Reviews (page 6 of 8)
Quintessential prog rock from one of the best bands who did it.
One of the better ones from Yes.
Yes
интересные, особенно авангард кавер на Америку)
1972, Progressive rock 5th studio album by YES Single: And You and I This album is the definition of Prog rock. Whether that is good or bad is determined by how much prog rock is your thing. I'm not too much on the prog rock scene. I can appreciate the talent of the musicians, but it really does not excite me. 3.5/5
Good vocals, harmonies, drums, and guitars. Great band from the 70s.
Prog Rock. Not a huge fan of the vocals. Won’t run back to it any time soon
In German, we have the Expression "Gedudel". This is nice Gedudel. Doesn't even matter that the tracks so long, since it's all just dudeling.
Classic, if you like long songs
Not as strong for me as their first album. The first movement of the first song was pretty grating and annoying. After about the first 4 minutes it picks up and gets much better throughout. I listened to both the original version and the deluxe and have to say the second half of the deluxe is much better than the original pressing. All in all, it's very technically sound and has some interesting things going on but don't think I'd revisit this. Cool prog. rendition of America though on the deluxe! Standout tracks: And You and I, America
This was tough to get through for me. The length of the songs and how they're drawn out just wore me out. Also, the deluxe edition was unnecessary for a first time through as at least 2 of the tracks were redundant. Give me 90125. Give me Big Generator. Don't give me this. It wasn't bad, I just wasn't really feeling it.
It was fine, but not my bag.
A good excessive but it sounds clearly like an exercise. Sounds like homework or an assignment. It’s good as I said tho.
Virtuosismo a tope, y siempre te suenan más de lo que crees. 3/5.
Totally tolerable
It's got a groove that I can dig.
Great album, kind of weird sounds but not too hard to listen to
A good, but not an exceptional prog album.
I really didn’t want to listen to another Yes album so soon, but ended up liking it more than the other one. Possibly because I think the longer form tracks work better with whatever they’re doing?
One step away from my personal favorite, Yessongs.
Good album
Wow. An 18 minute opening track? Don't hear that often... Deluxe version of classic album.
enjoyed the music but not the singer
I'm all for prog rock albums, but in my opinion after my first listen, I feel like this a weaker entry into prog. After listening, I didn't have a desire to listen to it again. I may give it another go soon to see if my opinion changes the 2nd listen, but for now I feel that it is a solid 3/5.
I mean it's alright... This album doesn't feel like it's meant for me. 3 songs in total for 37 minutes, just don't grab my attention. That being said, nice sound.
Was not a big Yes fan when I was younger. Enjoyed listening to the album, but could not listen everyday.
Not my jam, but I see the appeal
Personalmente, no soy fan de las tendencias progresivas en la música. De todas formas, el trabajo de Yes en este disco es bastante sólido y construye una verdadera aventura de 1 hora y algo más.
Música psicodélica de los 70. Las canciones empiezan de forma lenta y se aceleran, algunas de ellas en mi opinión más de lo necesario
Classic sound!
Prog rock with a lot of classic rock sounds. It's not really my thing (for some reason the closest thing to prog I can connect to is stuff like Frog Eyes), but I can see how some people might consider it epic.
Bring back saying your favorite song was 18 min long
I'm recovering from a wisdom tooth extraction so good time to catch up on my massive review backlog. If my reviews seem a little more loopy and incoherent than usual, it's just the drugs This has been my favorite Yes album we've had. I haven't really understood why there are (at minimum) three yes albums on this list, even as a recent convert to the proggiest of the prog. Through doing 1001, I realized that I actually love this shit. Yes has always felt super impressive to me but a little unfocused. A lot of "throw paint at the wall." But as a musician, you can't help but marvel at the lengths they'll go to challenge and surprise you. This album felt more raw, more live in the room, more really expressive and experimental. I love that. I did NOT love the Simon and Garfunkel - America cover. In fact, that cover was so bad, so excessive and pretentious and frankly *unnecessary*- that it cast a heavy pall over the ENTIRE rest of the album. I started to forget what was great about the rest of the album. Was I really into this album, or was it just surprising to my ear? What actually... happened on this album? Never mind, totally just the drugs. Ignore this review. A conflicted 3/5
No thanks.
The zithery thing is very Yes. Can’t dance to it. Maybe this would be good music for fertilizing the garden out in the rain?
Dugacke pesme, lagani prog rok.
There were parts of this I liked. There were others I strongly disliked. Going to round up from 2.5.
Yes! No! Maybe? I don't know.. Bei 18:42 min für den Eröffnungssong "Close to the Edge" war ich auch nah an der Kante: und zwar um das Album zu skippen, ABER: Siehe da, es geht auch anders! Natürlich muss ich mir nicht jeden Song über 18 min geben und es macht aus meiner Sicht mehr Sinn, 2 Songs draus zu machen, wenn wir mitten im Song einen so gravierenden Wechsel haben. Der Titelsong war letztlich aber ein netter Einstieg, mein Lieblingssong würde es allerdings auch bis Minute 9 nicht werden.. Die nächsten Tracks auf dem Album, "And You and I" und "Siberian Khatru", sind ebenfalls starke Beiträge. "And You and I" ist eine lyrische und introspektive Reise, die durch herausragende Harmonien und akustische Elemente besticht. "Siberian Khatru" hingegen zeigt "Yes" von ihrer energiegeladenen Seite, mit kraftvollen Rhythmen und dynamischen Wechseln. Die Jungs haben es drauf, wissen durch virtuose Keyboard-Spielereien (Rick Wakeman) & komplexe Gitarrenriffs (Steve Howe) zu überzeugen. Aprospros komplex: Wie schön handwerklich Musik doch früher von jeweiligen Genre-Experten "erarbeitet" wurde. Obwohl es Längen gibt, haben Sie mich nicht genervt, hier und da haben sie mich sogar positiv überrascht. Trotz einer komplexen Klanglandschaft haben sie mich nie verloren. ABER: Eine Gewisse Hingabe und Geduld wird hier vorausgesetzt und ich kann es verstehen, wenn das Hören als Herausforderung empfunden wird. Es gibt Tage, da hätte ich es nicht durchgehört, heute bin ich froh, dass ich es getan habe. Mehr als 3 Sterne kann ich aber auch heute nicht geben. An anderen Tagen tendiere ich wahrscheinlich zu weniger. LG
Good - will become part of my work nusic
There's some killer guitar and key parts in here, but then they get hijacked by organs. Like why?
