When I was a child, English rock band Yes only meant one thing: 80s synth beats, baby! Pop music. Pure and simple. I was raised listening to the white boy bubblegum rock on the numbers album 90125, an album that I fell in love with due to Jon Anderson's freaky vocals and the tripping sound effects they (over)used. Before college, though, I never knew they were a tried and true rock band, starting out as a popular and well-respected progressive-rock group. I "found" them out of my love of Genesis, their contemporaries. Yes, however, was different. They had the sound I was craving for, but seldom found in Genesis: strange medieval inspiration and tribute with crazy lyrics and a swelling instrumentation told in bizarre movements.

Close to the Edge, first released in 1972, impressed me, and it was love at first listen. If you look at the tracklisting for this monumental album, it's mind-boggling. In all actuality, there are three songs to choose from; the confusion stems from the fact that they are told in movements, each of which are also listed. The title track starts out, and it's told in four sections, the most well-known being Total Mass Retain. The song begins with a very odd (and slightly annoying), growing introduction that sounds like a thousand sounds all being sucked together (which is, in all actuality, the point). In typical Yes fashion, we get awkward drums, sound effects, and a very broken guitar feature. It sounds, at this point, as if all the band members and their contributions are being pulled into a thousand different directions. Down at the end, round by the corner, close to the edge, just by the river, the band chants. Immediately, it's very noticeable that the lyrics of Yes are absolutely pretentious and nightmaringly cryptic. If you can suffer through the smug, you might find a message. Though the melody is horribly catchy and the lyrics and fun to jam out to, this song is also eighteen minutes. Kudos if you can sit though it multiple times.

The song that start my latent Yes kick, though, was the second epic: And You and I, which has got to be the most self-indulgent piece of crap ever written. It just smacks of "our lyrics are important because we use complicated grammar and big words." That said, it's still absolutely amazing. The melodies make for multiple aurgasms (yuk yuk yuk) and the pacing of the song is great. We go from a medieval (jaunty?) type tune to an epic keyboard-soaked dramatic crawl and back again: All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you. Indeed, Jon. Indeed. It may be a ten minute track, but I can get through it no problem. When it's over, all I think is, "Really? It's over? Already? Too short."

The final song on this awkward album is Siberian Khatru, a song that's a little more contemporary in terms of sound. Rather than being arranged in an awkward way, it sounds a lot more like a jamming session. I swear the band is laughing as they sing. The melody, once again, is catchy and fun. Jon's vocals are distinctive, even over the chorus of his bandmates. The whole style is very 1970s, with a happy little "let's keep on trucking" vibe. It's noteworthy that this song is the only one to not hit the ten-minute mark, clocking in at only nine. The mid-section gets very Genesis-esque with the harpsichord, but still keeps that Yes flavor. The band never really captured the same sound again, even though most Yes fans would lynch me for not mentioning Fragile.

The issue with Yes is that their lineup has been nothing but a revolving door of musicians, meaning that they can never truly develop, rather they just rapidly shift in direction. Side-note:, the lyrics "Reach out as forward tastes begin to enter you" has got to be my favorite line. And as with most Yes tracks, I haven't a frakkin' clue what it means.

TRACK LIST
Close to the Edge (4.5 Stars)
-Solid Time of Change
-Total Mass Retain
-I Get Up I Get Down
-Seasons on Man
And You And I (5 Stars)
-Cord of Life
-Eclipse
-The Preacher The Teacher
-Apocalypse
Siberian Khatru (5 Stars)

Overall: 5 Stars (4.8 )

Because of my new rating system, it's a lot more difficult for an album to get a 5-star rating. Close to the Edge did not, contrary to obviousness, benefit from its small track list. If we treat each movement as a song, the scores will add up to 4.8 , 5 Stars.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening