Yes - Close To The Edge | REACTION 

The pinnacle of human achievement. Best song from the best band ever!!!❤❤❤

After 50 years it still amazes me how fast the 18 minutes passes. Once they draw you into their world, your sense of time disappears. Then they finish with an epic ending and once done you need a few seconds to get your feet back underneath you as you return to the present.

WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD FINALLY! This was a shift in consciousness back in 1972 for many of us and continues each and every time we listen to it still !

The greatest song ever written by anyone, anywhere, ever!🤩

"Angelic" is definitely the best adjective to describe Jon Anderson's voice 😍

Ambitious yet measured. Dynamic yet relentless. Pure emotion yet so much thought.

one of the greatest pieces of music ever produced....covering the spiritual life cycle of the human condition

Yes! You're back. This song was inspired by the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Your not off the hook yet. You need to hear Yes' take on "War and Peace", Gates of Delerium from Relayer. Many consider "Close to the Edge" the crown jewel of the catalog, but "Gates" for me, is the one I go back to more often. It's so complex and insane, I find something new almost every time. It's definately Yes at their most experimental period. And don't get me going with "Sound Chaser. Glad your back!

This is the best song in the rock canon, and it separates itself from the pretenders, and mere rock and pop bands, by creating a transcendent experience of the music listening. Yes gives glimpses of heaven, and ecstasy, and exuberance, and climaxes of climaxes. "Firth of Fifth" by Genesis is very close, and a recently live version of "Awaken" by Jon Anderson and Todmobile also achieves transcendence. King Crimson, Moody Blues, Renaissance and Strawbs also have moments, large and small, of transcendence. Not so the pop bands. This song is based on Hesse's "Siddhartha". A worthy read. Great review and reaction! Thanks.

Greatest piece of Prog rock music ever! So glad you are better and excited! Let's Rock!

Best band ever. Best album ever. Best song ever.

I was young when I first heard this. I was totally blown away. I've heard it a million times and it's still a classic. If you can get through this length-wise, you can definitely get through some of their other epics like GATES OF DELIRIUM. Great to see you enjoying this stuff. Cheers!

For me, and I don't speak for anyone else but me, this is the finest progressive rock composition ever created. You can spend your whole live digging into this, and it wouldn't be wasted time.

The organ sounds so great and powerful and majestic because it was not an ordinary Hammond rock organ but a big ass church organ. And Rick Wakeman is a master at using it. He also uses a church to powerful effect in "Awaken," a 15 minute epic, masterwork from the album _Going For The One._

Promis us old Yes fans that you will listen to CTTE for at least 5 times in the next 24hrs. It will change your actual dna

AWAKEN ... The first time i listened to Close to the Edge is when it first came out. I was 17,i think, sitting with friends passing a joint. Yes was a band influenced by the psychedelic drugs of that time. LSD, phylicyben mushrooms and Peyote . i remember an interview with Jon Anderson in which he said that he takes a mushroom trip on his birthday. Sait there are things he learns every trip. Back to Close To The Edge, Yes blew us away. A friend that was in our group say Yes early on. She saw them in the Rhode Island School of Design and knew these guys were something DIFFRENT!! she was right. And hats off to Roger Dean for all the amayzing album art. Want a time to witness as it was happening.

You have listened to greatness. Yes was transformative to countless music lovers spanning decades. I was introduced to their music in the early 80s when I was in high school and still can't get enough of it.

I recently learned that the church organ riff was actually written by Howe in guitar (also he tend to play along live).

Your reactions are so genuine and insightful ❤

Good to see you back🤟🤟👍👍

Great reaction. Relayer album next Gates of Delirium please.

I was a senior in high school when this album came out, one of the best prog rock LP's ever made. Rush were big fans of Yes, Squire (R.I.P.) was one of Geddy's bass heros. Ged played the bass at Yes's rock hof induction.

Thank you for the great reaction to my all time favorite musical piece. I loved it at 16 and still do at 61. It is a timeless classic and still sounds fresh and innovative 50 years later.

Tales from Topgraphic Oceans is a double album with only 4 songs. That is awesome. My second favorite Yes album

Jon's lyrics are more like an abstract painter. His genius with lyric is creating an atmosphere. And I think the abrupt changes, you mention, are kinda on purpose meant for shock value! LOVE IT man! Gets better with every listen! Good job! Rick Wakeman played on David Bowie's Hunky Dory album. He plays keys on the song Changes etc. Rick said David Bowie offered him a job with his band the day after Yes had asked him to join. He went with Yes! Relayer album is also amazing! You should do a reaction on Gates of Delirium. Anyway, this was fun! Thx again!