Just not my thing man
I have such a love hate relationship with Prog Rock. I like the style and the general vibe, but the weird interludes and just ridiculously long songs just ruin it for me. Still a good album, just not amazing to me.
Siempre mola un poquito de Yes.
This is one of those reviews that'll be more about respect than enjoyment. I imagine this was quite an accomplishment, It's incredibly complex and references a lot of literary ideas. It feels like you don't really get music like this on such a technical level anymore. But it was too dense for my enjoyment
A good album almost like queen perhaps similar guitar playing styles
Very piano-forward rock
Second prog rock album in a row and I’m not the biggest prog rock fan. This was ok. I had some tedious work to do and out this on and it was decent music to rock out to for that purpose. Just not the kind of music I would listen to for it’s own sake
Simpatico.
A few bangers
Intens maar wel vet
It took me a while to find the motivation to listen to this. My dad loves Yes and I can see why, but they're not for me. Sorry dad!
Just 3 songs, very prod! 😆
Very edgy
Like a less harmonically rich but spacier CSN. It's good but I don't think I'll come back to it again, not quite enough there.
Solid enough if excessive at times. The first track’s first half is pretty strong, but the second half sounds sort of like a pinball/arcade game. I would take Fragile over this album. The idea of rock as classical music was interesting to explore, and they execute it well, it’s just a little pretentious.
Not as good as fragile, still enjoyable but felt like it dragged at times
3.75
old people music but not bad
An album of twists, for a time it could have you running off the edge and every now and them jumping off and gliding on a breeze. A lot of effort went in to produce it and small things are found on every listen but you wish that when they let rip they go for it big time. I didn't really feel that.
I mean it’s a jam album. If i was a fan I’d probably love it Will I ever listen to it again? No
The proggiest prog rock that was ever rocked
Hmmmm it was okay but didn't grab me at all
Decent
weirder than cool
I genuinely love prog rock albums with endless, meandering tracks that feel symphonic. This one had some cool spacey segments and god bless the mellotron, but the more grounded classic rock parts didn’t do quite as much for me
I actually preferred this to “fragile”. Meandering solos with epic build ups.
BL: never listened to Yes before but seeing a 3 track album seems interesting. Structured and formatted very similarly to the rush album a couple weeks back. So let’s see if it is a similar experience. AL: not as strong as the rush album. Maybe it was wrong of me to assume a similar thing but there are definite thematic and structural similarities. The opener didn’t really feel like the 4 parts were any different from one another (apart from the final part) the subsequent two tracks were pretty alright though. A very good listen with headphones on and the best way to enjoy this kind of album. If you like Rush and prog rock this is certainly you’re thing but if you’re not then you may not like this. At the very least it has encouraged me to dig further and see if I enjoy anymore of their discography FT: “Siberian Khatru” 3/5
I believe this type of music requires multiple listens to truly respect all of the layers of music here. My first impression was that this was decent and that I would listen again to form a stronger opinion.
Moments of interest amongst a lot of noodling
me gustó bastante el principio después meh,, 7/10
Vocals have a Graghm Nash feel, with worse song writing and harmonies. Music is clearly influential for Modern Jane music. Some interesting moments
One of those bands there were big back in the days, but didn't survive the test of time and have been forgotten since (compared to other bands). Tried getting into Yes before. Didn't manage then, and didn't manage now. On paper it should be a good fit, but in my opinion their songs just aren't that good, nothing that really grabs me or evoke any type of emotion other than indifference. It's not bad though,, nothing that is outwright wrong or anything, and it's still performed good etc, so it lands in the middle.
yes
Not swooning like the YouTube comments but it wasn't bad.
Tal vez no sea para mi
Cool but not precicely my jam.
So unnecessarily overindulgent I can't help but respect it
Not exactly my style, but there were only minor annoyances in the prog rock noodling. I'll give it respect votes, and didn't mind listening through it.
Fine but long
The first track was just too much. But just when I was thinking, No, I heard the cover of America, and I thought, maybe a slight Yes.
Could fully get into it
There are tunes in here, if they were actually split into songs. I enjoy albums which take you on a journey. but this is the very definition of self indulgent
Quite interesting, I've had to create a prog playlist for this one. I just don't know when I will be in the mood to slap this on other than the obvious. The choice of instruments and feel for each part was quite good.
Prog rock, man. Not my jam. After listening to the album, it makes sense that the band recorded sections of songs at a time, sometimes as few as 16 bars, before moving on to the next. The album sounds like the result of uber-tinkering with arrangements, takes, and mixes. I enjoyed hearing this, but I’m not coming back for seconds.
Yes are always kind of a mixed bag for me; sometimes they're great, sometimes they make boring songs, but also the boring ones usually have interesting passages within them. A lot of the time I feel like there's not enough delivery on Bombast that justifies the buildups
Wow that first song felt like jazz on drugs for 20 minutes. I can appreciate the complexity of the music though, and it had good movements.
