piece of music from start to finish. Jon Anderson's lyrics are as obtuse as ever but they never mar the playing of a virtuosic group, riding the peak of a wave of creative genius, playing with breathtaking musical exuberance.

If Yes could be boiled down to one defining moment, Close To The Edge is arguably their finest. Fresh off the heels of two ground-breaking progressive albums (The Yes Album & Fragile), the formidable quintet of Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford created an album that many believe to be the standard that all other prog-rock albums are measured against. A mere three songs grace the album, but the quality of those three still stand alone today. Close To The Edge also marked Yes' first album cover by Roger Dean, whose visions became almost as recogizable as the music to Yes fans.

The album starts with the song Close To The Edge, 18+ minutes of mood-sweeping magic. The song is divided into four movements, sharply conveying the essence of not only the music, but also the combination of musicianmanship, musical phrasing and arrangement. It also is Jon Anderson's finest example of using lyrical vocals as a fifth instrument to augment guitars, bass, keyboards and drums. No, the lyrics might not make a tremendous amount of sense, but the combination of the amount of syllables and the sounds that the words make fuse together to make Anderson's voice an instrument of its own. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the classically trained voice of bassist Chris Squire providing backing vocals. Anderson and Squire's vocal harmonies, also supported by guitarist Steve Howe, could be certainly considered brilliant.

The other two songs are stark opposites of each other. And You And I is a beautiful mixture melody and harmony, while Siberian Khatru is a more straight-ahead rocker. However, as soon as that's said, each has elements of the other within themselves.

Yes, in 1973, was at a point that would have destroyed most bands, with two of the original five members already departing the band (and a third, drummer Bill Bruford, set to leave for King Crimson after Close To The Edge), the keybordist (Rick Wakeman) with only a year in the band and the guitarist (Howe) only a year more than that. But this is Yes. At the time when it seems that their next album has every indication of being a disaster, they come together and give us Close To The Edge, a masterpiece in modern music.

If you're looking for bubble-gum, big-haired pop, or just about any other style of rock, don't look here. Yes gave us Close To The Edge, which proved that classical music isn't a forgotten artform. It's simply been called Progressive Rock since the 1970s.

I first discovered progressive music through the newer guys, like Transatlantic and Spock's Beard, as well as prog. metal bands, like Dream Theater and Queensryche, so naturally it was just a matter of time before I was lead to this album here. Yes were one of the very first prog. bands, and probably one of the best. "Close to the Edge" is often credited as their classic album, and though it took a couple of listens to fully appreciate, I can certainly see why.

The album consists of three epic suites, which go by quite fast. The 18-minute title track starts off with tranquil rainforest noises, before exploding into a cacophonous barrage of notes. From there, it moves into four distinct parts. I think part 3 is a little too slow, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. For such a long song, it goes by very fast. The next song is "And You And I", which is more soft and tranquil, with some great acoustic guitar. The album ends with "Siberian Khatru", a very bass-heavy jam song. Very upbeat track. The rhythm section really shines here, with Chris Squire's funky basslines and Bill Bruford's awesome (but subtle) drum solo around the 5-minute mark.

3 songs, 37 minutes of awesome music. However, the reason I had to work with this a bit is because of Jon Anderson's vocals, which are, um, weird. Maybe it's just because I'm accustomed to hearing Neal Morse with this kind of music, but at the first listen Jon's vocals just seemed weak and thin, totally out of context with the amazing music backing him up. Even Geddy Lee, who has been criticized as a "whiny-voiced geek" has a much more powerful voice than Jon. But, while I'll never consider him a great vocalist, I am getting used to his style, and as I listen to this more and more, I'm sure it will become less and less of a big deal.

If you like progressive music, this album is mandatory, but you probably already have it, unless you're new to the genre, like me. But if not, get it. And, if you like what you hear here, you need to get both albums from Transatlantic. They not only carry forth the legacy of oldschool prog., but improve upon it in a myriad of ways.