Listening to this again, it seems to me that we used to call this art rock before someone decided it should be called prog.

"Now that you find, now that you're whole Seasons will pass you by, I get up, I get down" You know your next stop should be Awaken

"Close your eyes and listen." As most of us Yes fans well know, Yes music requires the listener to immerse themselves, with repeated listenings, and within the privacy of one's own head; therefore to allow the music to carry you on a journey within one's own soul. With Peace and Love to all! (Michael)

Saw them in 1979. "Epic" is such an over-used word, but YES was epic. Exactly the same live. Genius.

I was 12, in '74 when I got to hear this on my older brother's quad speaker 1600W Yamaha system. My jaw was on the floor, and this remains my Favorite Song Ever. If you get the chance to hear this on a high end system, you will be even more amazed, when the bass is rattling your skeletal system. Glad to hear your sickness is over. Yes will heal You.

You were exactly right about rick's keyboard solo. Very few can do like the wizard.

Both this song and And You and I on the album are based on a book by Hermann Hesse called Siddhartha. It's about spiritual awakening, real heady stuff. Some of the lines in each of the songs are taken right out of the book. I remember buying this when I was 13 years old, very mind-blowing in the early 70s.

I've been listening to this piece for nearly 50 years and it never gets old or sounds dated. These days I am nearly drawn to tears when I listen to it. It's been a part of my life for so long. Glad you are appreciating this beautiful music. I hope you stay with it for long to come.

So....were do we go from here? Maybe some Tales (at least side 1 and side 4), and Relayer it's kind the twin LP of Close to the Edge (probably their 2nd best album)

Did good kid. Thanks for the memories. Now you got to see it live, symphonic live is nice. The first time I saw it live, saw it live 15 times, the divine showed up

It is a wonderful thing to see someone just seeing Yes.

Just watched Jon Anderson (78 years old I think) and The Band Geeks do this song and many others last night and it was fantastic. I highly recommend that concert if it comes near anyone. Perpetual Change off the live Yessongs album is a mind blower as is Awaken and lots of other tracks.

It is certainly emotional. The base work is just awesome. As is the 30 foot pipe organ solo in the middle. Unbelievable.

Anderson said the lyrics were inspired by the 1920s novel "Siddhartha" which explains a story of self discovery. It opens with the peaceful sounds of nature, followes by the chaos of individual life in society, the search for spiritual enlightenment, the notion that it cannot be found in human society "Then according to the man who showed his outstretched arm to space, He turned around and pointed revealing all the human race, I shook my head and smiled a whisper, knowing all about the place", and ending with the sounds of nature. That's the Buddhist idea of enlightenment as being one with nature. The end of the journey was therefore at the beginning, all along And the mid section is Wakeman playing a real church organ.

I heard this song when it first came out, so here's my take on the lyrical/musical message of the song: Anderson said the lyrics were inspired by Hermann Hesse's 1922 novel "Siddhartha", which charts a journey of self-discovery, so... It opens with the peaceful sounds of nature, followed by the chaos of individual life in human society, the search for spiritual enlightenment, the notion that it cannot be found in human society ("Then according to the man who showed his outstretched arm to space, He turned around and pointed, revealing all the human race, I shook my head and smiled a whisper, knowing all about the place"), and ending with the sounds of nature one again (the Buddhist idea of enlightenment as being one with nature). The end of the journey was thus there at the beginning, all along. Released in 1972; 50 years after the novel, and now 50+ years ago, but still timeless.

Yes makes my soul happy. Seems it does to you too. Yay! ☮️❤️

You've got it man !! 🙏 Welcome Bro ! The Yes adventure goes on !

Soo happy you check this masterpiece, finally , glad you made thru the flu, YES is beyond this universe 😃🙏🏻🙌, blessings brother.

So cool to see a young man’s reaction to CTTE. It was like hearing it for the first time again. Thank you! Yes listened to a lot of classical music and you can hear that influence. Themes/melodies that return in different forms through the piece serve to hold it together over 18 minutes - like a Beethoven symphony.

I'm a 74 yr old man, who has had an avid interest in music most of my life. In my early listening in the 60's, 70's and 80's, I took an immediate interest in the prog roc movement, which, in my opinion began in the mid 60's, after the Beatles explosion. Groups like King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Manfred Man's Earth Band, Jefferson Airplane, and others, inspired me, with the way they improved the older established rock of the 50's. I was a constant concert goer, when these groups came to the area. Until the 90's, my favorite concert was Fleetwood Mac, at the Rumours Tour in 1977. But, in the 90's, I got to see 2 unbelievable Pink Floyd concerts, at the NE Patriots Football Stadium. In 1990 they played for the tour of their new album, 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and in 1994, the famous Pulse Concert featuring the new album, 'The Divison Bell'. I enjoyed your excursion into 'Yes', who I managed to see once (iit was great). I think you would enjoy taking the same tak toward Pink Floyd, you did with Yes. My suggestion would be to watch the Echoes concert at Pompei to get an idea of early Pink Floyd just as they were achieving the finishing touches on their sound, after many experimental albums from the mid 60''s. From there I think the stadout albums include Meddle (the studio version of Echoes), The Dark Side of the Moon (one of Rock's most famous albums of all time), Wish You Were Here, Animals (modeled after George Orwell's book, 'Animal Farm'), and then the Wall (after which Roger Waters left the group). Hoping you enjoyed my walk into the past. Best of luck in you site. PS, Please react to 'The Gates of Delirium', the main song on the Relayer album from Yes. I think you will see the comparison to 'Close to the Edge' on the quality of musical involvement. Allan McKinnon

To me, this work encompasses life. We're always so close to the edge of enlightenment. Seasons will pass us by but, we get up, we get down.

Comparing this to most other rock music is like comparing Tolkein or Tolstoy to Dr Seuss. Yes creates other worlds in your mind that you can explore forever. I am still trying to decipher the lyrics after 50 years. Don't try to understand the message in the lyrics all at once, if at all. Nature is part of it: Also think Zen, hippie, love, universal spirit, and sometimes just the sound of the words. The music still sounds fresh and transcendent to me.

So from Feb 1971 to Sept. 1972 they release the trifecta of masterpieces, The Yes Album, Fragile and then this masterpiece, that's a rare feat for any group, I was 14 when this came out and this is what made me a Yes fan and then I discovered the other 2 albums and was hooked, sadly now what's left of them is a mere faint shadow of what they once were. Listen to this entire album as well as the whole of the other two.

Firstly glad you're feeling better. You've just listened to the greatest piece of music in rock along with the Gates of Delirium and Awaken.Yes and the inimitable, incomparable voice of Jon Anderson were the greatest band on the planet.

My RU-vid goal is to watch evey reaction to CTTE. I'm so glad you liked it! I was only about 16 or 17 when I bought this album back in '75 or '76. You can only listen to an album for the first time once.That's whay I do this. And now you must listen to "Awaken", My second favorite track from Yes. Thank you! :) - Kae was Here

How I always saw it, is a journey down a river like the Amazon River. Start off at a calm wide part of the river about to turn the bend and you see the rapids, each section is turning the bend finding a new world in the jungle. And at the end back out of the jungle...like a Disney ride.

Great job, been over 45 years since I heard this as a 13 year old and thought WTF is this as I listened for the 1st time. All these years and 100's of listens later, I am still like, WTF. Hard to top CTTE .

I have been enjoying CTTE since it came out in the early 70's. I never grow tired of listening to it. I really enjoy that young people are enjoying the music I grew up with.

You can enjoy this for many years to come. I’ve listened to it hundreds of times and it still impacts me.

Steve Howe considers himself a Psychedelic guitarist. Not just a rock guitarist, or a blues guitarist, or a folk guitarist but belonging to that unique tradition of combining both and twisting it to hell. I think there are other guitarists who belong in that camp. Progressive Rock is an evolution from Psychedelic Rock so keep that in mind.

This album my husband and I bought as soon as it was available in the record store! I know every twist and turn and the lyrics of the 3 songs. I love that someone from a younger generation can still acknowledge the brilliance of this music. I was privileged to hear and see it performed in its entirety in a venue with great acoustics, accompanied by a symphony orchestra. It was magic, one of the best performances I was fortunate to witness. So many memories. The downside for me is that nowadays many “hit making” songs sound drab to my ears. When disco turned into rap, house and dance, I turned to symphonic metal. 😅

Wonderful to see your reaction! YES inspired so many people and still do!!!