3.5
Tough one. Think this is a bit too experimental/prog rock for me. However, I did enjoy listening to it (mostly). 3,5/5
Listened twice and might revisit. Probably going to check out the rest of their stuff at some point; this list doesn't have a great track record of picking out a band's best album imho (but maybe that's not the point?).
Good but short
Ok not bad
Another great prog rock album from Yes. Whilst I don't generally like long tracks, the way that Yes is able to piece together these tracks allows for some really good flow throughout. Best: Close To The Edge Worst: Siberian Khatru
Best Song: America. That bass (guitar? idk I'm musically ignorant) solo in the back of the song sounds awesome. Worst Song: Close to the Edge. It isn't all bad, but it's very much that prog-rock thing wherein it's actually 5 or 6 different songs mashed together, often with awkwardness at the points of connection. Overall: Pretty standard prog-rock, whose main selling point seems to be that predictable unpredictability of the genre. Nicely spacey at times, but mostly just frustrating in its inability to maintain a coherent thought.
Too proggy for me. 70s prog rock can sound a little bit like the high school a cappella group joins a rock band and Yes unfortunately falls into this camp for me.
On the "café scale" this is a solid 4; I'm settling in, eating my chocolate croissant a little slower, ready to stay. But I'm never going to put this on for me.
пу пу пу пупуп пу пу уп упу упу пу уп упу упу уп упу пу пу пу уп упу у ппп .
decent, wish the songs were shorter
It's a good sound and I can see how it has inspired a couple of my favourite bands like TOOL with the unusual rhythms and dueling guitars and even The Decemberists for long epic songs. I don't think I quite liked the sound enough to want to listen to the length of tracks there. I don't think they put their best foot forward with the beginning of the 18 minutes track. Somewhere halfway through I started to like the harmonies they had and it sounded a bit more coherent.
Yes is a band I want to like more than I do, but something just doesn't seem to hit all the way for me. I enjoy them well enough, but something just doesn't strike me as much as I'd think it should. "And You and I" is the highlight on this one for me, but it's not going to make any favourite songs list I may ever put together. Certainly, this album isn't one I would reach for very often either, but I'd enjoy it well enough if it's on.
Another ok one
Big fan of prog rock. This album is not my favorite Yes one.
It has its moments but it also has keyboard solos so a bit up and down.
Proggy prog. Not bad!
Nice, atmospheric album
So much song packed so densely.
I like this album as it's a journey from start to finish and it's hard to single out a favourite track.
This is not my preferred flavor of prog. Is it not pretentious enough? Or too pretentious along some axes, and not enough along others? Not sure! I didn't mind giving it a couple of listens but don't feel like I'll return to it... Fave track - "Close to the Edge", I guess - possibly the bit of it that's "Total Mass Retain" is bonus track metadata is to be believed...
Ein gutes Album. Heute aber schon etwas schwieriger anzuhören. Der Geschmack verändert sich doch über die Zeit.
Those songs are long... not bad but could be split further, I don't understand why they didn't
De licht verteerbare stukjes vind ik wel leuk. Bijvoorbeeld bij wat denk ik track 1 movement 2 is (ergens vanaf de 5e minuut). Aan de andere kant zijn er ook stukken die me het gevoel geven dat ik tegen m'n zin in ben meegenomen naar een uitvoering van The Phantom of the Opera en ik met één of andere wiskundige zit te praten die maar blijft ratelen over z'n werk. Ik wil best in zien dat dit goed en knap is, maar als ik hoger dan een 3 wil geven moet er ook luisterplezier zijn. De derde track zorgt hier wel voor, maar het is niet genoeg.
A proper prog rock album. Clean to a fault. While Fragile is far from perfect I think because of its imperfections I like it a but more than Close To The Edge. It's still a very good album but it kinda feels a little bit too sterile to me.
Rock psicodélico setentero. Ni fu ni fa.
Well made album, with good instrumentals. Some songs were way too long though. And you and I was a good one
I didn't listen very thoroughly but from what I heard I think it's a decent album. Some tracks are extremely long which I don't really mind actually, I just found it interesting. The tracks were easy to listen to and familiar sounding, even though I never listened to them before.
Not terrible.
I'm not a prog rock guy. I think this solidified it for me. I really appreciate how wild and moving it can be. It's operatic and constantly evolving. Maybe this genre will grow on me with more albums recommended.
Prog rock bullshit, but good prog rock bullshit.
Prog rock is just so weird. Sometimes I’m really grooving to it, and other times I’m rolling my eyes
Some parts were too experimental and some parts were really nice. Let's meet in the middle
Its technically good, but a lot of it just sounds like some dudes fucking around on their guitars. 3/5
37 minutes long...with three songs! First one is 18 minutes! I imagine this band stuck in Spinal Tap style "jazz odysseys". The drummer Bill Bruford found the album so laborious to make that he quit the band to join King Crimson. Interesting album.
I like Yes a lot. I don't mind weird time signatures or key changes. But the parts where it didn't even sound like they were playing a song, or the same song, just didn't do it for me. The saving grace is that when this album in good, it's very very good.
38 minutes. 3 songs. But it was ok! I think someone just forgot to put breaks in Between the songs tbh, it didn’t feel like 3 massively long songs 😆
Well, this is prototypical proto-prog, and all of the album's three songs sound like it, but at the same time the songs or their individual, proggy parts are not really that interesting. Seems that this the general problem I have with Yes; the playing and singing is top notch (if you like Jon Andersons voice, that is), but the music fails to reach me completely. Which is a shame. 2.5/5
Some parts were to weird/crazy, some parts were excellent, most parts were OK. Was considering 2,3 or 4 stars during the listen, but 3 seems the most appropriate.
