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"...Emotions Revealed..."
Published
by Backbeat Books in early March 2017 (only weeks ago) - across its 304
oversized pages the acclaimed New Yorker and Music Journalist puts up a strong
case for "Close To The Edge" being 'the' greatest album of the Prog
Genre. I don't know about that personally - how about Genesis and the
magnificent "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" double on Charisma in
late 1974 or the single LPs "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" on Bearsville
(again late 1974) or even Jon Anderson's own solo debut "Olias Of
Sunhillow" in July 1976 (and so on)?
You
could of course argue that point until the Topographic Oceans come home - but what isn't deniable is
that the three tracks on this one YES album from September 1972
have spawned four and a half decades of devotion, endless critique and even awe
amidst those who rather get a rash on their favourite appendage than listen to
Progressive Rock. The layered multiple-parts "Close To The Edge" has had legs and for many
is a pinnacle of many musical sorts. But which issue of CTTE do you buy? I want to
concentrate on that...
This
new 11 November 2013 Reissue/Remaster of "Close To The Edge" by YES
on their own 'Panegyric' label comes in two forms:
The CD+DVD issue in standard 5" card packaging on Panegyric GYRSP50012 (Barcode 633367900128)
Or
a CD+BLU RAY issue in Mini LP Sized packaging (roughly 6") on Panegyric
GYRBD50012 (Barcode 633367900227).
Both
variants feature new Remasters from STEVEN WILSON of Porcupine Tree and
Exclusive Bonus Material. This review will concentrate on the CD/DVD variant.
Disc
1 - Definitive Edition CD (66:31 minutes):
1.
Close To The Edge (18:43 minutes)
(i)
The Solid Time Of Change
(ii)
Total Mass Retain
(iii)
I Get Up I Get Down
(iv)
Seasons Of Man
2.
And You And I (10:09 minutes)
(i)
Cord Of Life
(ii)
Eclipse
(iii)
The Preacher The Teacher
(iv)
The Apocalypse
3.
Siberian Khatru (9:03 minutes)
Tracks
1 to 3 are their 5th studio album "Close To The Edge" - released
September 1972 in the UK on Atlantic K 50012 and September 1972 in the USA on
Atlantic SD 7244. Produced by EDDY OFFORD - it peaked at No. 4 in the UK and
No. 3 in the USA.
ADDITIONAL
TRACKS:
4.
America (10:31 minutes)
5.
Close To The Edge - Early Assembly/Rough Mix (18:42 minutes)
Disc 2 - DEFINITIVE
EDITION DVD-A:
2013
Stereo Mixes - 24-bit / 96kHz MLP Lossless
1.
Close To The Edge (18:43 minutes)
2.
And You And I (10:09 minutes)
3.
Siberian Khatru (9:01minutes)
5.1
Surround Mixes - MLP Lossless DTS 96/24
1.
Close To The Edge (18:43 minutes)
2.
And You And I (10:09 minutes)
3.
Siberian Khatru (9:01minutes)
2013
Stereo and 5.1 Surround mixed and produced from the original multi-track tapes
by Steve Wilson
Original
Stereo Mixes - Flat Transfer From original Master LPCM Stereo 24/96
1.
Close To The Edge (18:43 minutes)
2.
And You And I (10:09 minutes)
3.
Siberian Khatru (9:01minutes)
AMERICA:
1.
America (10:31 minutes) - 5.1 Surround Mix - 24/96 MLP Lossless/DTS 96/24
2.
America (10:31 minutes) - 2013 Stereo Mix - 24/96 MLP Lossless & LPCM 24/96
3.
America (10:31 minutes) - Original Mix - Flat Transfer From The Original Master
- LPCM Stereo 24/96
ADDITIONAL
MATERIAL:
Alternate
Album - LCPM Stereo 24/48
1.
Close To The Edge (Early Assembly - Rough Mix) - 17:42 minutes
2.
And You And I (Alternate Version) - 10:18 minutes
3.
Siberia (Studio Run Through of Siberian Khatru) - 9:20 minutes
SINGLE
VERSIONS & EDITS - LPCM Stereo 24/48:
1.
Total Mass Retain - Single Version (3:21 minutes)
2.
And You And I - Promo Single Version in Mono (3:29 minutes)
3.
America - Single Version (4:13 minutes)
YES
was:
JON
ANDERSON - Vocals
STEVE
HOWE - Guitars and Vocals
RICK
WAKEMAN - Keyboards
CHRIS
SQUIRE - Bass and Vocals
BILL
BRUFORD - Drums and Percussion
A
20-page fact-filled picture-festooned booklet sits uncomfortably in-between a
2-disc card digipak – itself inside a card slipcase. The famous Roger Dean
artwork is all accounted for – that inner CTTE panorama painting that took up
the whole of the inner gatefold takes pride of place on the inner pages while the
equally cool/beautiful lyric bag that came with original LPs is featured in all
its Roger Dean text/greenness towards the end of the booklet (how I poured over
those words back in the day – trying to read and understand was a job in
itself). Next to all that techno mumbo-jumbo I had to type out above are
picture sleeves of rare 45 edits for "America", "And You And
I" and "Total Mass Retain" from around the world – Portugal,
Germany, Spain, Holland and Turkey. A very sweet touch is three unused
paintings from Roger Dean - ‘mountain landscapes’ used both in the booklet and
as pictures for each disc.