Incredible, one of my favourite bands since a teenager in 70's. Greetings from Argentina.

Great reaction to this classic performance!! I had the fortune of seeing Yes on their Close to the Edge tour in 1973. What an experience!! If you enjoyed this, then I HIGHLY recommend Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Karn Evil 9", all three impressions. It will astound you!! And if you ever do a live concert video reaction, Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" from the Pulse tour. The iconic guitar solo arrangement by David Gilmour!!!!

Rock was torn by the influence of other music and all sorts of complexities, but still remained human. The best era of rock music

With Yes, you can't just like music. You have to love it and appreciate. Every one of their tracks is a journey.😊

Hey glad you got around to this and youre doing better after getting sick! :) A lot of people are suggesting Gates as the next Yes epic and I agree its an awesome composition, but I highly suggest "Awaken" off Going for the One. Its considered their last true epic. My personal favorite.

Everybody usually says something like "The first part is very disjointed." But they forget that the first part of the suite is titled "The Solid Time of Change."

"Close To The Edge" is perfection, but so is "Awaken". I would never say nothing compares to CTTE. Yes have bangers all through the next 30 years after this.

Saw Yes open for Jethro Tull circa early 70s. Amazing show.

The song is based on Siddhartha, the story of the Buddha, and his enlightenment. Close to the edge, in the 60s and 70s meant close to madness. It also is a reference to the Thames R. in London, which flowed near Steve Howes apt. The I Get Up section is about St. Bernadette, a Joan of Arc 6:15 type story. Happy listening. 5:58

You analysis of the title is closer than you thikn. It was named by Bill Bruford to describe how close to the edge the band was. Bruford famously left afterwards to join King Crimson for their heavy jazz period.

Steve said the Lady in the song is Saint Bernadette.

The first five minutes is the weirdest mindfuck ever - absolute chaos

YES, probably the most creative band of all time!! By the way, great reaction, thanks.

Awesome! You finally got to it. Hope you liked it

Probably my favorite song ever. You can't possibly fully appreciate it completely on first listen so give it a few more shots. And don't worry about the lyrics - just go with the feelings they give you in little snippets that you get along with the music. This was written by Jon Anderson and Steve Howe and started out as several different songs that they wove together. Anderson is said to have gotten his initial inspiration from reading Lord of the Rings and listening to the classical composer Jean Sibelius, especially Symphony #7. Jon and Steve apparently liked the idea of opening with an improvisational jam having been influenced on a previous tour opening for the Mahavishvnu Orchestra (with John McLaughlin), an amazing jazz-rock fusion band. The 'I Get Up, I Get Down' middle section was written by Howe and to me it always feels like being in an enormous cavern because of the ethereal music combined with the dripping water. Both Steve's and Rick's work on this album is just amazing, and Chris and Bill are firing on all cylinders as well! I think the Hammond B3 organ solo is my favorite solo by Rick Wakeman and I'm a huge fan of his. Of course, the pipe organ work was incredible as well. Rick made some extra cash on the side as a young teen playing organ in his church, so was very familiar with playing one when he joined Yes. Rick is also the only classically trained member of the band having spent two years studying to be a concert pianist at the Royal College of Music in London, before leaving to become a full time rock musician. Rick really shows what he is capable of on this one. This album was actually very popular at the time and was their biggest commercial success hitting #3 on the charts in the US and #4 in the UK. Thanks for doing this amazing song. Listen again and you'll keep hearing more of what's going on and appreciate it more with each listen. Thanks for listening and sharing this amazing epic piece! Peace from San Francisco!

Glad the you're back reacting and that you are feeling better. You are correct, there is a lot more Yes to listen to. Fortunately, once you start, you stay on the path for a long, long time. I will leave you with a recommendation that is shorter than this track, and one of their more "hard driving" pieces (in part): Heart of the Sunrise. Stay healthy and looking forward to your next reaction(s).

You got another subscriber based on this. Best song or even work of art ever wrought by human hands etc etc so on. Yep another CTTE obsessive ❤❤

Yes, great solo by Rick W! Another great keyboard solo you'll find in "The Cinema Show" by Genesis. Next reaction? 😉

I'm closing in on 60yrs, and I STILL CRY.

Welcome back! And HOW!