A bit better than the last Yes album we had (the Yes Album). That one started decent and went south, this one starts terrible and becomes decent. Still not my cup o' tea though.
Could have been higher but the songs are all too long
Insanely weird for my tastes but I still kinda enjoyed it
Was an interesting Prog Rock Album. Not going into the normal rotation though
Klassískt progg. Ekki mikið af lögum sem eru þekkt utan proggheimsins, en mér finnst þetta skemmtilegt. Platan er 10 dögum eldri en ég!
I only knew Yes’ Sweetness (which I like) before listening to this album. This is a lot more chaotic and dissonant in a stereotypical prog-rock way. Some good bits, some painful bits. But enjoyable enough to give it 3 stars.
A ratos épico, a ratos medio de flojera. No hubo una canción que me volara los sesos, sino pedazos buenos y pedazos malos, aunque es de esperarse en canciones tan largas. 3.5 que consideré mucho y tengo que bajar porque este disco en particular no me quedaron muchas ganas de volverlo a oír.
Didn’t listen
Has its moments
Getting through this was a drag. Don't get me wrong, it had some good moments. Some of the organ parts were cool, and there were some neat guitar and bass moments in the first track. Overall though, the songs are too long and I don't enjoy them from an emotional point of view.
100% dad roadtrip music.
Long songs. Kind of weird,
From reading about it, already have some preconceptions about how i’m going to receive it. Mentions of Siddhartha and King Crimson sway me as the book and the band are both things I have enjoyed in the past. Very cool so far, love the build ups and harmonies, composition, intstrumentation etc. By the end I was less into it as the novelty kind of wore off. Still the unique musical choices persisted as well as cool themes in the lyrics and such.
Unverkennbar Yes Anfang der Siebziger. Muss man wohl öfter als ein Mal hören. The Yes Album gefällt mir, glaube ich, besser.
Prog rock royalty. Niet zo wauw maar voor prog heb ik vaak meerdere listens nodig.
26th August 2022 Listened on the Monday as we had Sav and Sally with us all weekend. I can hear where Tame Impala take a lot of their inspo from on this. I’m not a prog rock fan but this has some funky elements in it which raise it above some of the other albums on this list.
Nothing bad to say about it. It was fine.
pretty good, experimental. I like some of Yes' songs.
i think it's ok
off brand pink floyd
Okay. 3 tracks. The first one is 20 minutes long. Okay. Opening up my mind and heart. Let's do this. I hate that I sound like a broken record, but this is another one that doesn't grab me. I'm not in a headspace to go on a sonic journey with Yes right now. The playing is great, lot of talent here. And I was never annoyed by it, but I can't remember anything I heard in it and I listened to it twice. I star for each track.
Well I don't hate it. It sounds like perhaps the most proggy that prog rock could be.
pretty good, can hear the influence on flaming lips
If I could only listen to 1 yes album, this would not be it
Initially I didn't enjoy or pay attention to the Side 1, but did more or less immediately enjoy Side 2. Several repeat listens and I do quite like the majority of the album. Obviously prog organ and guitar noodling, but more accessible than I would have imagined.
Not bad. Prog is back baby! Pretty groovy as well
This is actually the one Yes album I owned. Maybe I wasn't in the mood but it was fine without being any more than that... I think probably its one of those lie in a darkened rooms prog albums.
A good listen. I didn't hate it but Im in no rush to listen again.
Essential album within the 70's symphonic rock landscape. A master piece of this genre. Musically complex, hard to digest.
Started off very strong but weakened a bit in the back half. I like the mixture of prog and blues elements.
And You and I is the standout track. 3/5
Yes? No! Well, not really. I quite enjoyed the first track, felt very Genesis, but it doesn't quite have the energy to get you through 18 minutes - it's got some at the beginning, and kicks into gear at the end, but slows down a bit too much in the middle. I think I will listen again, feels like the sort of thing that will grow on me, but the thing really putting me off is the nasty Simon & Garfunkel cover (the original is a song that I really like). I think I'll give it a 3, just.
Rock progresivo
Technically excellent but it didn’t grab me. I generally like Yes and I respect the skill in this album, it just didn’t make me want to put this on my list to listen again.
First song is great, love the creativity on the album. Strong three
Progressive rock seems a bit controversial in spite of how populous the middle of the road is in terms of opinion. The reason, one thinks, is that people are divided in what they like or dislike about prog-rock as a whole. Some may love the frenetic, experimental and jazz-like chaos, where some might find the melodically mundane to be more their speed. Prog-rock definitely incorporates polar elements, and it is especially on display in this album. The title track opened with that frenetic and jazzy composition where it seemed like everyone just mashed together a bunch of solo efforts, but by Acts II, and III the band slowed things down and started to make a play to sensibilities here. Overall, the album is actually good even with their experimental disruptions since the latter seems applied with some moderation. To say this album is tolerable is a fair assessment, but so is saying that it is barely tolerable. Progressive rock is a definite veer off a well-beaten path and it works in some places and seems to not in others. This vague and indecisive journey of love and hate towards the genre is the likely prognosis.
Not a prog guy, as I think things start to blend together rather than individually standing out on their own, but this album was fine.
I enjoyed the listening experience a lot but don't think I'd go back and nothing in particular made a strong impression.
Good stuff but knocking stars because this album doesn't include "Roundabout"
It's ok.
Super cool album, v interesting sounds. A bit weird and distorted at times, and some of the guitar bits mean absolutely nothing to me, but overall it was a good time.
3 is generous. This is really just a mess.
After two other "Yes" albums, I kinda like these long experimental songs. Nothing much special about this specific, but I believe that now I'm almost understanding all the hype around the band.
