Yes Peaks with “Close to the Edge”

The latest in a series of super deluxe editions from Rhino

By 1972, Yes was no longer fighting to prove themselves within the progressive rock scene. With Fragile having sold 500,000 copies in America alone and “Roundabout” being their first Top 20 hit, they earned the privilege to work without interference from the head honchos at Atlantic. When it came time to work on a follow-up album at London’s Advision Studios in the spring of 1972, the taste of commercial success didn’t lobby the members of Yes to try to recapture the magic of “Roundabout.” Instead, they were bound to push the outer limits of their creativity.

Close to the Edge was a sonic leap from Yes' previous work and a reinvention of their recording process. What didn’t change was their method of democratic election, with endless debates over which tone sounded better from which instrument. Instead of bringing fully fleshed material to the studio, Yes recorded the album piecemeal, working on small sections and then having to learn arrangements in full when the track was complete. Dreadful occurrences where co-producer/engineer Eddy Offord went diving into bins of scrapped tape to place into the master reel came about, but working in this method allowed the pieces to grow to great lengths, the title track taking up the entirety of the album’s first side. 

Vocalist Jon Anderson found inspiration for Close to the Edge’s title track from the literature works of Tolkien and Sibelius’ 6th Symphony, utilizing musical themes and metaphorical yet nonsensical lyrics about spiritual awakenings. The introduction of the first of four movements, “The Solid Time of Change,” is a cacophony of notes akin to the fusion stylings of Mahavishnu Orchestra. “Total Mass Retain” instates the main instrumental and melodic themes heard throughout the piece. The tranquil “I Get Up, I Get Down” paces the track with soothing Beach Boys-style harmonies and the melodrama of Rick Wakeman’s pipe organ showcase. “Seasons of Man” closes the track with reprising themes that build to the track’s resolving finale in a major key. 

The second side of Close to the Edge consists of two “shorter” pieces, each lasting an average of 10 minutes. “And You And I” begins with its opening movement, “Cord of Life,” starting traditionally with Steve Howe’s lush acoustic guitar chords and Anderson’s vocals. The musical palette of the track is enriched by an ambiguous key change and a contrasting rhythmic counter melody, showing that Yes never ceased at the opportunity to take arrangement approaches that tie into their classical background. The “Eclipse” movement slows the song into a swaying euphoric state driven by Howe’s pedal steel guitar and Wakeman’s Mellotron and Minimoog. A folk-inspired acoustic guitar pattern on the “The Preacher, The Teacher” movement paces the track. It climaxes with a reprise of the previous movement and ends with a brief chorus under its closing movement, “Apocalypse.” 

After indulging in multi-movement epics, Close to the Edge wraps up with the rocking “Siberian Khatru.” While Anderson was responsible for the rough idea and its Yemeni Arabic-rooted title, the rest of the group worked together to bring the track to its final state, making it one of Yes’ most collaborative tracks. Even though it closes the album, the track became a show opener for the tour in support of the album and for decades to follow. For any new curious Yes fan, this track is a firm place to start since, according to Steve Howe, "it has everything: riffs, themes, bridges and an unusual middle eight, big Stravinsky-like orchestral stabs."

Without the assistance of a hit single on the scale of “Roundabout,” Close to the Edge peaked in the Top 5 in both the US and UK upon its release in September 1972. The album’s staggering amount of preorders, just shy of 500,000 copies, gave the group leverage and Atlantic confidence to pursue a five-year recording contract extension. Outside of the album being Yes’ biggest commercial success at the time, many of the band members hold the album in high regard. Jon Anderson walked home from one of the recording sessions in tears, feeling that he was now starting to fulfill his profession as a musician. Drummer Bill Bruford found making the album extremely difficult due to Yes’ musical democracy, but saw the album as a high achievement where he felt there was nothing more to prove. He left the group to join Robert Fripp’s newly formed King Crimson. Having cut his teeth previously with John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, drummer Alan White joined the group three days before the world tour supporting the album commenced.

Close to the Edge is the next in a series of multi-format super deluxe editions from Rhino, the first of which dates back to 2023 with The Yes Album. It comes packaged in a hardbound gatefold book that faithfully replicates the original artwork, the cover being the first to feature Yes’ iconic bubble logo; the metallic silver border around the logo and text is a lovely touch. Roger Dean’s stunning gatefold design lies underneath the wallets and trays holding the discs. The left pocket includes the heavyweight vinyl LP and a 12-page booklet consisting of an essay by Syd Schwartz, photos, the lyrics reformatted from the original printed inner sleeve, and credits—the five CDs and the LP feature the red/green Atlantic label as per original pressings.

