SATCHMO

And You and I kinda' bores me outside of the context of the whole album. I think it's a good song, but I kinda' disagree with you in that it's the opening title track that really grabs me and primes my attention for the rest of the album.

Guybrush

Although I don't find anything on the album boring, I mostly agree with you and, as I wrote, the title track is my favourite on the album. When I listen to the album, I usually listen to the whole thing (all 3 tracks) and enjoy all of it. My last post was written not to prog or Yes fans, but more to those who might pick up this on a recommendation, then have a hard time with the first few minutes. My suggestion then is if "Close to the Edge" puts you off, try "And You And I" first.

Still, I think the absolute best thing to do if you have a hard time with Close to the Edge (track or album) is read a bit about it so you understand it conceptually .. which is why I even earlier recommended looking up a review on the site Prog albums are usually not "easy" and even an immortal classic like this one might be hard on someone who's new to early prog.

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Something Completely Different

SATCHMO

Yeah, I guess I actually agree with you then. For And You and I I should put extra emphasis on "outside of the context of the whole album", because I think that what makes it so great is that its relative position between Close to the Edge and Siberian Khatru brings cohesion to the album and a little contrast in dynamic to mix things up a bit.
While I do agree that Close to the Edge is arguably Yes' greatest album, I don't agree that it's a good primer for newcomers to Yes or Prog itself. If I had to pick a Yes album for that I would probably pick The Yes Album.

boo boo

What SATCHMO said. Yes Album and Fragile are the places to start. Those were the albums where they found their progressive sound but at the same time it's the most accessible work of that era.

Then I'd recommend Close to the Edge and those that are especially keen to The Yes Album should check out Time and Word, half of it is covers but it's very good and one of the more underrated Yes albums.

Only if you really like Close to the Edge would I recommend the more experimental stuff that followed. Tales, Relayer, GFTO. A period of Yes's career that seems to devide a lot of people, they either love it or hate it.

I think Tales and Relayer are on par with The Yes Album in quality, I know a lot of people disagree.

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

SATCHMO

Tales and Relayer are both albums that can't be judged upon a single listen. They take a little familiarity to appreciate.

boo boo

Exactly. That's the way it is with most prog, it grows on you. Most people expect to like things on a first listen and that's why prog gets very little credit, it's not that kinda music.

Tales especially took some time, but now I think it's brilliant. My only beef with it is that they could have done without The Ancient, which may very well be the longest filler track in music history.

That and Ritual should have been 5 minutes shorter. The drum solo near the end just feels ridiculously out of place.

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

coryallen2

What album is loved by the sun on?

coryallen2

O its in the end of this movie and I guess it's just Jon Anderson and Tangerine Dream... Correct me if i'm wrong.

boo boo

Yeah it's Tangerine Dream with vocals by Jon Anderson, non of the other Yes guys had anything to do with it.

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

coryallen2

Dang, That is a great song though is'nt it.