What a sweet comment about your grandma. If she's like me, she's trying to see as many of the old bands as she can while they are still touring. You should go with.
They are still touring, although not with the original singer. They still sounded amazing though, glad I got to see them once before they stopped altogether
Tales of topographic oceans they overheated the electrical system in st louis kiel auditorium the head electrician was shitting shutting crap down like a mad man waited 1 hr for show to restart they just killed it! What a time
I'm sitting here at home in my office, took a break from programming work..... and I just listened to this for the first time in 40 years (I was 16 when I bought the album). I closed my eyes and listened to the whole thing. Unexpectedly, here I am a grown man - and tears are streaming down my face. This song took me right back to the place where I was a hopeful young man, not close to being aware of what life can do to you. I've forgotten what it was like to have hope and wonder about what life would bring. Here, now, I suddenly remember who I was then, and that I once believed there was more to life than sitting behind a monitor, earning enough to pay the bills. No more sense of wonder or hope. Now, today though - it was wonderful getting those thoughts back in my head, if even for a fleeting moment in time. This band and the artistry they exhibit is a musical time-machine...
Totally understand this wiring music creates in your brain. Not exactly the same for me with this one since I was born in the 80s but it's still awesome.
AS ARE MANY OF ''YES'S COMPOSITIONS,...AND THEY GET EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE WHEN YOU LISTEN AND NOT JUST HEAR,...THEN AND ONLY THEN DO THE MESSAGES OF EACH BECOME CRYSTAL CLEAR.
In 1976, at the age of 12, I bought this from my friend at school for a quid. He had just got into punk and was ashamed of his prog rock albums. I went home, drank some of my Dad's beer, put my headphones on and relaxed, knowing that miracles do happen.
You know you've been listening to a lot of prog rock when 20 minute songs feel like they're 3 minutes long while actual 3 minute long songs feel like they're 30 seconds long.
And some of the new 3 minute song seem to go on forever repeating themselves, you actually consider deatroying the device that is emitting them. Take me back please.
This song was not so much written as it was composed. A true masterpiece on the order of Mozart's 40th or Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Each listen reveals a nuance previously undiscovered. Simply amazing !!!
Damn, I'd be embarrassed if I were you. This is 18 min that felt like 18 hrs. Snobs like to use words like "progressive" to make boring music sound better than it is.
As a grown man, the "Get up, get down" section onwards is so beautiful it has made me cry more than once. This song evokes such strong emotion in me. I have to cite Yes as one of the reasons I am alive today. Their uplifting music helped me out of a very dark time of my life, and I'm forever grateful.
I like this song, but it's idk...it's okay. I mean to each their own. I prefer Rush- Xanadu. That to me is a masterpiece! And I enjoy it more than this!
@@robertomurri1278 What was the point of replying to someone who was obviously speaking how the music touched them deeply with what you thought was better? And honestly as much as I love rush they don't really get as harmonically dense as this even with xanadu. Rush is a perfect gateway to prog like elements since they are able to make music sounds commercially viable while also having musical and lyrical depth. But this isn't that, the soundscapes and uses of sounds here is on another level than any rush song and it takes more to digest. We all have our own vision of what a masterpiece is so it's stupid to brag or mention what a person thinks is better in the end of the day since music is stupidly subjective. But seriously on a personal note, I'll take this song over Xanadu anyday or I'll even take Rush's Free Will over Xanadu. It's honestly not a personal favorite of mine from rush but hey, "to each their own" XD
I heard this wonderful music for the first time when I was 15. I thought then "when I was 50, I will be hearing this music with joy and happiness" . I am 55 now. Nothing has changed.
It is a spiritual experience: a gothic cathedral grows into the universe to transcend the material world and our worries - this masterpiece has therpeutic value - Christian Pella resp. Hyperion
The real hit for me is 14:12 when the minimoog kicks in....I always turn it up to 13 at that part and deafen myself (the church orgran is actual too painful to listen to at that volume) but that part 14:12 that is the best Yes has ever done, and the subsequent keyboard solo, but they have never been able to recreate the sound of this part and neither has any band covering it. Theres something Bill Bruford is doing on drums, something Squire is doing on bass, Howe is following Wakeman whose minimoog is playing fifths but its out of tune, perhaps on purpose to create a very eerie sound...they just never recreate this its always too clean when they play it live...
Imagine Black kid in late 60's early 70's South Louisiana.... And hearing Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and the "Great" Rick Wakeman for the first time and digging the "Funk" clearly evident to the future musician of my time. I get up... I get down... Much respect !
I like to picture robert fripp listening to the drums on this the year it came out, with some sort of burning effigy sacrifice behind him, rubbing his hands together, cackling madly, "Soon the one called Bruford shall be mine!"
I listened to 'Red' and some other rsndom 68 to 74 Crimson the other night, and there is a darkness to it. I could see why people are afraid of it...it is angry and chaotic at times.. No wonder people thought i was psychotic...and my friends and i would do acid and put it on. This is much nicer, but just as intense.
I find the ending of this song, from 16.30 on, just so incredibly beautiful: "on the hill we viewed the silence of the valley. Called to witness cycles only of the past. And we reach all this with movements in between the said remark. Close to the edge down by the river, Down at the end, round by the corner. Seasons will pass you by. Now that it's all over and done, called to the seed, right to the sun. Now that you find, now that you're whole. Seasons will pass you by....i get up, i get down"
16:35 but your right. It's like watching the last song in a Broadway show that touches on the themes of all the other songs in the show. I was truly awestruck seeing them live in the 70's. A mind altering experience of my perception of all other music I had heard ro that point or since.
i agree. it reminds of me the people i miss and regret not spending much time with them back then,but then reminding that we are bounded and won't forget each other ever. May be a hopeless thought but sure a bittersweet experience...
You are absolutely correct. The end of the song, the exact part you refer to, is definitely the absolute best part of the song. The very ending, with the water flowing, the birds chirping to a quiet fadeout...makes me think they were trying to convey the idea that life is a big circle, you're born a baby...you live for a short while...and (hopefully!) you die exactly as you were born, helpless and afraid. Our organic matter rises and dies and goes on to become part of the universe's primordial soup once more. We (humans and everything we see, touch and feel) rise from the stars and interstellar dust and return to them, in one continuous and harmonious circle of life. The Eternal and ever-changing stream of stuff, just like the flowing water at the end of this masterpiece.
@@stevennovakovich2525 heh, u sure dont just think of music as a sound or noise, i guess u also evaluate music as a spiritual journey or an experience that reaches down in the listener's heart and mind. At least thats what u think of songs made by Yes
I used to always listen to this in the dark growing up and to me, it just felt like there was this incredible mass or living thing or entity that approached, overhead, displayed it's wonder through the musical notes and then passed by, still overhead, the birdsong receding , leaving you there in it's wake.
This entire musical collection is an ear hole masterpiece orgasm. At 63 years old, all I can say is seasons will pass you by, I get up, I get down, I get up, I get down, I get up, I get down...
Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, et. al. were bands who kicked ass back in the day, still kick ass, and probably always will. You can't beat early prog rock! These guys had the creativity that sparked entire genres.
17:00 my favorite moment of this omnious Masterpiece, the way they ended it in such an epic way will never seize to amaze me, kinda reminds me of eclipse by pink Floyd.
The greatest song ever. I know what you're saying: "What about "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Stairway to Heaven or whatever the critics who only care about how successful a band was think the best song ever is?". But no other got this melody, emotion and earthliness. 100/10.
All those are among the greatest including this, simply revolutionary in music. A Day in The Life In the Court of the Crimson King/21st Century Schzoid Man Close To The Edge/Roundabout The Dark Side of The Moon Stairway to Heaven Bohemian Rhapsody Anarchy In UK Queen Is Dead/How Soon Is One Highway To Hell Black Hole Sun/Smell Like A Teen Spirit Paranoid Android Numb Jesus of Surburbia Other Pop Catchy Songs.
my mom passed away 2 years ago at the age of 56. she brought me to 3 yes concerts and they're one of my favorite groups. i cant listen to this without tearing up because i remember her singing it.
Sorry for your loss. Prayers for you and your family 🙏. Your mom was very cool, in my book! Wish my mom enjoyed the same music I do. She likes pop country, and I just can't let that audible cancer anywhere near my ears! It is so cool that you have those concert memories that you can cherish forever!
I am an African American who mostly listens to Jazz and Funk music, but this Masterpiece from the 1970s blew me away. First time listening to it I was hooked, first for its length, the vocals, the guitar playing, the drums, the bass and keyboards...its all there...the various mood changes...this classic Progressive Rock piece changed my opinion of Rock music forever...thanks Rico for introducing me to this MASTERPIECE ...rock on YES!!!
I can relate to that brother I too, am an Afro American and when I heard Yes for the first time it was back in the early 70s shortly after that I join the military went off to Boot Camp and while I was in Boot Camp strangely enough I heard Yes being played by my senior drill instructor. The song was close to the edge and that song got me through Boot Camp and it became planted in my head now it’s 2023 and I am a 65-year-old man and whenever I have a off day I listen to that song and it brings me back into a real world, and I will continue to live and respect the group that got me through life. My head goes off to.Yes
Me too!! My girlfriends and i saw them at Madison Square Garden ..3 African American teens.. we had a ball ! Top shelf musicians. I will never forget those good times!