The LP and first CD consist of the remastered original mix, the vinyl cut from the master tape by Bernie Grundman. It is a respectable cut with a lot of sizzle, benefiting Bruford’s cymbals and Howe’s acoustic guitar. Bassist Chris Squire’s percussive tone still cuts into the mix, but the bottom end is a hodge-podge. There were moments where it lacked, particularly the pipe organ section of the title, and moments where it shone, like Bruford’s kickdrum thumps during “And You And I.” Whether emphasizing the higher frequencies was a choice of Grundman’s or a result of the final master, it’ll be interesting to compare this AAA 33 ⅓ rpm edition to the upcoming Analogue Productions/Atlantic 75 AAA 45rpm edition.

The second CD consists of Steven Wilson’s new stereo and instrumental mixes of the album. Whether mixing King Crimson, XTC, or Jethro Tull, Wilson can never go wrong in the mixer’s chair. There aren’t many radical differences in mix placements, but his ability to expand the stereo spectrum allows for more detailed separation. Compared to the original mix, which has a very “in your face” feel due to the emphasis of lower frequencies, this remix dials the bottom end back, allowing some elements that ride in the mid-high frequencies to shine more. Due to digitally transferred multitracks and doing away with generation loss, the remix sounds slicker instead of the tape hiss heard on the original. Although Anderson’s vocals are close to an instrument in itself, the instrumental mixes show some of the intricacies of the instrumentation and arrangements. 

The third CD is “Rarities,” most of which have been previously available as singles and on compilations and other CTTE reissues. Yes’ reinvention of Simon and Garfunkel’s “America” appears as both the 4-minute single edit and the 10-minute elusive ‘dry mix’ from the New Age of Atlantic compilation sampler. Condensed, byte-sized variations of Close to the Edge come with the single version of the “Total Mass Retain” movement from the title track and the promo radio edit of “And You And I.” The studio run-through of “Siberian Khatru,” titled “Siberia,” features Wakeman’s Hammond organ taking the place of the harpsichord in the middle section and Anderson laying down what sounds like a guide vocal. The respective rough mix and alternate version of the title track and “And You And I” feature the same backing tracks that remained on the final album but with different vocal takes and most of the overdubs missing. The remaining unreleased tracks are Steven Wilson’s unique edits of “Siberian Khatru,” “Cord of Life,” and “Total Mass Retain.” These come across as more refined ‘single versions’ that eliminate mix components that help make the edits stand out more rather than relying on the final master to make hasty cuts and fade-outs; they serve as a fun divergence from their epic glory. 

The fourth and fifth CD is devoted to a live show from London’s Rainbow Theatre on December 16th, 1972. Though bits of this show appeared on the Yessongs live album and was the basis of the concert film of the same name, it’s never been available at an almost-complete capacity. The show is a stereo soundboard recording, which is peculiar when one considers the shows featured in the Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy Two box set, all of which were remixed and appeared on Yessongs. A minor letdown is the absence of Steve Howe’s acoustic showcase, “Clap/Mood for a Day,” which deteriorated from the source material. Despite these minor quips, Yes’ appearance at such a legendary venue on home turf gave them a bit more gusto performance-wise than on any ordinary night. The group sounds tight, and the mix packs a solid punch. This box set is worth getting for the live show alone. 

For this review, I listened to the Blu-ray on a friend’s home theatre system, which utilizes a 5.1.2 speaker configuration.

The Blu-ray consists of Steven Wilson’s freshly prepared Atmos and 5.1 mixes, stereo remix, instrumental mix, and the original stereo remaster. Having done a 5.1 mix initially in 2013, Wilson approached the Atmos mix with more faithfulness to the original than revealing unheard surprises on the multitracks, most notably the additional harmony phrasing during the middle section of the title track not being present on this mix. The Atmos mix presents Close to the Edge in a cinematic fashion, placing you right in the room with the band and solo spots zig-zagging across the speakers. One of the mix trademarks is Bruford’s cymbals and tom fulls going across the rears. The “I Get Up, I Get Down” section of the title track creates a wonderful atmosphere with the sound of water droplets coming from the overheads and the Howe/Squire harmonies separated in the rears. “And You And I” starts subtly with harmonics from the front, the triangle ping in the left rear, and acoustics galore from every direction. Bruford’s thumping percussion dominates the center with majestic power during the “Eclipse” movement, as Mellotrons and pedal steel guitars swell in the rears. This Atmos mix is a real treat for the ears!

Close to the Edge is seen as one of the archetypal progressive rock albums and the quintessential Yes album, where they reached their artistic peak. For what you get for the MSRP of $100, this super deluxe edition is an absolute bang for the hard-earned buck and, as described by the hype sticker, “the definitive version of the 1972 Yes classic.”