Yes’ fifth album, “Close to the Edge”, continued the band’s early winning streak. The 1972 release – their final album of the decade to feature drummer Bill Bruford and first to feature the band’s now-famous “bubble” logo type – featured just three songs (two of which had multiple movements). But they were sufficiently power-packed as to propel the LP to top five berths in both the U.K. and U.S. and eventual Platinum sales status. On March 7th, Rhino will revisit “Close to the Edge” as a 5CD/LP/Blu-ray set anchored by new surround (Dolby Atmos and 5.1) and stereo remixes by Steven Wilson. This Super Deluxe box follows in the footsteps of similarly lavish reissues of “The Yes Album” and “Fragile”.
Lead vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bill Bruford, guitarist Steve Howe, and keyboardist Rick Wakeman teamed with engineer and co-producer Eddie Offord at Advision Studios to record “Close to the Edge”. Offord sought to recreate the band’s powerful live sound in the studio, encapsulating the band’s majestic prog style on just three tracks.
The opening title track, at over 18 minutes in length, was the longest Yes had recorded. Incorporating sound effects, tape loops, and improvisational jams, “Close to the Edge” brimmed with ambition. Though Anderson reportedly gained initial inspiration from composer Sibelius and author J.R.R. Tolkien, he based his lyrics on themes from Hermann Hesse’s Siddartha. Anderson and Steve Howe merged disparate songs into the four-movement suite which occupied all of the original LP’s Side One. The second side opened with a 10+-minute epic, also with four distinct sections. “And You and I” incorporates folk and country influences; the track featured Bruford and Squire’s only songwriting credits on the album. The closing “Siberian Khatru,” composed by Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman, was a thrilling slice of heavy riff-rock borne out of collaboration within the band.
Generally recognized as one of the greatest prog-rock and guitar-rock albums of all time, “Close to the Edge” has been remixed by Steven Wilson (who previously tackled the album in 2013 for the Panegyric label). The original 1972 mix has been remastered by Bernie Grundman on CD 1 while Wilson’s remix and bonus instrumentals comprise CD 2. The third disc of rarities contains the single edits of “America” (a cover of Paul Simon’s moving Simon and Garfunkel ballad), “Total Mass Retain,” and “And You and I,” as well as various alternative versions and three new Wilson edits. The band’s December 16th, 1972 concert at London’s Rainbow Theatre (still standing today and in use as a church) debuts on CDs 4 and 5. The box set is rounded out by a Blu-ray with Wilson’s Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround remixes plus high-resolution stereo versions of both the 1972 and 2025 mixes; and a remastered LP of the original mix.
The expanded super deluxe edition of “Close to the Edge” on March 7th from Rhino. including a Rhino-exclusive bundle with a print signed by designer Roger Dean.
Yes, “Close to the Edge” reissued Atlantic/Rhino
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