@joyce sweeting yes Madison Square Garden, it's not called The Mecca for just basketball and boxing, like you and your friends, I saw Earth, Wind & Fire and Parliament/Funkadelic at MSG, two of my most magical LIVE musical events ever experience....at MSG!!!
Not right away Not right away I was 12 years old in 1974. My buddy’s older brother had been in Vietnam and saw hellacious combat in 68-69 in the Marines. By 74 he was sad and broken. All the young kids on my street in NYC loved him though. He introduced us to real Rock. Not the partridge family and the monkees. At 12 , the first two albums I ever listened to, given to me by him, were close to the edge and The Who live at Leeds. That was my introduction to rock music. To this day nothing has or could ever compare to these two albums and I was spoiled from the beginning. It’s like having miss universe as your first girlfriend. RIP Danny thank you my dear friend.
I've come to the conclusion that this just might be the most epic song ever. I mean I love Echoes by Floyd but.. I don't know this one just takes the cake for me.
Tom Soy Sauce I knew someone named, "Echo". She had a filly that was called, "Fancy". When 'Fancy' was born they lay in an arroyo with 'Fancy' between 'Echo's' legs with 'Echo' caressing her baby. A Nativity.
Kevin Hernández Supper's Ready is simply the greatest song of all times, but the greatest album of all times for me is Selling England by the Pound, by Genesis too.
An absolute Masterpiece! Saw them perform it the first time 9 days after it was released at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago.September 22nd 1972 My first YES show and I became a Yesaholic.The geatest most talented band I ever saw. They were in a completely different zone. Anyone that saw the "Classic" lineup in the 70s knows they were otherworldly!
@@Magnetron33 hay gente que arranco con yes desde fragile... otros desde drama y otros con 90125.... no pueden opimar lo mismo. tiene diferentes miradas ... yo arranco desde1969 y entiendo los fanatismos asincronicos temporales de cada epoca. mi mirada es atemporal.veo a Yes como un todo necesario ...de principio a fin si lo hubiere .valoro todas las etapas ...y como las he visto a todas las comparo y me quedo con la mas progresiva desde 1969 a 1977...tormato es olvidable..es penoso que Yes hoy sea una banda tributo del propio yes....y ya tocando casi en forma mediocre y nada nuevo de compsicion....mas bien es la descomposición de yes...pero.. peor es nada-
smoked a big ass joint with my dad, got high, he said: "now it's time for you to listen to Close to the Edge". My soul left my body once that first "aaah" was sung and returned only by the end of the album. One of my most precious memories
I was a knucklehead freshman in college who liked music but didn't really have any ...depth. A friend introduced me to YES and it became the beginning of a lifelong intimate relationship and appreciation of artistry and the power of music.
I know what you mean. I was in your age group then -- in high school. I was listening to classical music, really all sorts of music. I could tell the prog rock artists, like YES, listened to and studied classical music. I loved Gentle Giant a lot, and I liked YES next in line.
@WindowsNDoors While I completely agree that Yes is excellent in every way, there is also a lot of excellent rap and pop. I recommend listening to Liquid Swords by GZA and Bonito Generation by Kero Kero Bonito. It's ok to love prog rock, but saying that other music is bad just because you don't enjoy the surface level songs you've heard in that genre is a lacking argument. Explore all music, dig deeper into your dislikes and you may find something you love.
Seasons have passed me by. Now that I find now that I'm whole! I'm down at this moment in time. Which means that the only way forward is up. Onward through the night!
@patthewoodboy Then what does this mean, "A seasond witch can call you from your disgrace and rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace and achieve it all with music that came quickly from above then taste the fruit of man recording losing all against the hour. An assassin points to nowhere leading every single one a dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun. Thease are the opening lines to close to the Edge. What does it mean?
God this is simply brilliant, an auditory orgasm! It's not for everyone, but if you "get it" it's a climax in musical history. In a band comprised of absolute consummate professionals Chris Squire is a standout. This entire album is a Bassgasm to me.
I thank god for giving me life in a time that I can listen and enjoy the voice of jon Anderson and the majestic music of yes, it is a great time in history, a great time to be alive
I'd never heard of yes until 1995 I was 15 at the time. I'm so glad my friends father played this album endlessly in the car on the way to school and back. I loved the way the songs seemed to tell a story. I got hooked. I've got kids of my own now and my 16 year old son absolutely loves yes. I'm so happy that their music has been passed down to another generation.
First time I listened to this album I thought 'How it's posible a human beings can make a celestial music like this?' ...-I get up I get down-...I remember singing it while walking along the streets with jean jackets, long hair,..those 70s years. Really we lived and enjoyed during the best music was made ever 😊❤
Just the fact that Green Day is being inducted into the hall of fame before YES shows just where their priorities are at. Bands like Yes are unsurpassable and this song proves it. You don't just snub this band or any of the other ancient greats and not expect to lose credibility. Period.
Maria Evans Yup Green Day's entire catalog of songs does not even equate to a single verse of a Yes song. Still, I am not surprised by how senseless people are when it comes to media induction of rock n roll hall of fame. Fame is not what these guys wanted anyway.
+texshelters chris and steve were voted best bass and guitar in the 70s in guitar mags and music papers. other musicians voted them the best. steve won it 5 years in a row (guitar player mag)
+texshelters Yes in general and Squire in particular get so little love for their monumental accomplishments. It's a pity, but we know better. The rarified air is more pure because so few appreciate it. It is like a sweet aroma in the midst of a sewer.
yyz i prefer it that way. yes are more than just a band. their music is spiritual, intelligent and it rocks! i hope the rock and roll hall of fame stay the hell away!
I enjoy jamming to this on my organ alongside Rick. If you enjoy jamming, look no further: *Intro* 0:00 Jam session (D minor) 1:42 Exposition of main theme (D major) *Exposition* 2:39 First subject (A dorian) 3:38 Second subject (C major) 4:48 First subject again (A dorian) 5:58 Second subject again (D major) *Development* 6:46 Development of main theme (C major) 7:13 Interlude - development of second subject (E major) (church organ section is missing, probably due to copyright) 10:56 Development of main theme (F# major) 11:35 Hammond solo - Development of first subject (A dorian) *Recapitulation* 12:38 Reprise of first subject (A dorian) 13:18 Reprise of second subject (F major)
My first Cd was Album , all time fav ! I , now 55 , am hearing this for the first time ! WOW , YES has a place in my soul in the form of awesome music from the moment I heard Album forward ! Have a blessed day!
Here's a fun fact about the beginning of CTE (at the 1:14 mark where Steve starts his solo): Rick Wakeman is playing the exact same riff as is Chris Squire, except twice as fast. It's that tinkly sound in the background. If you slow the track down you can hear it. At the 2:00 mark, Steve also plays the riff. It's based out of the D Harmonic Minor scale. When I first heard it at age 14 back in the 70's, it just sounded like noise to me, but the coolest noise I had ever heard!!!!! I've been playing guitar since the 70's and, although many great bands and amazing guitarists have come on the scene since then, none of them touch me like Yes still does. It will be a long time, if ever, that a band like Yes appears to give us hope of greater, more transcendent realities.
+babarishka I don't have any musical knowledge or skills, but I do agree that the first 3 minutes took many listens...maybe even a couple years...to get used to. Then I started hearing structure. These days, I could almost hum it if my vocal chords allowed it. I whistle the "main theme" first heard at 2:58 all the time.
***** Supposedly, per Rick, the oscillators were not quite perfected at that time, so occasionally they would start going out of tune, even during a show. That must've kept things interesting!!!!
This album was a Christmas present from my older sister. I was thirteen and at sixty two still love it. Love who you love. Live how you live. Great album.
I was having a terrible morning today but then I decided to listen to this on a whim and it’s like it’s given me infinite strength to take on anything that might come my way. This is truly one of the most spectacular and life-affirming pieces of music ever composed. It has such an uncanny ability to fill me with some of the most powerful feelings of joy and ecstasy that one can possibly experience. I can’t thank Yes enough for blessing us with their art...
My wife and I were in a sleepy hotel bar with two other people and we selected this tune on a 1000 tune computer juke. We watched as the bartender pushed a button behind the bar and cancelled it. We left our cheap over priced wine and walked out...
Every time I play this album I cry my eyes out. Its was my father's favorite band and he is no longer here with me. I would do anything just to sit back with my dad and listen to this with him just one more time.
I’m crying right now. Bless you and your Dad. It was my Dad’s favorite band as well, he just passed away and I came here looking for his favorite songs to play at his wake. I, too, would do anything to listen to this with him again. ♥️
The 70's wasn't just disco my man, early prog rock from the 60's and 70's slaps ass and mows grass. It kills to pay bills. What other idiotic metaphors can I make? I mean, what sounds like ye olde tonewheel organ (Hammond B3 maybe?) as well as a pipe organ later in, and an electric sitar in a Rock song? Other bands did it too, but Yes did it at the same time, plus more. The bassist is absolutely killing it and the drummer is riding that cymbal like nothing else. Don't find stuff like this very often, especially not today, unfortunately.