It was groovy sometimes. Prog rock
A struggle beyond the first track
Too much prog, not enough rock. Three songs for a whole album?!? No thanks! Even the extended version is only 7 tracks (but still over an hour long!)
Première écoute back to back de ce classique prog. C'est prog! J'aime bien le son bien dirt de la rickenbacker, moins les voix et le too much organ par bout. À go on fait des harmoniques sur une 12 cordes😆
This one a little more Prog than I generally tolerate in my Rock. Obviously created by very smart, very hardworking souls but for me, listening feels like a bit of a chore, or at least a Project.
3.5/5 Good album. Nothing more to add. Just a nice listen, not my all time favourite but I enjoyed it. Favourite song: - Close to the edge
Less self involved noodling than in some of the other yes albums.
Symphonic rock.. Not my kind of thing. There are moments of beauty but mostly I find it too arranged and calculated, and weird.
Not bad.
Close to the Edge by Yes (1972) I didn’t have time to seriously listen to this progressive rock album when I was young. Most people I knew who did have the time to develop an appreciation of Close to the Edge did so due to (1) the strength of Yes’s earlier works, and (2) the ready availability of mind altering substances. For sober me, it was too complex. I was rather interested in more accessible music like Dieterich Buxtehude, Anton Bruckner, Leonard Bernstein, and novels by Herman Hesse, like Siddhartha (which is ironic, since I now discover that many of the images and metaphors on Close to the Edge come from that book). And now, listening in my twilight years, I find the complexity of Yes’s fifth album Close to the Edge (1972) to be unnecessary. The recording is primarily a collection of standard Yes lyrical and compositional tropes from their first three albums, but immeasurably enhanced (and given its coherence) by the superlative keyboard contributions of Rick Wakeman (who had an integral role in their immediately preceding fourth album, Fragile [1972]). The inexhaustible Wakeman did all this 1972 work while touring and cranking out The Six Wives of Henry VIII. There’s no gainsaying the artistry of Anderson, Howe, Squire, and Bruford. But Wakeman is the musical star of this group. In my view, he edges out Keith Emerson as the greatest progressive rock keyboardist of all time. Listen to Wakeman’s extended interlude at 12:10-15:53 of the first track “Close to the Edge”, with pipe organ that becomes doubled with synthesizer at 13:54, followed by a glorious synthesized romp to the end. Drummer Bruford struggles to keep up. This snippet is music for the ages. Ethereal. I want Rick Wakeman on my team. Close to the Edge is good, but overall, as an album, it’s far from a classic. 3/5
Not bad! I’d listen to it again
I'm not sure why, but prog rock doesn't really get me in the same way other genres do. I think it's a good album, but it didn't really resonate with me.
I guess I have respect, but not major love, for Yes' music.
Not bad. Yes has a neat sound that I like that isn't straight-up trippy. Not an incredible album but not bad.
A landmark prog LP - songs with many different parts, switching time signatures, organ fugues and jazz breakdowns, with those singular Yes melodies
Its not that it isn't good - just not the biggest fan of progressive rock...I appreciate the album though
Rock psicodélico setentero. Ni fu ni fa.
Say what you want about prog, but no other subgenre can produce sprawling yet intricate tracks like this. Squier keeps the band locked in with a boisterous yet precise bass tone, and from there the band builds into massive melodic structures that can stop and turn on a dime. Docking two stars as the middle track feels somewhat listless (and eats up nearly a third of the runtime!), but the other two tracks could stand as EPs in their own right.
The fifth album by the band Yes released in 1972, and became their most popular album up to that point. It was certified platinum in 1998. Production on the album was turmoil and caused the drummer to quit the band after release. Even with the troubles, the band made an amazing album. Praised as a flawless masterpiece, it's a long winded symphony of progressive rock. I enjoyed this music in the background while I worked.
I normally listen to these albums on the drive home. I got halfway through this one before getting home. It's very big, very indulgent and deserves more time than I had for it this week. I'm a big Yes fan but Close To The Edge is a bit too rich for my tastes. I'm feeling Fragile...
Never listened to Yes before. Was kind of dreading this because for some reason, I assumed this was an 80's hair band - I guess their name is pretty generic sounding. Turns out it's a 70's prog rock band - big difference there! lol The album is basically just two very long tracks. Enjoyable listening... some good grooves and interesting things happening. Some cool keyboards and organ stuff. But it doesn't have that kind of primal immediacy that tends to move me. I guess liked from a sort of academic perspective, if that makes sense. Can definitely see why it's on the list. Solid 3 stars.
Ok I guess. Two songs in the original album - epic and progressive and listenable. A little too pockmarked and nerdy for me to really be into. The America cover on the deluxe edition makes me cringe.
it was... different. didn't love it, didn't hate it.
Add a star if you’re on acid
Prog-rock is altijd wel wat apart. De orgel-solo in het eerste nummer is het soort van bombastische dat ik graag ik muziek heb. Maar de rest vond ik wat te eenzijdig
not for me.
Bit much for me. Kind of like Queen and Led Zeppelin.
3/5, nothing bad, nothing good
I feel the same way about this album as I do about just about all prog rock. It's kind of like watching a circus act or a magic show: The skill and talent is evident and impressive and I'm glad I saw it, but I don't ever need to see it again.
