News | Reviews | Day In Rock




Advertisement




Yes In the Studio For 'Close To The Edge' 50th Anniversary (2022 In Review)

Michael Angulia | 12-29-2022

Promo of the album's anniversary tour

Yes In the Studio For 'Close To The Edge' 50th Anniversary was a top 22 story from September 2022: The 50th anniversary of prog legend Yes' "Close To The Edge" album is being celebrated by the syndicated radio show In The Studio With Redbeard: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands.

Redbeard had this to say, "The third jewel in the YES triple crown recorded in barely a year, YES Close to the Edge released in September 1972 is, for some fans, arguably their best. But there is no argument that Close to the Edge, even fifty years later, is on every Progressive Rock fan's Top Five all time list. We gather four of the brilliantly gifted YES musicians who made it here In the Studio, including vocalist/lyricist Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Bill Buford, and keyboard player Rick Wakeman to recall fondly creating and recording 'Siberian Khatru','And You and I', and the epic eighteen minute 'Close to the Edge'.

"Many of the post-British Invasion bands were approaching the rock idiom seriously by 1972, the peak year for this 'progressive ' rock movement which had matured with spectacular results, both artistically and commercially. It was the result of a combination of new technology ( the Mellotron , which crudely emulated choral and orchestral sounds ) and restless frustration with Pop music's self-imposed unwritten rules, with an increasing number of British and European bands expanding rock's canvas, musically and lyrically, without the slightest consideration to the Pop hit mainstream. Londoners YES released Close to the Edge ( Rolling Stone magazine ranked #445 on their Top 500 Albums of All Time) barely a scant nine months after their breakthrough album Fragile, while Trilogy from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, as well as Foxtrot from the Peter Gabriel-led Genesis, had critics raving and cash registers ringing. Of course all of this would culminate in Spring 1973 with the incomparable Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon , an iconic masterpiece which long ago threw off any binds imparted by categorization as progressive rock, but not before both Jethro Tull's Thick As a Brick and the Moody Blues' Seventh Sojourn would each rack up #1 international sales in 1972.

"Close to the Edge was stunningly popular, with Top Five sales in both the U.S. and UK. In these thoughtful, detailed classic rock interviews, YES lead singer/lyricist Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe, extraordinary drummer Bill Bruford, and keyboard innovator Rick Wakeman provide a surprisingly candid recounting of the undisputed peak of the Progressive Rock era. While it took them barely 18 months to write and record The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge, it took almost thirty years for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's version of the Warren Commission to deny any conspiracy to bar Yes from induction. But it wasn't soon enough for YES co-founder Chris Squire, who died prior to the Rock Hall relenting in 2017. And now we have lost soft-spoken, hard-hitting drummer Alan White as well, who joined YES for the Close to the Edge tour and remained for fifty years." Stream the episode here.

Related Stories

Yes Fire Back About Lawsuit Over Alleged Song Theft

Winona Fighter Announce Yes, Chef Tour

Melanie Fiona Returns With 'Say Yes' and 'I Choose You'

The Chameleons Deliver 'Tomorrow Remember Yesterday' EP

The Chameleons Releasing 'Tomorrow Remember Yesterday' Next Month


Advertisement



Latest News

The Youngbloods Frontman Jesse Colin Young Has Died

Lou Gramm Reunites With Foreigner During Florida Concert

New Van Halen Album Rumor Addressed By Steve Lukather

Gotthard Rock Beatles Classic 'Drive My Car'

Guster and The Mountain Goats Teaming Up For U.S. Tour

Belouis Some Announces First U.S. Tour Dates Since 1985

Paul Di'Anno's In Memory Of Arriving In May

Glass Animals Add North American Leg To Their Tour of Earth


Day in Rock:

New Van Halen Album Rumor Addressed By Steve Lukather- Def Leppard, Bret Michaels, The Struts, and Extreme Summer Tour- Collective Soul- more

Rush Stars Were Set To Play Ozzy Osbourne's Final Concert- Traffic Legend Dave Mason Hospitalized With Series Infection- more

Earth, Wind & Fire Plot New Las Vegas Residency- JENNIE Sells Over 1 Million Copies Of Rudy Its First Week- more


Reviews

Dr. John - Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya: Singles 1968-1974

Jethro Tull - Curious Ruminant

Root 66: Chris Berardo, Slaw, Wonderly and More

Sites and Sounds: Cheap Trick to Headline Pure Imagination Festival in Arizona

Road Trip: A Music Fan's Guide to Clarksville, Tennessee


Contact Us - Privacy

Copyright 2023 Iconoclast Entertainment Group All rights reserved.