@@100percentSNAFU True, I've heard of that. That's why I'm reluctant to call Tull Prog rock, obviously if they're parodying it, they don't quite feel to be part of the movement.
My mom wanted to know why I had a Sony cassette deck and Fisher 8" 2 way bookshelf speakers in my 67 VW bus. "Because I listen to pipe organ music, mom" Gosh the seventies were fun.
Yes the 1970s were fun,IMO the 70s were far more fun than the 60s,better music,better bands,heavy metal upped the rock game,stereo equipment became high wattages over 200 wpc,best of all was the cops weren't the same brutal dicks who beat the shit outta everybody in the 60s,and they weren't the paramilitary groups they became in the 80s when crack hit the scene,i can remember dozens pf times cops let me go even after finding a plethora of drugs on me,cops would make us dump our dope on the ground & grind it in with our boots,or make us dump out multiple.cases of beer at roadside,i had cops drive my car home while their partner drove me home because i was too f-ed up to drive,one time i pulled to a stop light on my motorcycle & when i stopped i forgot to put my feet down,the bike fell on me & while this is going on a cop car was sitting in the parking lot looking directly at me shaking their heads,i had a bottle of vodka in my jacket to top things off,the cops saw from my license i was a few blocks from home & took pity on me,one cop rode my bike which was amazing because very few riders know how to ride bikes with foot clutch & jockey shift,they helped me into my house & told me to stay home,nowdays if cops catch you drunk your into the system a minimum of $10 grand.
Listening to this music is a spiritual experience: when the synthesizer/organ sounds, a cathedral grows into the universe to transcend the material world and our worries - this masterpiece has therapeutic value - Christian Pella resp. Hyperion
Austin C Yeah,,,I was gonna explain to him that i felt the same about all songs by Frank Sinatra as a kid,,,then I heard this,,,,,and thousands of other songs
Truly sorry for your loss, Alex....May the good Lord comfort you and bring you peace...to you and your family. Hold on the to the memories....hang in there, bud.
Yep. Close to the Edge was the last album to feature Bill Bruford. Fragile was the first of that two album lineup and the first to feature Rick Wakeman(second to feature Steve Howe).
Bloody hell. I've been listening to this song since the day it was released, and just listened to it again right now. It never, never, never gets old. Divinely inspired. A towering, immortal achievement.
I'm trying to find words to express how perfect every minute detail of this song is, but words cannot describe it... But I will tell one thing: the way how they lay out every theme and then bring each and every one of them to such an orgasmic conclusion is pure, pure genius. By far the song, album, and band that have influenced and tought me the most. (actually, no that far, cause King Crimson - the dark side to the bright Yes - comes in a close second place hahaha)
I'm 62 yrs old. Been a Yes fan since high school. Have seen them in concert a few times. This whole album is a symphony. A concerto. A Classical masterpiece. Not just "classic rock". But "classical" in the sense that it's right up there alongside anything by Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Handel, Tchaikovsky, etc. etc. It should be remembered in history as equal to any orchestral composition of the last 400 years. It is THAT GREAT!!!
I saw Yes in 74. Chris Squier kicks but on bass. I had to get a Rickenbacker bass with Rotosound strings to get that sound. I had a band that did some Yes. We did Siberian Katru, and an old song, Time and A Word, from an album of the same name. When we finished the Yes stuff a few people gave a yawning clap. But when we did You make me want to shout(the song is 2 cords a C and an A minor) everybody was clapping and dancing. Well you can't dance to Yes, but it is an acquired taste. What is Close to Edge about? DON'T GET ME WRONG THE LIRICS SOUND GREAT. "A seasoned witch can call you from the depths of your disgrace, and rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace? Sounds like acid to me. The whole song sounds like an aside trip!
@lesyankee6129 I agree but what the heck is the song Close to The Edge all about? I have it memorized and the lyrics sound so cool to the music. It opens"A seasond witch can 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 above then taste the fruit of man recording losing all against the hour, an assassin points to nowhere leading every single one, a dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun?... And it goes on.....I get up, I get down Now that's all over and done, go to the seed right to the sun, now that you find now that your whole, seasons will pass you by, I get up I get down....... Sounds like an acid trip!
Omg what wonderful interesting music, it takes me back almost 50 years to a better time in music and in the world! Yes are among my top 4 rock idols! I can’t explain to you, or myself, what this song/music meant to a 16yr old (gay)dude in 1977.
they were studio shamans on this disc. they wrote this stuff one little section at a time. bruford HATED that methodology and fled to more organic King crimson. But it worked, even if they methodology is painful. still stunning all these years later. I ate lunch every day ( i was not in the woods puffing, reading tolkien and playing guitar) under a mural done by long gone hippies at my high school of the inner sleeve of CttE. this music is home to me.
Look up Jamal's reaction video to this song. By the end the man is almost in tears. He says straight-up that as of that moment in his life, this was the greatest song he has ever heard. Bonus - you also get to hear Close to the Edge again, because other than one moment, he doesn't dream of interrupting.
Listen close at 15:18 and 15:48, and you can hear someone in the background letting out a “WOOOO!!” during Rick Wakeman’s epic organ solo. Whoever that is, he speaks for all of us!
That's Bill Bruford. He's famous for screaming WOOO in songs he played in. There's even an entire compilation of his screams: ruclips.net/video/0YYUT2UpxUk/видео.html
Here's how old I am -- I saw YES for the first time in concert in the mid-70s, and the warmup band was a previously unknown quantity...called "The Eagles"...
This album is a masterpiece and reminds me of very special times. I saw them back in 1976 at RFK stadium in Philadelphia (along with Peter Framptom). Joy then and still to listen to them now.
Yes its incredible. The "I get up, I get down" gradually lowers in volume. Then, on Seasons of Man, the organ and guitar create a polytonal effect by been played in different keys. Do you realize what a dangerous game you are playing here! But when you are that good it sounds stunning.
May I ask just how many of you actually sat through it and felt it rather than just hearing it? this is more than simple mastery. This is something woven in the endless voids of space and time. A true force to reckoned with i dare say might not even be enough to really express what this song means to myself and countless others out there. And the musical world has declined in vulgar and smut nothing more ( POP i mean) children need to hear more meaningful music than what is being paraded around now. Fuck green day, no hall of fame is needed for those who live forever in the minds of the worthy
the smut is there for a reason. no censorship, and that's a very good thing. we have great acts like Zappa and Twisted Sister to thank for that. The PMRC is worse than any pop song.
+Kieran Wisdom Indeed. Jon Anderson said that the concept of the song was structured around Hesse's novel Siddhartha, and having read the novel, I get the distinct impression that the music mirrors the character's journey toward enlightenment; with the final crescendo around the 17 minute mark symbolizing the penultimate moment of realization. Every time I hear it, I get a surge of energy that rushes up my spine into the top of my head, and raises the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck.
Creativity will always touch strings, to each his own. YES clearly makes a statement and craeates a perspective for what ever. Maybe the future. It will always be guessing. That’s the beauty of it. Dare to challenge and be humble in your awakement of unknowing. You are like I am, insecure, fragile, looking for kindness and peace. The world was made to be challenging by who ever knows. Suffer, bear your cross wearthy, don’t expact, it will come with disapointepments.
The thing about Bill Bruford is that he DOES keep hold of the band on every track...yet - simultaneously - plays to an entirely different song in his own head. Unbelievable...
usmcfutball that reminds me of an old Neal Peart joke from the 2010 time machine your when he had to wear big headphones while playing because of an ear infection, the joke being that he was "playing along with rush while listening to Porcupine Tree
A real warm spot for this. Saw them perform it 9 days after the release. Changed the way I hear music for the rest of my life. Nobody took progressive to a higher level. People can talk about other bands and there are many greats, but these guys had more virtuosic talent than anybody. Nobody else except highly developed fusion artists had the ability to physically do this stuff. There are great bands and then there was YES
This is a great example of what music really is.this song takes you to another realm....im 66 years old now , and it still takes me to a special place. ,
One of the overlooked facts about this track is Steve Howe is using the Coral Sitar as a rhythm instrument for the first time, no one had ever tried it!
What is it exactly that makes this piece so overwhelmingly amazing? Is it the powerful and memorable themes and motives? The masterful execution of the form? The creative and daring development of the themes and motives? The fluid, skillful transitions from one section to the next? The virtuosic, inspired individual performances? The evocative soundscape? All of the above? THAT'S IT!!! The answer is 'all of the above', and there's a lot of 'all of the above' in this piece. A LOT! Formally, this piece is lacking nothing that you would normally find it most symphonies. There's introductory material (not necessarily directly related to the main themes in this case), a main theme that is revisited several times in the piece and presented in starkly contrasting ways, unexpected twists and turns in the form, extensive development of a relatively short motive ("I get up, I get down"), smooth transitional material, a spectacular coda, I mean there's a reason why this is universally touted as one of the very best moments of their career and of progressive rock as a whole. As an aside, I'd like to point out that the way they present the form of the piece (i.e. I. Solid Time II. Total Mass III. Get Up, Get Down IV. Seasons) is actually quite misleading and isn't necessarily reflective of the true form. Maybe this is an overblown analysis, but Progressive Rock is overblown, and so is Classical music, and I guess what I wanted to say is that there is a lot of intricacy behind what makes this piece so special. I could easily write a lengthy essay on the genius of this piece, but I think I'll just leave it at that. It's enough to simply say "Damn, this was and still is something really special!"