Very far out and druggy
Progmagi! 3/5 men längden på låtarna gör att det känns som potentialen att albumet växer efter fler lyssningar finns. Svårt att bestämma bästa låt i det här fallet, många höjdpunkter, Fantastisk gitarr i introt till Close To The Edge Mäktig orgel i del III i Close To The Edge, och övergången från det till gitarren i del IV, mmmmm... Även hela del IV, speciellt klimaxet i slutet när "I get up, I get down" basuneras ut. Hela And You and I väldigt vacker, speciellt del II, Eclipse. Siberian Khatru också bra, funkigt gitarrspelande, lite spretigare, nonsensiga texter. Albumomslaget 10/10!
shorter than i expected
This was a very mythical and magical album i felt i was walking through tan enchanted forest while listening Top tracks: and you and I
A bit hokey, but neat
Great guitar, hear inspiration for bands like the mars volta
it's prog i guess
shit
Quick listen (3 songs, 37 minutes). Takes a moment to get rolling; eventually cuts a nice tack between traditional and modern pop/alt-rock.
interesting
listened to this many times before. prog rock classic, but not an album i'll find myself returning to frequently.
Think this could be a grower, certainly enjoyed it first time round and feel like there are layers to be discovered.
Great song writing if a little excessive.
Wasn't super exciting
Just ok. Typical 'Yes' type of sound. Nothing stands out, however I could technical listen all day.
LSD not included
neat but not attention grabbing. also songs way too long
Consists of 3 longs songs. 0RS
Der natürliche Feind des Punk, nicht so schlimm wie erwartet, aber auch nicht meine Kiste Bier, wenn die Rocker ihre Komplexe auf diese Art bearbeiten. Im Rückblick wirkt das ja einfach nur total verschroben und durchgeknallt, dafür gibts Punkte, vor allem wenn man dann auf Wikipedia liest, dass der Drummer nach dem Album die Band verlassen hat, weil „he became frustrated with the band’s happy, diatonic music and favoured more jazz-oriented and improvisational compositions“ . Orgel an manchen Stellen auch gut. Die lieben ihre Musik jedenfalls und das so seltsam mitzubekommen, ist doch auch mal schön.
Long AF. Interesting at some parts, weird at others. Enjoyed it overall: 3/5 stars.
No sé qué pensar, de repente me la pasé bien, pero en mi ignorancia suenan como a Queen meets The Beatles meets Pink Floyd. Digo ignorancia, porque no sé quién influyó a quién, pero muy setentero todo. "And You and I" fue mi fav y es todo. 7.5/10
this was actually great
Excellent composition and technicality representation of Yes. Not their most popular music, but definitely an important album for their style. Since the songs are all long compositional suites, it's hard to single out highlights, but one of the sections of And You And I is a cool acoustic segment.
Bit much
It’s really chill classic rock. I likes it a lots :)
Pretty cool, need to check out "Fragile" album
I am generally not a huge fan of Prog, and Yes is quintessential Prog. Always intricate song structures and impressive virtuosity but... emotionally it is completely technical for me. It's not what I go to for music.
impressive, but weird, and maybe not for me so far
Pretty good song.
I was looking forward to a shorter album, but even though there were only a few tracks they were all crazy long songs. The band really reminded me of the kids band on F is For Family. Some crazy 70s kids singing about wizards and shit
long tracks, I get a Snarky Puppy vibe from many of these, not to mention Guardians 2 end credits from "Any You and I"
Unique intersting album but doesnt but i like it alright
It was sure a strange one
Siberia, the saving grace.
Not for me
ok I’m done
I think I like the album cover more than the album itself. A little too much for my tastes.
Non mi ha convinto per nulla, é da qualche giorno che avevo da ascoltare a quest'album ma tutte le volte che iniziavo non riuscivo a continuare Non il mio genere
Yes has better albums than this by far
Prog rock has to be one of my least favourite genres of music, but I can appreciate why people like it.
A little too much speedy synth for me
the guitar is impressive but why does his voice have to be like that 😭
hm, ne. Nicht mein Fall
The middle bit in America was alright
Honestly not averse to a bit of prog rock but Yes are just not it for me. There are good wee snatches but then they just go off on one and they lose me. There is no heart to the technical showing off. I’m not a fan of Jon Anderson’s voice or Rick Wakeman wibbling away on his organ. Better than Fragile but that’s not saying much
Opening 60 seconds or so are among the best angular math rock I've ever heard. The last 60 seconds or so are heady, jammy, super dope prog firing on all cylinders. The other 36 minutes are somewhat garbage and bloated and I can't for the life of me find it interesting.
No.
Yes’ music is sometimes pretty and at times they have a good variety of instruments. However their songs are too long and have too many squiggly quotas.
I understand the musicianship that goes into prog rock and the different experiments that come out of it, but most of it is a miss for me. Including this.
1.5 stars Not really for me. Forgettable, like a foreign language. Not offensive but not interesting. Glad it was under 40 min.
naw
Maybe a little bit more than the last one from these guys, but still a No from me
Un poquito largas las canciones. Not really my cup of tea, peeero siento que sería un buen soundtrack para darse un buen viaje
A pretentious album where I feel the artist thinks they are smarter, better at instruments, and more good looking than the listener. All of which is probably true but I didn’t like it that much
Some cool tunes sprinkled here and there, but gotta be honest don’t think I’ll ever consciously put it on, maybe idk it’s a tough one
I'm unsure if it's missing soul, depth, or something else, but it's definitely missing something.
Los 1ros 10 mins de close to the edge del disco 1, me gustaron pero se hizo larguísimo. Temporalmente top And you and I, Siberian Khatru tamb esta buena. Me gusta que experimentan con sonidos pero no es tan el otro extremo. Inclusive algunos usos de ciertos sonidos me hacen acordar a la onda de la maquina de hacer pajaros y charly garcia. Total mass retain god.
