Close to the Edge

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Template:Album infobox Close to the Edge is the fifth album by British progressive rock band Yes. In June 1972, just as recording ended, drummer Bill Bruford suddenly left the line-up (to play with King Crimson), forcing Yes to find a replacement (ex-Plastic Ono band drummer Alan White) before starting a new US tour.

Close to the Edge set a trend for Yes of including a single epic song significantly longer than the others which was followed in the later albums Relayer (which featured "The Gates of Delirium") and Going for the One (1977) (which featured "Awaken").

The religious influences introduced by Jon Anderson, which later formed the basis of Tales from Topographic Oceans, are already evident in the music and lyrics of all three tracks on Close to the Edge. Renewal and repetition are other main themes; the title track starts and finishes with the same sound effects of running water and birds and in "Siberian Khatru" there is the repetition of two-word phrases.

According to the band's official website, Yesworld, the song is inspired by Hermann Hesse's book Siddhartha, an explanation which can cast the cryptic and mysterious lyrics in a new light, tracking the awakening of Hesse's character "close to the edge" of a river (and, symbolically, of the serial lifetimes of his soul) where he experiences a spiritual awakening.

The album was released on Atlantic Records in September 1972. It reached #4 in the UK and a career high of #3 in the US.

The cover art was by Roger Dean. Some of the photography for the album sleeve was by bass player Chris Squire's former bandmate in The Selfs and The Syn, Martyn Adelman.

Many consider Close to the Edge to be not only the greatest album in Yes' discography, but the best album of the progressive and art rock genres.

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Track listing

"Close to the Edge" (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe) - 18:41
1. "The Solid Time of Change"
2. "Total Mass Retain"
3. "I Get Up I Get Down"
4. "Seasons of Man" Image:Sound-icon.png (song sample - 176K)
"And You and I" (Jon Anderson; Themes by Bill Bruford/Steve Howe/Chris Squire) - 10:08
1. "Cord of Life"
2. "Eclipse" (Jon Anderson/Bill Bruford/Steve Howe)
3. "The Preacher the Teacher"
4. "Apocalypse"
"Siberian Khatru" (Jon Anderson; Themes by Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman) - 8:55