When something is truly special it's pretty much gonna stay as such, wouldn't you say ? Anyhow, beautiful commentary, hats off. This stuff's as good as it gets.
Dude theres still good music! Its just that you only look at the surface in today's music, besides how fair is it to compare any othee music to close to the edge? Remember that a number one only happens once
I am a high school student and my teacher recommended me this record, and the first time I listened to this I was blown away in silence. Jon Andersons vocals are on another level thank you Mr. M for telling me about this masterpiece that I will play for the rest of my life
My Grandma saw this band in concert. She also saw Led Zeppelin. She also has a very jealous grandson.
What a sweet comment about your grandma. If she's like me, she's trying to see as many of the old bands as she can while they are still touring. You should go with.
They are still touring, although not with the original singer. They still sounded amazing though, glad I got to see them once before they stopped altogether
my grandma saw yes when no wouldnt work on her neighbor....she said it was the scariest most painfull feeling in the world...she was only a kid..
My mom saw Pink Floyd, Yes, ELP, White Riot, Parliament, Rush (about 20 times), Jethro Tull, etc, and you're jealous.
damn... I wish I could see Zeppelins... dammit. /:
I'm 64 and have seen them in concert and they played this whole album in the. Concert and when they finished nobody wanted to leave !
I definitely understand!
Tales of topographic oceans they overheated the electrical system in st louis kiel auditorium the head electrician was shitting shutting crap down like a mad man waited 1 hr for show to restart they just killed it! What a time
I as welĺ
Saw Yes, ELP and Chic Corea (sorry spell check). 70s were a great time for this music.
We simply sat in awe.
I'm sitting here at home in my office, took a break from programming work..... and I just listened to this for the first time in 40 years (I was 16 when I bought the album). I closed my eyes and listened to the whole thing. Unexpectedly, here I am a grown man - and tears are streaming down my face. This song took me right back to the place where I was a hopeful young man, not close to being aware of what life can do to you. I've forgotten what it was like to have hope and wonder about what life would bring. Here, now, I suddenly remember who I was then, and that I once believed there was more to life than sitting behind a monitor, earning enough to pay the bills. No more sense of wonder or hope. Now, today though - it was wonderful getting those thoughts back in my head, if even for a fleeting moment in time. This band and the artistry they exhibit is a musical time-machine...
WOW!
A great piece of writing about your life. There is much more to life than sitting looking at a computer .
And it's still out there .
I'm glad I'm not the only one.
Totally understand this wiring music creates in your brain. Not exactly the same for me with this one since I was born in the 80s but it's still awesome.
💚💚💚
This is like watching a full movie with your ears...
Best description of this song I have heard yet...
i close my eyes and my mind jus starts making images on its own
its a beautiful song
Dude, imagine a full movie about an epic journey with this being the soundtrack? That would be awesome.
@@toshiba_g Just as long as ELP's Hoedown is also used for a good montage scene
I totally agree!
This is one of the most incredible songs I've ever heard.
Yeah!
AS ARE MANY OF ''YES'S COMPOSITIONS,...AND THEY GET EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE WHEN YOU LISTEN AND NOT JUST HEAR,...THEN AND ONLY THEN DO THE MESSAGES OF EACH BECOME CRYSTAL CLEAR.
I listen to this once a week to keep myself sane in this crazy world. We're all lucky to live in a time when so much music is readily accessible.
well said!
but not so lucky to live in a world where you need to listen to music to keep yourself sane?
Every Day for me along with my morning coffee. It makes me happy.
In 1976, at the age of 12, I bought this from my friend at school for a quid. He had just got into punk and was ashamed of his prog rock albums. I went home, drank some of my Dad's beer, put my headphones on and relaxed, knowing that miracles do happen.
Nice.
Pink rockers are too uptight, they don’t know how to have fun and just chill
Owner of a Lonely Heart (Level 1)
Roundabout (Level 10)
Close to the Edge (Level 100)
Amogus IRL: 100000
@@ladder3257 :|
@@teedeeproductions joke moment
Roundabout is a masterpiece. I'd put it on the same level as CTTE
Damn - I was going to say that. Although I would be happy with level 120!
You know you've been listening to a lot of prog rock when 20 minute songs feel like they're 3 minutes long while actual 3 minute long songs feel like they're 30 seconds long.
And some of the new 3 minute song seem to go on forever repeating themselves, you actually consider deatroying the device that is emitting them. Take me back please.
Exactly, was about to say the same thing.
6
I feel like I’m 900 years old
I always feel like I’m 900 years old though
This song was not so much written as it was composed. A true masterpiece on the order of Mozart's 40th or Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Each listen reveals a nuance previously undiscovered. Simply amazing !!!
It is a symphony in 18 minutes & incredible.
Second you
But the organ is J S Bach.
I listened to this today looking at an autographed photo of Stravinsky
Powerful music!
I'm proud of myself for discovering this song on my own
🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱Albania number one best country🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱
You should be. Wonderous stories is another one you should look up. You can also take credit for that one. Your welcome afterwards!
Damn, I'd be embarrassed if I were you. This is 18 min that felt like 18 hrs. Snobs like to use words like "progressive" to make boring music sound better than it is.
@@two_thongs_dont_make_a_kite your opinion: incel soyjak
my opinion: gigachad
@@two_thongs_dont_make_a_kiteHow the hell is this boring to you? Well I guess you can't really dance to it or something, how did you even end up here?
Bruford's cymbal playing is unbelievable on this and he has the best snare drum sound ever.
As a grown man, the "Get up, get down" section onwards is so beautiful it has made me cry more than once. This song evokes such strong emotion in me. I have to cite Yes as one of the reasons I am alive today. Their uplifting music helped me out of a very dark time of my life, and I'm forever grateful.
I like this song, but it's idk...it's okay. I mean to each their own. I prefer Rush- Xanadu. That to me is a masterpiece! And I enjoy it more than this!
@@robertomurri1278 What was the point of replying to someone who was obviously speaking how the music touched them deeply with what you thought was better? And honestly as much as I love rush they don't really get as harmonically dense as this even with xanadu. Rush is a perfect gateway to prog like elements since they are able to make music sounds commercially viable while also having musical and lyrical depth. But this isn't that, the soundscapes and uses of sounds here is on another level than any rush song and it takes more to digest. We all have our own vision of what a masterpiece is so it's stupid to brag or mention what a person thinks is better in the end of the day since music is stupidly subjective.
But seriously on a personal note, I'll take this song over Xanadu anyday or I'll even take Rush's Free Will over Xanadu. It's honestly not a personal favorite of mine from rush but hey, "to each their own" XD
This song is a symphony and that part is the largo or adagio that's part of most symphonies.
Even though all these decades have gone by, the part still sends shivers up my spine every time I hear it.
sgtpepper6379, I’m glad you found this song man. Stay strong!
I heard this wonderful music for the first time when I was 15. I thought then "when I was 50, I will be hearing this music with joy and happiness" . I am 55 now. Nothing has changed.
When the church organ hits, that's like a spiritual experience. It never fails to knock me back on my heels.
It is a spiritual experience: a gothic cathedral grows into the universe to transcend the material world and our worries - this masterpiece has therpeutic value - Christian Pella resp. Hyperion
The real hit for me is 14:12 when the minimoog kicks in....I always turn it up to 13 at that part and deafen myself (the church orgran is actual too painful to listen to at that volume) but that part 14:12 that is the best Yes has ever done, and the subsequent keyboard solo, but they have never been able to recreate the sound of this part and neither has any band covering it. Theres something Bill Bruford is doing on drums, something Squire is doing on bass, Howe is following Wakeman whose minimoog is playing fifths but its out of tune, perhaps on purpose to create a very eerie sound...they just never recreate this its always too clean when they play it live...
@@trefwoordpunk2225 you sir, are a low end connoisseur
Fun fact the church organ was played in an actual church. You can't fake those acoustics.
@@trefwoordpunk2225 for me I think it starts around the 13:55. I imagine a spaceship about to be sucked into a black hole in space.
Imagine Black kid in late 60's early 70's South Louisiana....
And hearing Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and the "Great" Rick Wakeman for the first time and digging the "Funk" clearly evident to the future musician of my time.
I get up...
I get down...
Much respect !
Music transcends what color you claim.....seasons will past you by no matter ....
And you and I ......
… and Steve Howe and Bill Bruford. Couldn’t be better. Brilliant musicianship.
I like to picture robert fripp listening to the drums on this the year it came out, with some sort of burning effigy sacrifice behind him, rubbing his hands together, cackling madly, "Soon the one called Bruford shall be mine!"
best comment
probably was making way more with yes but I doubt that mattered
I listened to 'Red' and some other rsndom 68 to 74 Crimson the other night, and there is a darkness to it.