All I will say about this amazing song is, the more you listen to it the better it gets!!

"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..." He's saying everything is going to be okay. I can't count the number of times I put on a YES album to intentionally take me out of a funk and help me to be gratefully happy, whatever the circumstance. I have loved YES since 1974.

Simply a MASTERPIECE ❤

I discovered Yes in the '80s and worked my way backwards into their catalog. When I got around to "Close to the Edge," I knew they were going to be my favorite band for life. Nothing will ever top this song for me, for so many reasons. Like you, I feel that the transition from the pipe organ to the last section is a little abrupt, and I wish they would have held on for another second or two before switching. But that's my only complaint, and the genius of the rest of the music more than makes up for it. Glad you enjoyed it!

Everyone's saying this is the best song ever, but Yes have a few that rival it. Awaken and Gates of Delerium are on the same level.

It's more than music. It's medicinal. Therapeutic.

Yes!!! Here we go!!!

I first heard this album when I was about 17 or so. It was a Christmas present from my friend. She bought it because she liked the cover. Neither of us knew anything about YES at that time. From the opening bars of this piece I was hooked! I literally cried out "This is it! THIS is what I wanted!" I will always remember that moment. To this day, I still get chills and still cry by the end of Close to the Edge. I'm now 69. YES has lost none of its magic over the decades. I'm glad you got hooked, too.

Also, very apt on the guess about Ska and Surf! A lot of the guys in the 80's and 90's who did ska and surf revival were, despite what you might think, really geeky about music and had a pretty diverse taste. Ska was a genre blend with jazz influences afterall, and Surf was not the style you'd go to as a couple bro dudes trying to be sexy on guitar-you'd want to be a grunge band

Glad you're feeling better, I've been really looking forward to your reaction to "Close to the Edge". I first discovered Yes in the 80's with "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and then started working my way backward through their catalogue.. That was great, and worth the wait.

Jazz fusion at it's best!!!!

You got it absolutely right on the highlighting of the instruments / musicians. It was like they were just showing off how freaking good they were.. like the best group of musicians int he whole world.. all the solos, melodys, voices, effects.. just perfection

The cadence on the ending by CS is aaaaamaaaaaaaaziiiing

Great reaction to a great song. One of the best. Subscribed.

Glad you love ‘Close To The Edge’. A wonderful reaction to a ‘Epic Masterpiece’. You’ll be listening to it many more times I imagine. Just like I have for the last 51 years since the day I bought it on release day, in 1972. Imagine hearing it Live, at your first Yes Concert, in 1973, as a 17 year old. I did. They played whole Album too. And the same Show, included the whole Double Album, ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’. As it was the ‘TFTO’ Tour. And just for good measure, ‘Roundabout’ as a encore. And you’ve not listened to ‘Awaken’ or ‘Turn Of The Century’ yet. From the ‘Going For The One’ Album. (1977). And you can’t leave ‘Relayer’ out. (1975). So much more genius music for you to enjoy. Just my own personal feelings here. 🎶❤️🎶

When I was in high school I tried to make sense of, not only these lyrics but, any Yes lyrics. I felt like an idiot y because I didn’t get it. It wasn’t till years later I read an interview with Jon Anderson where he envisioned himself not as just the vocalist but another instrument much like the guitar, bass or piano. He wrote the lyrics not for their meaning but for the sound it made coming out his mouth. So don’t ever try to make any sense out of Yes lyrics, if you do, it’s only in your own mind.

The song seems directly related to taking LSD and the psychedelic experience, with other themes coming into play, but with the key theme being marveling in existence. “Now that we’re all over and done, Now that you find, Now that you’re whole. I get up. I get down.” This is existential psychedelic music at its finest. Amazing

Thanks for your insightful reaction!

You were ready for this a long time ago. They have many other long epic songs.

An awesome song from I believe from 1996’s Keys To The Ascension Album is, “That, That Is”, pure YES.

Next on your ‘Yes journey’ should be their masterpiece “Gates of Delirium” from the ‘Relayer’ album. Should definitely check out “Soundchaser” as well, from the same album (Relayer).

51 years since I first fell in love with this piece and I'm still DAZZLED! Thanks for your intelligent, sensitive, acute reaction. You didn't miss a trick!

The River is the Thames in London. It is also metaphoric in that Hermann Hesse's Sidhartha he refers to the river as the continuum of life. Love your insight!