Oh boy, a YES album! This is the musical equivalent of a Bob Ross painting that's been fussed with too much. It's an album written for musicians by musicians. "Siberian Khatra" starts off with an amazing groove, and then it gets "Yes-ified" 20 seconds in. It's like they're in the studio patting each other on the back "Did you hear that bit where we switched from 15/17 to 7/9 and then back to 15/17? That was genius, right?' And they put in a harpsichord and what sounded like a theremin. I appreciate these guys are extremely talented musicians, but I didn't need to hear this album at all. AND... Spotify gave me the "Deluxe Editiion", so I got EXTRA Yes which I absolutely didn't need. My Rating: 2/5 Not bad music, but I don't see how this is commercially viable.
I had a pretty great music discovery yesterday with the surprisingly very gay Handshake Song from the Great British Bake Off musical. On the other hand, Close to the Edge by Yes was not a great music discovery for me in any way
Yes? No thanks. Close to the edge of unlistenable.
I prefer songs that sound good. However, I will admit this album sounds way better through headphones than my tiny tinny cell phone speaker.
Átti mitt progg tímabil í denn og hef smá soft spot ennþá fyrir því. Rush, Gentle Giant, King Crimson og fleira. En þetta fannst mér ekki skemmtilegt. Plús fyrir titillagið samt, það er fínt.
2,4/5
So. First song. It starts off annoying. Like a broken musical box where everyone's noodling away at their own thing and it doesn't work. Then the guitar line is really nice. Not a fan of the vocals much, too reedy and airy, sounds weak. It seems like everyone is playing a different intricate-for-the-sake-of-showing-off instrumental line and it only works half of the time. Not much to really grab hold of so far. The song progresses (ha) but doesn't really develop, since there's no consistent part to develop from, just independent bits playing simultaneously. There's a bit where everything cuts out and he gets up and he gets down a lot, interspersed with big classical church organ passages as if the song deserves it. Now we're back to the whole band doing some proggy stuff. It doesn't like, lead up to them dropping back in very much, just gives me the impression they decided to start playing again instead of it being a big build up. It ends and it's instantly left my mind. I am thoroughly unimpressed by this song and a bit annoyed because you can tell they really thought they did something with this. Second song, I'm halfway through it and I'm struggling to think of anything to say about it. It sounds.. pretty? It's very boring. Nothing happens in it. God I hate his grating little voice. And it just ends? Okay. What a pointless boring song. NEXT. SONG. Okay this actually has some substance. It actually feels like a SONG. Like an actual thought out piece of music instead of some annoying, pretentious noodling with an asthmatic seagull bleating over it. This feels like an actual band doing actual band shit. It's actually good! It's cool! It's interesting and enjoyable! It develops, it sticks in my mind, it's fun. It's probably the only thing on this album that's worth it. So due to the fact there's only one interesting and enjoyable song on this album of three.. I'm rating the album 1/3. Or rather 5 divided by 3. 1.6666. Lets round it up to two stars.
Sadly didn't hit the spot for me
I can tell that they are all amazing musicians but it’s a little too prog at times for me.
Nicht gut
Good musicians and I’m glad I listened, just not for me.
1972. Last album before the drummer Bill Bruford quit the band to join King Crimson. They found it challenging to record.
Ik heb dit album vaak in een bak met platen gezien, maar ik ben blij dat ik het nooit heb gekocht Ik hou van nummers die lekker lang zijn en niet refrein couplet refrein zijn, maar dit lijkt mij niet de manier om het te doen. Sommige geluidjes zijn leuk, sommige tenenkrommend. De baspartij was soms hard en niet echt fijn. De stem was ook niet leuk
Dit album van Yes klinkt alsof Meat loaf, sting en pink floyd een baby krijgen en erg ongelukkig precies van iedreen de nare eigenschappen erfd. Als muziek richting musical gaat begint het bij mij een beetje te jeuken. Alsof ik er een allergie voor heb. Ik kan mijzelf hier niet overheen zetten. Technisch heb ik er niks op aan te merken en hoor je dat het aardige muziekanten zijn. Maar ik wil die gozer zo graag in z'n gezicht stompen zodat het stopt en dan direct sorry zeggen omdat hij het eigenlijk niet verdient.
Ik was enigszins verrast dat dit dezelfde band was van owner of a lonely heart. Ik moest het even dubbel checken. De eerste keer luisteren wist ik niet zo goed wat ik ervan moest vinden, tis duidelijk een band wat wil experimenteren en wil laten zien dat ze meer kunnen dan pophitjes maken. Het is wel aardig maar ook heel hoogstaand. Na het een tweede keer te hebben geluisterd te hebben vond ik het eigenlijk minder leuk. Het komt bij vlagen een beetje Disney-achtig over.
Not impressed. Tiring
Did not finish it. Really don’t listen to this type of music for fun. The sound itself is not pleasant.
I can see the appeal, but not my favorite. Didn't like the singer's voice, and the music little too trippy for my taste. Felt like if Pink Floyd and Rush were combined. I'm not just not the biggest prog rock guy, and I don't see myself returning to any of the songs from here.
Prog I can do without
I didn’t like this one as much as the other two I’ve heard on the list. I know so little about Prog so can see my opinion changing on this one. It was just the elements of Prog I don’t like unfortunately. Rating: 1.9
mais do mesmo, muito longo para não apresentar nada de novo
Feels fairly generic. Does not really move the needle for me. Decent sound at least. 2/5
There were some bits that I dug. It’s too bad their somewhere buried within a 10 minute meandering song
Strange. Hard to get into. Made me almost quit this challenge.