I could see why people are afraid of it...it is angry and chaotic at times..
No wonder people thought i was psychotic...and my friends and i would do acid and put it on.
This is much nicer, but just as intense.
Actually, he couldn't because the album was out some months after Bruford joined King Crimson
brill!
I find the ending of this song, from 16.30 on, just so incredibly beautiful: "on the hill we viewed the silence of the valley. Called to witness cycles only of the past. And we reach all this with movements in between the said remark. Close to the edge down by the river, Down at the end, round by the corner. Seasons will pass you by. Now that it's all over and done, called to the seed, right to the sun. Now that you find, now that you're whole. Seasons will pass you by....i get up, i get down"
16:35 but your right. It's like watching the last song in a Broadway show that touches on the themes of all the other songs in the show. I was truly awestruck seeing them live in the 70's. A mind altering experience of my perception of all other music I had heard ro that point or since.
i agree. it reminds of me the people i miss and regret not spending much time with them back then,but then reminding that we are bounded and won't forget each other ever. May be a hopeless thought but sure a bittersweet experience...
You are absolutely correct. The end of the song, the exact part you refer to, is definitely the absolute best part of the song. The very ending, with the water flowing, the birds chirping to a quiet fadeout...makes me think they were trying to convey the idea that life is a big circle, you're born a baby...you live for a short while...and (hopefully!) you die exactly as you were born, helpless and afraid. Our organic matter rises and dies and goes on to become part of the universe's primordial soup once more. We (humans and everything we see, touch and feel) rise from the stars and interstellar dust and return to them, in one continuous and harmonious circle of life. The Eternal and ever-changing stream of stuff, just like the flowing water at the end of this masterpiece.
@@stevennovakovich2525 heh, u sure dont just think of music as a sound or noise, i guess u also evaluate music as a spiritual journey or an experience that reaches down in the listener's heart and mind. At least thats what u think of songs made by Yes
I used to always listen to this in the dark growing up and to me, it just felt like there was this incredible mass or living thing or entity that approached, overhead, displayed it's wonder through the musical notes and then passed by, still overhead, the birdsong receding , leaving you there in it's wake.
This entire musical collection is an ear hole masterpiece orgasm. At 63 years old, all I can say is seasons will pass you by, I get up, I get down, I get up, I get down, I get up, I get down...
Couldn't of said it better myself
best comment
ear hole masterpiece orgasm
that sounds a bit dirty out of context :P lol
well said
To be clear......this is a modern classic...a class of its own.
Agreed Sir Timeless classic!!
I know this is said about a lot of songs on youtube, but this really is a strong contender for the greatest song ever written
Definitely better than Madonna.
Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, et. al. were bands who kicked ass back in the day, still kick ass, and probably always will. You can't beat early prog rock! These guys had the creativity that sparked entire genres.
@@lsswappedcessna including the incredible sub genre that is prog metal!!
@@lsswappedcessna ``+``````+++`+`
What about "Heal the World"?
My mom took me...at 13. To see them...my first of many shows to follow THANKS MOM. It mattered
Only song that can give me chills for 3 minutes straight. The "IGet up I get down" buildup is incredible.
My favorite part
17:00 my favorite moment of this omnious Masterpiece, the way they ended it in such an epic way will never seize to amaze me, kinda reminds me of eclipse by pink Floyd.
Close to the Edge parts
I. The Solid Time of Change- 0:00
II. Total Mass Retain- 6:04
III. I Get Up, I Get Down- 8:29
IV. Seasons of Man- 14:12
❤
The greatest song ever. I know what you're saying: "What about "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Stairway to Heaven or whatever the critics who only care about how successful a band was think the best song ever is?". But no other got this melody, emotion and earthliness. 100/10.
Supper's Ready gets close... well, my taste
All those are among the greatest including this, simply revolutionary in music.
A Day in The Life
In the Court of the Crimson King/21st Century Schzoid Man
Close To The Edge/Roundabout
The Dark Side of The Moon
Stairway to Heaven
Bohemian Rhapsody
Anarchy In UK
Queen Is Dead/How Soon Is
One
Highway To Hell
Black Hole Sun/Smell Like A Teen Spirit
Paranoid Android
Numb
Jesus of Surburbia
Other Pop Catchy Songs.
Stairway to heaven is a joke compare with Close to the edge
@@DoctorBGify Supper's Ready ending is the best
haha, actually you are the jokes tiny little heads. fuck you.
my mom passed away 2 years ago at the age of 56. she brought me to 3 yes concerts and they're one of my favorite groups. i cant listen to this without tearing up because i remember her singing it.
That really sucks...Yes immortalizes her❤️
Love shared all the way around. She loved you and wanted to share her love of Yes. You loved her. If you tear up, may most of them be happy tears.
Always take mom flowers!!!!
Stories like this is why I love the internet. Your Mom was a cool lady.
Sorry for your loss. Prayers for you and your family 🙏. Your mom was very cool, in my book! Wish my mom enjoyed the same music I do. She likes pop country, and I just can't let that audible cancer anywhere near my ears! It is so cool that you have those concert memories that you can cherish forever!
I am an African American who mostly listens to Jazz and Funk music, but this Masterpiece from the 1970s blew me away. First time listening to it I was hooked, first for its length, the vocals, the guitar playing, the drums, the bass and keyboards...its all there...the various mood changes...this classic Progressive Rock piece changed my opinion of Rock music forever...thanks Rico for introducing me to this MASTERPIECE ...rock on YES!!!
That's one of the best things about yes - they can _actually play their instruments_ !
I can relate to that brother I too, am an Afro American and when I heard Yes for the first time it was back in the early 70s shortly after that I join the military went off to Boot Camp and while I was in Boot Camp strangely enough I heard Yes being played by my senior drill instructor. The song was close to the edge and that song got me through Boot Camp and it became planted in my head now it’s 2023 and I am a 65-year-old man and whenever I have a off day I listen to that song and it brings me back into a real world, and I will continue to live and respect the group that got me through life. My head goes off to.Yes
Me too!! My girlfriends and i saw them at Madison Square Garden ..3 African American teens.. we had a ball ! Top shelf musicians. I will never forget those good times!
@joyce sweeting yes Madison Square Garden, it's not called The Mecca for just basketball and boxing, like you and your friends, I saw Earth, Wind & Fire and Parliament/Funkadelic at MSG, two of my most magical LIVE musical events ever experience....at MSG!!!
That's why you gotta listen to music without giving a damn what the people look like
Not right away Not right away
I was 12 years old in 1974. My buddy’s older brother had been in Vietnam and saw hellacious combat in 68-69 in the Marines.
By 74 he was sad and broken. All the young kids on my street in NYC loved him though. He introduced us to real Rock. Not the partridge family and the monkees.
At 12 , the first two albums I ever listened to, given to me by him, were close to the edge and The Who live at Leeds. That was my introduction to rock music. To this day nothing has or could ever compare to these two albums and I was spoiled from the beginning. It’s like having miss universe as your first girlfriend.
RIP Danny thank you my dear friend.
❤
I've come to the conclusion that this just might be the most epic song ever. I mean I love Echoes by Floyd but.. I don't know this one just takes the cake for me.
Tom Soy Sauce I knew someone named, "Echo". She had a filly that was called, "Fancy". When 'Fancy' was born they lay in an arroyo with 'Fancy' between 'Echo's' legs with 'Echo' caressing her baby. A Nativity.
Is extremely good indeed, amazing, sublime, but...
How about Supper's Ready by Genesis?
Kevin Hernández I feel "Supper's Ready" only gets epic once it nears the end. This song, however, is epic from start to finish.
Kevin Hernández Supper's Ready is simply the greatest song of all times, but the greatest album of all times for me is Selling England by the Pound, by Genesis too.
Kevin Hernández Not enough.
this whole album is a work of art
Agreed! I was on to this one from the start.
A Masterwork.
An absolute Masterpiece! Saw them perform it the first time 9 days after it was released at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago.September 22nd 1972 My first YES show and I became a Yesaholic.The geatest most talented band I ever saw. They were in a completely different zone. Anyone that saw the "Classic" lineup in the 70s knows they were otherworldly!
@@Magnetron33 hay gente que arranco con yes desde fragile... otros desde drama y otros con 90125.... no pueden opimar lo mismo. tiene diferentes miradas ... yo arranco desde1969 y entiendo los fanatismos asincronicos temporales de cada epoca. mi mirada es atemporal.veo a Yes como un todo necesario ...de principio a fin si lo hubiere .valoro todas las etapas ...y como las he visto a todas las comparo y me quedo con la mas progresiva desde 1969 a 1977...tormato es olvidable..es penoso que Yes hoy sea una banda tributo del propio yes....y ya tocando casi en forma mediocre y nada nuevo de compsicion....mas bien es la descomposición de yes...pero.. peor es nada-
art rock
yes!
smoked a big ass joint with my dad, got high, he said: "now it's time for you to listen to Close to the Edge".
My soul left my body once that first "aaah" was sung and returned only by the end of the album. One of my most precious memories
That...was a journey.
"All in all the journey takes you all the way."