Bill
Bruford famously found the recording of the album seriously stressful – so left
at recordings end. His face is craftily replaced with Alan White (the new
drummer) in an American Trade Advert for the LP. But best of all is a truly
spectacular photo from a distance of a giant billboard on Sunset Boulevard, Los
Angeles at the album’s release in September 1972. Dean’s inner gatefold sleeve
painting is given full reign – at least fifty feet in diameter with that
gorgeous YES logo sat above it (Roger Dean took the photo). Concert tickets
from the early 1972 “Fragile” Tour are pictured - the Manchester Free Trade
Hall in the UK and the Tucson Community Center and Cobo Arena in Detroit.
There’s even hand-written instructions on the artwork from Roger Dean’s own
archives and of course that side profile photo of Engineer and Producer Eddy
Offord that graced the rear sleeve – a name synonymous with YES and their unique
sound.
For
all of its prettiness (and I’ve said this of each of these Panegyric reissues)
– I find the CD+DVD variants just that tiny bit ordinary in their presentation.
Noted writer and Prog Rock fan SID SMITH provides the new liner notes and
they’re insightful, balanced and feature reminiscences from band members
including the sorely missed Chris Squire. But it still feels like a lot of the
flat transfers are unnecessary padding and the overall tactile feel could have
been so much more expansive. The slightly larger CD+BLU RAY variant carries
more stuff – so that may be your poison of choice. Let’s get the music...
For
the first four albums of their extraordinary career – Yes had been a covers
band gradually premiering increasing amounts of highly original material. Even
"Fragile" from the year prior (November 1971) had featured a cheeky
interpretation of Brahms' Fourth Symphony in "Cans And Brahms".
1972's "Close To The Edge" changed all of that. It was bold, original
and out of its own perch. Three songs - one of whom was a side long piece in
four parts of nearly twenty minutes - a feature that would dominate in the
unlikely No. 1 double-album "Tales From Topographic Oceans" in 1973
and the Patrick Moraz line up for 1974's equally brilliant "Relayer"
in 1974. The technical wizardry of Producer Eddy Offord and Roger Dean's
beautiful otherworldly artwork were also now as much part of Yes The Band as
was their Progressive Rock sound.
As
the echoed birds and flowing streams and imagined noises of another
interplanetary plane slink their way into your living room for Part 1’s
"The Solid Time Of Change" – you can feel the experimentation and
brilliance of the music. And even now as I re-listen to it for the umpteenth
time (and having lived through King Crimson and ELP and their albums prior to
CTTE in 1969, 1970 and 1971) – that wild odd time-signature guitar piece that follows
the lead in is amazing – no prisoners – you dig in or you butt out. The audio
transfer here is just amazing – Wilson having wrenched nuances I didn't notice
nor hear before. Howe's Guitar is clearer – Squire's Rickenbacker Bass is
warmer – Anderson's falsetto voice and those multi-layered lyrics – Wakeman's
side-long contributions on every imaginable keyboard including church organs –
Bruford doing a sterling job trying to keep up with the ambition of the whole
thing. By the time I reach the glory of "I Get Up, I Get Down" where
the soundscape is floating towards me like the Star Child at the end of
Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" – I’m blubbing like a sappy
schoolboy whose discovered an extra cake in his lunchbox.
The
same applies to the Acoustic beginning of "And You And I" over on
Side 2– that wall of six and twelve string guitars – utterly gorgeous. The
impact of the Remaster is so damn good and I'd honestly forgotten about the
chops and changes in "Siberian Khatru" - the brilliance of it. Like
most fans I bought (and still have) my copy of "Yesterdays" in 1975 -
the compilation LP that first featured their ten-minute reinterpretation of
Simon and Garfunkel's "America". It makes for a smart bonus track -
Howe letting rip on the guitars - apparently influenced by the unlikely duo of
Duane Eddy and Delaney Bramlett. But the studio assembly 'run-through' of the
slightly shorter "Close To The Edge" is fascinating. "Part 2's
"Total Mass Retain" and Part 4's "Seasons Of Man" have
these subtle playing differences that feel like Howe is searching for that
right note. "Siberia" - an early "Siberian Khatru" - hears
Bruford count in Howe as the guitarist launches into that almost (dare we say
it) commercial riff. You can literally 'hear' the months of painstaking work in
these outtake glimpses - how the whole was gradually built (rehearsing the
material for a month, studio time for two).
I
don't have 5.1 Surround myself but a mate of mine does. Popped round for that
and again the Wilson Remaster is an awesome thing to hear - a great big streak
of kit-envy racing through me - like hearing the instrument-reveal on those old
Quadrophonic Records in 1974 - only way better. I keep saying it but I'm going
to have to invest in 5.1. - Damn!
My
son Sean is 22 and a budding self-taught guitarist - he's up for anything
that's musically 'interesting' or pushing the boundaries. A tad suspicious but
oddly drawn to it at the same time - he looks on Prog Rock as a fine line
between brilliance and indulgence. I played him this variant of "Close To
The Edge" and his jaw dropped - and not just from Howe's playing both on
the Electric and Acoustic - but the whole band gelling in this complicated
masterpiece.
Floating
worlds - mountaintop lakes - Pandora cliffs - the symbolic geography of
Siddhartha - jigsaw puzzle Rock music - I've loved "Close To The
Edge" for over 45 years and this reissue of it has brought that love full
circle. Man I even drew the CTTE logo – RD stylee - on my schoolbooks (oh
dear)...
"...All
complete in the sight of seeds of life with you..." Jon Anderson sings on
"Cord Of Life" - the first verse in "And You And I". Count
me in - in 4/3-time baby...
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