Ok organ
Just split the tracks up Too long overall, why repeat a track? Some nice sounds
I really enjoy Yes, but not so much this album. Too disjointed, noisy and all over the place. The introductory 4 minutes (of a nearly 19 min song) is too much to suffer through before you get to Anderson singing. It's like 12 songs, all with different soundscapes, mixed into one long track. Is that cool or not, I don't think so, it was like being trapped in one of those rides where centrifugal force slams you to the wall as you go around at mach barf speed. It has only 149K listeners in 50 yrs, there's a reason for that. The second "song" was 10 mins long and much easier to listen to but I'd never listen to it again. The final track "Siberian Khatru" showed glimpses of what they'd do in the future that was more mainstream and connected. 2 stars. I literally hated the entire first 19 minutes. Too artsy for this guy
Homie’s voice is just grating to me. Undeniably good musicians, but not my cup of tea.
Its 70's prog. Its ok but not likely to be remembered by me tomorrow.
Three songs, 38 minutes, and approximately 400 ideas, none of which know when to leave. Prog’s original sin wasn’t ambition—it was bloat, and Close to the Edge treats the LP like a doctoral thesis defense scored for capes. The title track alone lumbers through enough time signatures to qualify as cardio, all in pursuit of a mystical revelation that sounds suspiciously like a warm glass of pond water. Jon Anderson chants, the band pirouettes, Rick Wakeman raids the keyboard aisle at Harrods, and somewhere a roadie is still untangling the Moog cables. Credit where it’s due: these guys can play, and when they lock into something resembling a groove, it’s almost human. Best of the lot is “Siberian Khatru,” where the CSNY harmonies collide with funky bass pops and a slab of rawk guitar—busy, yes, but at least it moves like it means it. If excess were enlightenment, this would be scripture. As it stands, it’s a very ornate door in search of a room.
I'm finished with prog rock thank you
Even Yes know that they're taking the piss with a track that's almost 19mins long.....
I'm not the biggest fan of loooong tracks. musically it's fine but i do wish it had been broken up into some shorter songs. the organ music bit goes pretty hard though.
I am not a "yes" man!
this is undoubtedly made with skill and parts of it are fun, but parts are also intensely pretentious. It’s less egregious to me that other prog, but it just doesn’t move me. I think the singing takes me out, as do the unnecessary music theory dalliances
Noooooo. I wasn't sure about an 11 minute song, but I AM sure about this 18-minute song: it's bad. I understand that people who play guitar might like to listen to other people jam out &c, but I am not those people. The 10 minute song is much better, but maybe that's just because it's 8 minutes shorter. The 9 minute song is bad. Just think, before I started this project, I didn't know a single thing about Yes. How good I had it then. Highlight: 'Cord of Life' (not a song, but a part of a song... OK Mozart)
Yes? No? Maybe...Close to the Edge is a less interesting Rush album. Like 2112, it drags on a bit too long with prog rock experimentation. I do like the usage of acoustic guitar on Side B though. I am not a huge Yes fan. They only have a few tracks that I like but those are strong ones. Not their strongest album but for the 70s, maybe it was cool. I think they peak in in the 80s and this record just edges in at 1.98 stars.
I wouldn't call Close To The Edge a miss for me, but I also wouldn't call it a hit or solid entry for 1001. As Close To The Edge wrapped up I was a pretty underwhelmed. The first side with the title track was a mostly empty piece-meal of a long jam prog rock song. It was disjointed and didn't really have any segments that stood out. I enjoyed Side B a little more. The folk-slanted first song was OK, the second more rock-oriented song was definitely the highlight of the album but even that was still middling. I was looking forward to seeing what Yes was about and didn't come away with much. In the wake of a couple Rush albums I enjoyed maybe I built up my expectations a little too high for another longform prog-rock album. Or perhaps Yes's Close To The Edge just isn't the best example of it. I guess we'll find out as I run into more of them but this one will go back to the shelf. 1.72 stars
Whoever thought combing rush and the greatful dead was so very wrong.
I know this is good quality music but I didnt enjoy it. 2 stars
Yes is cool but they tend to do a lot of nothing on a long runtime at their worst. The first song got really cool and grandiose but the others sounded like rejects from other projects. Disappointed as it could have been so much more than it is.
Look, when Rick Wakeman is playing about 6 different types of piano, you know you’re into prime knob-twaddling territory. I suppose I tolerated the first half of “Close to the Edge” (please don’t try and make me pinpoint what act that was, I have no idea. Also, songs shouldn’t have “acts”). I also quite liked the almost funky undertones in “Siberian Kahtru”. Has I had to listen any longer than 38mins to this album, I suspect my tolerance of both of those things would have diminished. It’s sort of between a 1.5* and 2* but, seeing as I did tolerate-to-like small parts, it edges a 2*.
Third, and final for this project, Yes album. After getting over the shock of the extended version being over 4 hours, I listened to the first 3 tracks* of the Deluxe album so I could hear the album as the artist originally intended (and only have 37 minutes to get through). For me, it's very much like the other Yes albums on the list: I quite like the singing bits, I don't have patience for the non-singing bits. This album also didn't have the same nostalgia factor for me either, as there was only one part I think I recognised from my Dad playing it around the house. A chunk of the modern music I've been enjoying recently is being described as prog rock, which I find bizarre based on my complete indifference to 70s prog rock, but maybe that's what listening to a lot of my father's record collection in my youth has done for me. 2/5 * Which because it's Yes, are actually like 9 tracks squished together.
Half of this list seems to be prog and britpop. Anyway, I fully expected to enjoy this one, certainly more than I did Lamb, but I'm walking away with the same feeling. Incredible musicianship but just leaves me cold. There are some parts I enjoyed more than others but it's just not my genre. I'm officially that guy who only likes The Yes Album and Fragile (ok 90125 too)
Just not for me. At first, the first song sounded a little like Squid and I thought they were going to be cooler than it ended up being. I know they’re prog staples, but it just sounded like a weird mix of 70s bands and genres.
More meh. Let’s get to the good stuff.