I'm addicted
Have been since I saw them in 72 and 73 and the 5 time since!
Saw those 70s shows myself. Still have ticket stubs.
Would you say it was... A Venture?
a song.. a universe..
Spetacular!!!
a lemon
I was a knucklehead freshman in college who liked music but didn't really have any ...depth. A friend introduced me to YES and it became the beginning of a lifelong intimate relationship and appreciation of artistry and the power of music.
what did you listen to before being introduced to YES?
@@a.c.7573 Zepplin, Allman Brothers, Fletwood Mac, Elton John, Billy Joel, etc. I just enjoyed music on a surface level.
Same. Regrettably I listened to a lot of shitty pop and rap music back then. YES introduced me to actually good music.
I know what you mean. I was in your age group then -- in high school. I was listening to classical music, really all sorts of music. I could tell the prog rock artists, like YES, listened to and studied classical music. I loved Gentle Giant a lot, and I liked YES next in line.
@WindowsNDoors
While I completely agree that Yes is excellent in every way, there is also a lot of excellent rap and pop.
I recommend listening to Liquid Swords by GZA and Bonito Generation by Kero Kero Bonito.
It's ok to love prog rock, but saying that other music is bad just because you don't enjoy the surface level songs you've heard in that genre is a lacking argument.
Explore all music, dig deeper into your dislikes and you may find something you love.
"seasons will pass you by" this was written for young people for when they get old
me listening now
70 here ....what age do you consider 'old'?
@@deanersch1 me too
Seasons have passed me by. Now that I find now that I'm whole! I'm down at this moment in time. Which means that the only way forward is up. Onward through the night!
@patthewoodboy Then what does this mean, "A seasond witch can call you from your disgrace and rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace and achieve it all with music that came quickly from above then taste the fruit of man recording losing all against the hour. An assassin points to nowhere leading every single one a dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun. Thease are the opening lines to close to the Edge. What does it mean?
God this is simply brilliant, an auditory orgasm! It's not for everyone, but if you "get it" it's a climax in musical history. In a band comprised of absolute consummate professionals Chris Squire is a standout. This entire album is a Bassgasm to me.
masterpiece of the highest order
I thank god for giving me life in a time that I can listen and enjoy the voice of jon Anderson and the majestic music of yes, it is a great time in history, a great time to be alive
I'd never heard of yes until 1995 I was 15 at the time. I'm so glad my friends father played this album endlessly in the car on the way to school and back. I loved the way the songs seemed to tell a story. I got hooked. I've got kids of my own now and my 16 year old son absolutely loves yes. I'm so happy that their music has been passed down to another generation.
2021.....bet ya feel dumb rn
אני לא הספקתי לחיות את יס... רק כרגע מגלה את הלהקה המדהימה הזאת
@@joelniv24 יותר טוב מאוחר מאשר לעולם לא.
That’s God with a capital G
First time I listened to this album I thought 'How it's posible a human beings can make a celestial music like this?' ...-I get up I get down-...I remember singing it while walking along the streets with jean jackets, long hair,..those 70s years. Really we lived and enjoyed during the best music was made ever 😊❤
Just the fact that Green Day is being inducted into the hall of fame before YES shows just where their priorities are at. Bands like Yes are unsurpassable and this song proves it. You don't just snub this band or any of the other ancient greats and not expect to lose credibility. Period.
they should change the name to rock and roll hall of shame
ROBERT FOTI Or hall of lame
Maria Evans Yup Green Day's entire catalog of songs does not even equate to a single verse of a Yes song. Still, I am not surprised by how senseless people are when it comes to media induction of rock n roll hall of fame. Fame is not what these guys wanted anyway.
Maria Evans Green Day before YES??? That is absolutely insane! Green Day is not even close to being on the same page as Yes. Not even close....
Mark Williams I never liked Green Day.
the bass work on this is unbelievable
to all the people who talk shit on using a pick with bass, two words: Chris Squire.
14:12 someone explain me this bass line pls!!!!
You just described every Chris Squire bass line ever..
@@estudiosfolkloreiberoamericano just F# to C#
@@gfunkk Justin Chancellor is another epic bass player that uses a pick
The bass playing in this song amazes me, Chris Squire immortalized himself here.
+megamaster117 Ask Mojo doesn't have Squire in the top ten rock bassists nor honorable mention, the fools. But they have Deacon from Queen? Ha! PTS
+texshelters chris and steve were voted best bass and guitar in the 70s in guitar mags and music papers. other musicians voted them the best. steve won it 5 years in a row (guitar player mag)
+texshelters Yes in general and Squire in particular get so little love for their monumental accomplishments. It's a pity, but we know better. The rarified air is more pure because so few appreciate it. It is like a sweet aroma in the midst of a sewer.
yyz
i prefer it that way. yes are more than just a band. their music is spiritual, intelligent and it rocks! i hope the rock and roll hall of fame stay the hell away!
+methad 1 Yeah it's kinda like a Nobel Peace Prize, meaningless because they'll bestow it on anyone.
I enjoy jamming to this on my organ alongside Rick. If you enjoy jamming, look no further:
*Intro*
0:00 Jam session (D minor)
1:42 Exposition of main theme (D major)
*Exposition*
2:39 First subject (A dorian)
3:38 Second subject (C major)
4:48 First subject again (A dorian)
5:58 Second subject again (D major)
*Development*
6:46 Development of main theme (C major)
7:13 Interlude - development of second subject (E major)
(church organ section is missing, probably due to copyright)
10:56 Development of main theme (F# major)
11:35 Hammond solo - Development of first subject (A dorian)
*Recapitulation*
12:38 Reprise of first subject (A dorian)
13:18 Reprise of second subject (F major)
always felt this is a mix of sonata form and song structure.
Probably the greatest prog song ever written and played.
Every single second of Close to the Edge matters.
What a great effing statement
My first Cd was Album , all time fav ! I , now 55 , am hearing this for the first time ! WOW , YES has a place in my soul in the form of awesome music from the moment I heard Album forward ! Have a blessed day!
Zakly
I don’t like the first 3 minutes or 14:14 - 14:52 personally
Because it takes time to understand this)
Here's a fun fact about the beginning of CTE (at the 1:14 mark where Steve starts his solo): Rick Wakeman is playing the exact same riff as is Chris Squire, except twice as fast. It's that tinkly sound in the background. If you slow the track down you can hear it. At the 2:00 mark, Steve also plays the riff. It's based out of the D Harmonic Minor scale.
When I first heard it at age 14 back in the 70's, it just sounded like noise to me, but the coolest noise I had ever heard!!!!! I've been playing guitar since the 70's and, although many great bands and amazing guitarists have come on the scene since then, none of them touch me like Yes still does. It will be a long time, if ever, that a band like Yes appears to give us hope of greater, more transcendent realities.
+babarishka I don't have any musical knowledge or skills, but I do agree that the first 3 minutes took many listens...maybe even a couple years...to get used to. Then I started hearing structure. These days, I could almost hum it if my vocal chords allowed it. I whistle the "main theme" first heard at 2:58 all the time.
+babarishka That rick wakeman solo is a Minimoog (Model D?) arpegiattor as well incase anyone wants to know
***** Supposedly, per Rick, the oscillators were not quite perfected at that time, so occasionally they would start going out of tune, even during a show. That must've kept things interesting!!!!
+schmittelt it is the weirdest music ever, its like an actual acid trip. steve considered himself a psychadelic guitarist in the 70s, he sure was!
schmittelt It took me awhile too. I knew I loved it but it was incomprehensible at first.
J'ai pleuré, je pleure encore, et je pleurerais sur cette architecture sonore monumentale et dévastatrice 🤠🥸
that intro is glorious. pure proggy madness. i cant get enough of this song.
seriously, dude, just crank it and loop it...
Cheers!
Tenha uma vida feliz
I STOP AFTER THAT INTRO BIT ITS TOO GOOD
@@hangedups2608 haha same here
I remember it kicking in at 1:58
I also bet Tuesday Afternoon is absolutely on your go to songs. Such a master work
This album was a Christmas present from my older sister. I was thirteen and at sixty two still love it. Love who you love. Live how you live. Great album.
What a Christmas gift!
Does it skip?
I'm 65. I think Heaven is mentioned in this song, esp at the end. Jon Anderson def believes in an afterlife and God. Has said so.
I was having a terrible morning today but then I decided to listen to this on a whim and it’s like it’s given me infinite strength to take on anything that might come my way. This is truly one of the most spectacular and life-affirming pieces of music ever composed. It has such an uncanny ability to fill me with some of the most powerful feelings of joy and ecstasy that one can possibly experience. I can’t thank Yes enough for blessing us with their art...
I was 18 years old (50 years ago) and my real spiritual awakening began at the moment I heard this song for the first time!
The I Get Up I Get Down part still brings tears to my eyes. Absolutely beautiful.
The final one is so fucking epic. Like the end of a trilogy, close to the edge down by the river
One of the songs I go to for solace when life is weighting my down to much.
It is just amazing how this song just gets better every time i listen to it.
Close to the edge = one of the greatest musical experiences.
