> > I've always liked the lyrics during "I get up, I get down" on CTTE: > > > > "In charge of who is there in charge of me? > > Do I look on blindly and say I see the way? > > > > The Truth is written all along the page. > > How old will I be before I come of age for you? > > Me too! I used to write those words on my book covers when I got bored during > class. I can relate. Time seems to slow down to a very sluggish pace during calculus.With these lovely words (the middle ones written by me, the last ones written by my now-dear friend Adam before I even knew him) I shall now begin my review. Last year in Senior English, an assignment was given to review some non-print media thing. A CD was one of the choices, so everyone should have basically assumed that I would go for one of my many beloved Yes Cds. One of the toughest things I had to decide for the assignment was which CD would I bestow upon you. I finally decided on Close to the Edge. Not only is it 38-odd minutes of musical perfection, it's also one of the few Yes albums that consistently makes Best of the 70's lists. Plus its got some kick-ass artwork, smallish on the CD but amazing in the album I got this summer in a huge store in Berkeley called Rasputin Music. For the mere price of two dollars american. Also while we're talking about the jacket artwork, I must mention the pictures. Save for Bruford and Wakeman, they all look incredibly stoned. It's like...just look at this cigarette, man. In just this cigarette, there are billions and billions of molecules! Or words to that effect. I think I'm ripping off Dave Barry here so I'd better get on with the review.
Close to the Edge, or CTTE for short, was recorded in 1972 and released on September 13, coincidentally the birthday of one of my classmates, Faith Straszheim. The version of Yes that recorded the album was Anderson, Bruford, Howe, Squire, and Wakeman. I say "version" because Yes has been a band for 30 years and they have always been incapable of recording more than two albums in a row with the exact same arangement of people. CttE has three songs, "Close to the Edge," "And You and I," and "Siberian Khatru." The first two are each divided into 4 movements, but these are not indexed on CD. I read somewhere that at this time, artists were paid by the number of titles on the album. So even though Yes only had 3 songs on the album, they still wanted to get paid. Dividing the songs into movements makes good musical as well as financial sense, though. Although the music flows well, there are clear breaks when it changes into a different musical idea. The entire album conveys a the theme of humankind trying to find their place in the world, and how
In discussing the songs, it only makes sense to start with "Close to the Edge", which at 18:50 covers an entire side of a vinyl album. Its four sections are entitled: I. The Solid Time of Change, II. Total Mass Retain, III. I Get Up I Get Down, and IV. Seasons of Man. It starts off with some birds chirping, which came from a new-age tape owned by vocalist Anderson. From there it goes into some heavy playing, and then emerges a brilliantly clear tenor singing stream-of-consciousness, mystical, thought-provoking words. This is completely typical of this whole album, and in Yes albums in the 70's in general. I would say that the lyrics in this song are about a journey, followed by a discovery. Or else it's just about edges, and being close to them. Whatever. I personally have heard this song about a million times and a lot of it is still lost on me. The 3rd section really stands out, for the music and lyrics both. The music is just this gothic churchorgan sound, and the lyrics are some of the best on any Yes album.
The next track on the album is "And You and I", again divided into 4 sections, I. Cord of Life, II. Eclipse, III. The Preacher The Teacher, and IV. Apocalypse. This tune starts out with a very neat acoustic guitar intro. You can hear the engineer saying "We're rolling" or something to that effect, followed by guitarist Howe with "Ok." There is one thing that I don't like about this song, and that is there's this part where there are two vocal lines, but you can only hear one. The only reason you know there are two is because the lyrics are printed for you in the Cd. In the live version I have from '95, you can actually hear both parts, and it really adds to the song. This song makes me feel like I am out in an open field, laying down on cool grass, and staring up at the stars. It always helps me if I can't fall asleep at night. I would recommend this as the best song on the album for someone just getting into Yes.
The final song on the CD is "Siberian Khatru." Were it a weaker song, it might be
overshadowed by the two other "epics." But it rocks and it holds its own. I used to
know what a khatru was but I forget now. It's a very wintry song, but not in the
traditionally bleak sense. The song starts off with a hip little guitar riff which I
believe I had a midi file of at one point. The lyrics are very nice in this one, too.
"green leaves reveal the heart-spoken khatru...." The fact that this third song sounds
as good as it does is one of the main reasons why many people cite CTTE as their favorite
album. There's just not a weak spot on the thing. As opposed to Relayer which (and I
say this with love) gets a bit sy at times. All in all, a great way to end the
album.
This is a little review that I found somewhere on the net, I forget where. I thought
it was funny so I reprinted it here for you.
Yes: Jon Anderson (vocals); Steve Howe (guitar, vocals); Rick Wakeman (keyboards); Chris Squire (bass, vocals); Bill Bruford (drums, percussion).All tracks have been digitally remastered.Taken as a musical whole this suite of three parts is very sound, but what does begin to jar are some of the lyrics. In the 90s, even with the hippie revival and new age travellers, lyrics such as 'my eyes convinced eclipsed with the younger moon attained with love' do make you shake your head and say out loud, 'whaaaat are they talking about'? Yes have been shabbily treated by the press over the years yet their continuing popularity is in some way a vindication of their talent. Steve Howe's guitar sounds confident, Squire's bass wanders and thunks throughout, but what makes the album so good is the highly melodic theme that runs through it.