Classic beauty
This was my 1st Yes album as a teen. I was in awe at the moment and forever thereafter.
My wife and I were in a sleepy hotel bar with two other people and we selected this tune on a 1000 tune computer juke.
We watched as the bartender pushed a button behind the bar and cancelled it.
We left our cheap over priced wine and walked out...
Michael Cane what a dick move, guess you didn’t leave him the $1.70 tip he needed to live
Perfect moment
Justice
Well it’s an 18 minute long prog rock song. Don’t get me wrong this song is a masterpiece but not necessarily bar music.
@@benw1290 I played keys in a prog band doing bars 6 nights a week. We played this one.
Every time I play this album I cry my eyes out. Its was my father's favorite band and he is no longer here with me. I would do anything just to sit back with my dad and listen to this with him just one more time.
Such special memories. Hold them in your heart. God bless.
I’m crying right now. Bless you and your Dad. It was my Dad’s favorite band as well, he just passed away and I came here looking for his favorite songs to play at his wake. I, too, would do anything to listen to this with him again. ♥️
Same here.. 😥😥
Condolences for your loss. Your father had great taste in music no doubt!
Lisa Sokoloff - every time that you listen to it your dad is listening to it with you
I'm a 2010s teenager (in my final year thereof) and the '70s has never looked (or sounded) so attractive
The 70's wasn't just disco my man, early prog rock from the 60's and 70's slaps ass and mows grass. It kills to pay bills. What other idiotic metaphors can I make? I mean, what sounds like ye olde tonewheel organ (Hammond B3 maybe?) as well as a pipe organ later in, and an electric sitar in a Rock song? Other bands did it too, but Yes did it at the same time, plus more. The bassist is absolutely killing it and the drummer is riding that cymbal like nothing else. Don't find stuff like this very often, especially not today, unfortunately.
i'm 14. yes and steely dan are my all time favorite bands.
Welcome to the esoterical world of prog rock and the greatest of who are Yes. Sit back, light a spliff and enjoy the music. Unforgettable once heard.
Saw them perform this in the mid 70's at the Boston Garden. They are truly a unforgettable band.
'Close to the edge down by the river' - a good place
Wes Moreland What if it's in a van down by the river?
YES,not right away,not right away.........greetings !
closer to the edge, 2112 & thick as a brick are some of the best music ever made. Prog forever!
I knew all that acid I took back in the seventies would payoff again. Thank You. YES.
Hands down!
I don't think the Tull are prog in the true sense of the word, they're more folk-blues with jazz and prog thrown in.
What's ironic is "Thick as a Brick" was actually meant to be a parody on prog rock, but became popular in its own right as classic prog rock.
@@100percentSNAFU True, I've heard of that. That's why I'm reluctant to call Tull Prog rock, obviously if they're parodying it, they don't quite feel to be part of the movement.
Many years have passed since it was aired and this song still retains its original strength and beauty intact. It's a really powerful song.
My mom wanted to know why I had a Sony cassette deck and Fisher 8" 2 way bookshelf speakers in my 67 VW bus. "Because I listen to pipe organ music, mom" Gosh the seventies were fun.
Yes the 1970s were fun,IMO the 70s were far more fun than the 60s,better music,better bands,heavy metal upped the rock game,stereo equipment became high wattages over 200 wpc,best of all was the cops weren't the same brutal dicks who beat the shit outta everybody in the 60s,and they weren't the paramilitary groups they became in the 80s when crack hit the scene,i can remember dozens pf times cops let me go even after finding a plethora of drugs on me,cops would make us dump our dope on the ground & grind it in with our boots,or make us dump out multiple.cases of beer at roadside,i had cops drive my car home while their partner drove me home because i was too f-ed up to drive,one time i pulled to a stop light on my motorcycle & when i stopped i forgot to put my feet down,the bike fell on me & while this is going on a cop car was sitting in the parking lot looking directly at me shaking their heads,i had a bottle of vodka in my jacket to top things off,the cops saw from my license i was a few blocks from home & took pity on me,one cop rode my bike which was amazing because very few riders know how to ride bikes with foot clutch & jockey shift,they helped me into my house & told me to stay home,nowdays if cops catch you drunk your into the system a minimum of $10 grand.
Mom's are cool.
Perhaps Yes' single greatest track, and easily one of the best songs in the history of this wonderful medium that is *music*.
Agreed
Yes
Was a revelation to me as a child, that music could be so so much more..
Yes but can we call it a Suite, rather than a track or a song.
@@andrew.hamsterdad ti
I unironically believe this is the greatest piece of music ever recorded
❗️💯❗️
3rd movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony has a lock on that, but this is second ;)
it's definitely up there, especially in the prog rock genre it's absolut tops
Progressive Rock at least.
Thick as a brick , brain salad surgery , meddle /DSOTM , the lamb does down on Broadway /selling England by the pound
But I get what you mean ;)
Listening to this music is a spiritual experience: when the synthesizer/organ sounds, a cathedral grows into the universe to transcend the material world and our worries - this masterpiece has therapeutic value - Christian Pella resp. Hyperion
Easily one of the best rock epics of all time. Nearly 18 3/4 minutes of pure majestic glory.
+DW'89Music Hmmmmm, is that the length? Never bothered to look
Ross Barn
Yes.
DW'89Music
Easily.
+DW'89Music
(no pun intended)
Austin C Yeah,,,I was gonna explain to him that i felt the same about all songs by Frank Sinatra as a kid,,,then I heard this,,,,,and thousands of other songs
My dad who loved classic rock was listening to this before he passed away on Friday
Truly sorry for your loss, Alex....May the good Lord comfort you and bring you peace...to you and your family. Hold on the to the memories....hang in there, bud.
May your father's soul be elevated and may he and your family have peace.
Sorry for your loss
@@HotRockinJohnny That's a wonderful reply. Can I add my Amen to that?
your Dad had great taste in music....may it still be playing in his head wherever he is.....RIP(Rock in Peace)
Enter RICK WAKEMAN!
Nothing against Tony Kaye or Patrick Moraz, they were great as well, but RW was the bomb!
Not the first album Rick was on though. He made his debut on Fragile which came out before this.
Mike Reiss Forgot Fragile was released first
Yep. Close to the Edge was the last album to feature Bill Bruford. Fragile was the first of that two album lineup and the first to feature Rick Wakeman(second to feature Steve Howe).
I saw BB w/King Crimson!
I did get up, and I did get down.
Bloody hell. I've been listening to this song since the day it was released, and just listened to it again right now. It never, never, never gets old. Divinely inspired. A towering, immortal achievement.
youre right should have won the Pulitzer for Music
I barely notice that the song is 18 mins, because the entire thing is cool as fuck
I think the fact that this song is so long, and yet every second of it is amazing really makes it impossible for anyone to ever get tired of it
You're definitely british
Same!
I'm trying to find words to express how perfect every minute detail of this song is, but words cannot describe it...
But I will tell one thing: the way how they lay out every theme and then bring each and every one of them to such an orgasmic conclusion is pure, pure genius.
By far the song, album, and band that have influenced and tought me the most. (actually, no that far, cause King Crimson - the dark side to the bright Yes - comes in a close second place hahaha)
I'm 62 yrs old. Been a Yes fan since high school. Have seen them in concert a few times. This whole album is a symphony. A concerto. A Classical masterpiece. Not just "classic rock". But "classical" in the sense that it's right up there alongside anything by Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Handel, Tchaikovsky, etc. etc. It should be remembered in history as equal to any orchestral composition of the last 400 years. It is THAT GREAT!!!
70 here sir.....agreed!!!
Absolutely
Agreed. Some of best musicians of prog. Wish they had set ego's aside and not been so petty in the end! On the "Silent wings of Freedom "
I saw Yes in 74. Chris Squier kicks but on bass. I had to get a Rickenbacker bass with Rotosound strings to get that sound. I had a band that did some Yes. We did Siberian Katru, and an old song, Time and A Word, from an album of the same name. When we finished the Yes stuff a few people gave a yawning clap. But when we did You make me want to shout(the song is 2 cords a C and an A minor) everybody was clapping and dancing. Well you can't dance to Yes, but it is an acquired taste. What is Close to Edge about? DON'T GET ME WRONG THE LIRICS SOUND GREAT. "A seasoned witch can call you from the depths of your disgrace, and rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace? Sounds like acid to me. The whole song sounds like an aside trip!
@lesyankee6129 I agree but what the heck is the song Close to The Edge all about? I have it memorized and the lyrics sound so cool to the music. It opens"A seasond witch can 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 above then taste the fruit of man recording losing all against the hour, an assassin points to nowhere leading every single one, a dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun?...
And it goes on.....I get up, I get down
Now that's all over and done, go to the seed right to the sun, now that you find now that your whole, seasons will pass you by, I get up I get down.......
Sounds like an acid trip!
Omg what wonderful interesting music, it takes me back almost 50 years to a better time in music and in the world! Yes are among my top 4 rock idols! I can’t explain to you, or myself, what this song/music meant to a 16yr old (gay)dude in 1977.
In my humble opinion, this is the greatest song ever recorded.
I am no religious man, but this song is a religious experience
they were studio shamans on this disc. they wrote this stuff one little section at a time. bruford HATED that methodology and fled to more organic King crimson.
But it worked, even if they methodology is painful. still stunning all these years later.
I ate lunch every day ( i was not in the woods puffing, reading tolkien and playing guitar) under a mural done by long gone hippies at my high school of the inner sleeve of CttE.
this music is home to me.
Amen
Look up Jamal's reaction video to this song. By the end the man is almost in tears. He says straight-up that as of that moment in his life, this was the greatest song he has ever heard. Bonus - you also get to hear Close to the Edge again, because other than one moment, he doesn't dream of interrupting.
Amen!
Listen close at 15:18 and 15:48, and you can hear someone in the background letting out a “WOOOO!!” during Rick Wakeman’s epic organ solo.
Whoever that is, he speaks for all of us!
I've listened to CTTE a thousand times and never noticed that before. Thank you.
That's Bill Bruford. He's famous for screaming WOOO in songs he played in. There's even an entire compilation of his screams: ruclips.net/video/0YYUT2UpxUk/видео.html
Amazing. Not only is the mystery solved, there’s even a compilation of Broof WOOO’s! Sometimes the internet can be used for good. Thank you!
@@johnbroesamle6792 No problem
@@johnbroesamle6792 Where can I see it?
Here's how old I am -- I saw YES for the first time in concert in the mid-70s, and the warmup band was a previously unknown quantity...called "The Eagles"...
This album is a masterpiece and reminds me of very special times. I saw them back in 1976 at RFK stadium in Philadelphia (along with Peter Framptom). Joy then and still to listen to them now.
I get goosebumps at the "I get up, I get down" part at the end.
Sounds like he's playing a pipe organ in a giant cathedral and I'm the only one in it
thats the point lmao
Me too. And not even only while listening, also while playing in my mind
Yes its incredible. The "I get up, I get down" gradually lowers in volume. Then, on Seasons of Man, the organ and guitar create a polytonal effect by been played in different keys. Do you realize what a dangerous game you are playing here! But when you are that good it sounds stunning.
Who wouldnt
This in my humble opinion is the magnum opus of music.
have you listened to We Spin the World by Moon Safar?
Of rock music, yes
When I listen to this ,it makes me feel like I am soaring!..especially the ending!
Magnifico
May I ask just how many of you actually sat through it and felt it rather than just hearing it? this is more than simple mastery. This is something woven in the endless voids of space and time. A true force to reckoned with i dare say might not even be enough to really express what this song means to myself and countless others out there. And the musical world has declined in vulgar and smut nothing more ( POP i mean) children need to hear more meaningful music than what is being paraded around now. Fuck green day, no hall of fame is needed for those who live forever in the minds of the worthy
the smut is there for a reason. no censorship, and that's a very good thing. we have great acts like Zappa and Twisted Sister to thank for that. The PMRC is worse than any pop song.
+Kieran Wisdom Indeed. Jon Anderson said that the concept of the song was structured around Hesse's novel Siddhartha, and having read the novel, I get the distinct impression that the music mirrors the character's journey toward enlightenment; with the final crescendo around the 17 minute mark symbolizing the penultimate moment of realization. Every time I hear it, I get a surge of energy that rushes up my spine into the top of my head, and raises the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck.
Close your eyes during wakeman's parts. Goosebumps on arms and legs. Hats off to these guys!
AD V2112 so true, it’s the atmosphere they create between what I call constructed chaos!
Creativity will always touch strings, to each his own. YES clearly makes a statement and craeates a perspective for what ever. Maybe the future. It will always be guessing. That’s the beauty of it. Dare to challenge and be humble in your awakement of unknowing. You are like I am, insecure, fragile, looking for kindness and peace. The world was made to be challenging by who ever knows. Suffer, bear your cross wearthy, don’t expact, it will come with disapointepments.
The thing about Bill Bruford is that he DOES keep hold of the band on every track...yet - simultaneously - plays to an entirely different song in his own head. Unbelievable...
Everything about this song is amazing but yeah i was gona say the same Bill Bruford what a legend.
Bruford was definitely God. Alan White, seen in 77, was pretty freak'n good too. Not just sayin that either.
I had the privilege of seeing him on Union, they did not do this song but they did And You and I, it was friggin' magical.
usmcfutball that reminds me of an old Neal Peart joke from the 2010 time machine your when he had to wear big headphones while playing because of an ear infection, the joke being that he was "playing along with rush while listening to Porcupine Tree
Bruford is the Real Keyboardist in this band, just like Keith Moon : P
Best song made in the past 100 years
I genuinely consider this to be the greatest song ever written.
I would not debate you.
Yes
Maybe
I would debate you. Handful of Rush stuff, but this is very great
I'd say King Crimson's Starless takes that title but not by much
A real warm spot for this. Saw them perform it 9 days after the release. Changed the way I hear music for the rest of my life. Nobody took progressive to a higher level. People can talk about other bands and there are many greats, but these guys had more virtuosic talent than anybody. Nobody else except highly developed fusion artists had the ability to physically do this stuff. There are great bands and then there was YES
This is a great example of what music really is.this song takes you to another realm....im 66 years old now , and it still takes me to a special place.
,
That keyboard solo still gives me goosebumps after hearing it for the 9000th time!!
Easily the best part of the song. That and the intro guitar solo.
I don't like chaotic music, which is this stuff
Imagine what it did to me, I've just listened to it for the first time! I'm discovering the world of progressive rock at the age of 42.
@@lionheartroar3104 This is not what I'd call chaotic.
@@schifoso5591 Id consider the beginning pretty chaotic and the part right before the ending.
Once you have heard this masterpiece the experience you go through stays with you forever.
Especially so after hearing it live
not really
Milo Dexter Milo Dexter the organ at 12:00....i get chills EVERY TIME...in fact...I get up...i get down....
Milo Dexter. I've been listening to this for 45 years all the time it's in my mind! Lived on a river in Michigan! Beautiful music!
David Tinoco Lolo and
The "I get up, I get down" music has to be some of the most beautiful ever written.
These aren’t just three of the greatest songs Yes ever made; these are three of the greatest progressive rock songs ever made.
RIP, Chris! Some of the best mind blowing music ever created... pure genius.
I'm a bit obsessed with this THEME, cant' pass a day without listening it. I saw them alive in Spain
One of the overlooked facts about this track is Steve Howe is using the Coral Sitar as a rhythm instrument for the first time, no one had ever tried it!
The sound of my teens, refreshes my soul, every single time.
What is it exactly that makes this piece so overwhelmingly amazing? Is it the powerful and memorable themes and motives? The masterful execution of the form? The creative and daring development of the themes and motives? The fluid, skillful transitions from one section to the next? The virtuosic, inspired individual performances? The evocative soundscape? All of the above? THAT'S IT!!! The answer is 'all of the above', and there's a lot of 'all of the above' in this piece. A LOT! Formally, this piece is lacking nothing that you would normally find it most symphonies. There's introductory material (not necessarily directly related to the main themes in this case), a main theme that is revisited several times in the piece and presented in starkly contrasting ways, unexpected twists and turns in the form, extensive development of a relatively short motive ("I get up, I get down"), smooth transitional material, a spectacular coda, I mean there's a reason why this is universally touted as one of the very best moments of their career and of progressive rock as a whole. As an aside, I'd like to point out that the way they present the form of the piece (i.e. I. Solid Time II. Total Mass III. Get Up, Get Down IV. Seasons) is actually quite misleading and isn't necessarily reflective of the true form. Maybe this is an overblown analysis, but Progressive Rock is overblown, and so is Classical music, and I guess what I wanted to say is that there is a lot of intricacy behind what makes this piece so special. I could easily write a lengthy essay on the genius of this piece, but I think I'll just leave it at that. It's enough to simply say "Damn, this was and still is something really special!"
When something is truly special it's pretty much gonna stay as such, wouldn't you say ? Anyhow, beautiful commentary, hats off. This stuff's as good as it gets.
I was a little confused by your review until I realized that by saying "motive" you mean to say "motif". Nice review, nevertheless.
"Maybe this is an overblown analysis" Heh, damn right
Good but Pink Floyd is a bit ahead
We are so advanced now today with all these gadgets and access to information...
And yet I have to go back 50 years to find good music.
More of the gadgets play tracks, not music. Fewer educated musicians are making popular music.
Lovely jubly, cushty
Yeah...humans seem to have failed in their end of the deal. But, we have the recordings. ✌️
@Jotaro Kujo "i was born in the wrong generation" -every teen regardless of decade
Dude theres still good music! Its just that you only look at the surface in today's music, besides how fair is it to compare any othee music to close to the edge? Remember that a number one only happens once
I am a high school student and my teacher recommended me this record, and the first time I listened to this I was blown away in silence. Jon Andersons vocals are on another level thank you Mr. M for telling me about this masterpiece that I will play for the rest of my life
Your teacher has awesome taste ! Try listening to heart of the sunrise too it's one of their best songs imo
Have you listened to Steely Dan's back catalogue? Maybe start from the beginning. I just thought you might like them.
This still gives me goosebumps, and I bought the album when it came out!