Yes’ Close to the Edge represented a peak of British progressive rock when it first appeared in 1972. Comprising just three long tracks – Side One’s “Close to the Edge” and Side Two’s “And You and I” and “Siberian Khatru” – the fifth album by Yes pushed the limits of rock music by adopting quasi-classical musical forms and jazz-inspired improvisations. Lyrically, it delved into literary and philosophical allusions – many impervious to interpretation. Packaged in a pastoral-themed gatefold sleeve designed by Roger Dean, Close to the Edge represented rock music on a grand scale.
Rhino’s new Super Deluxe Edition gives Close to the Edge the royal treatment previously afforded other Yes classics, including The Yes Album in 2023 and Fragile in 2024. The seven-disc set includes five CDs, including a remaster of the original Close to the Edge, two 2025 remixed versions by Steven Wilson (one with vocals and one instrumental), a disc of rarities, and two CDs of a 1972 Yes performance at the Rainbow in London, England. An additional Blu-ray disc contains Wilson’s mix in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Mix DTS-HD MA formats. Finally, a vinyl LP presents Close to the Edge in the same remastered version as CD1. Liner notes by Syd Schwartz of social media’s Jazz and Coffee detail the recording and release history.
The most essential item in the box set is Close to the Edge itself. It was the second of only two studio LPs (1971’s Fragile was the other) to represent Yes’ most iconic lineup: vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and drummer Bill Bruford. Bruford and Wakeman would exit Yes within a year as the group entered a stagnant period of subpar albums and unstable lineups.
Tensions were already brewing during the making of Close to the Edge, which Bruford likened to “climbing Mount Everest”. Under the guidance of longtime producer Eddie Offord, Yes pieced together the three lengthy tracks from song snippets and improvised jams recorded at London’s Advision Studios.
The track “Close to the Edge” begins with a pastoral field recording of babbling water and chirping birds before a cacophonous overture – unlike anything Yes had recorded previously – comes crashing in. Guitarist Steve Howe credited the Mahavishnu Orchestra, who had opened for Yes on tour, with inspiring the group to take chances in the studio. “Close to the Edge” eventually settles into a more familiar Yes groove, as Chris Squire’s distinctive bass underpins Howe’s lyrical guitar lines.
The track hits its main stride as Jon Anderson delivers quasi-mystical lyrics alluding to Herman Hesse’s 1922 novel Siddhartha. Beach Boys-style harmonies by Anderson, Howe, and Squire drive home the refrain, “I Get Up I Get Down” – a leitmotif for the entire piece. Rick Wakeman’s keyboards, mixed low for the first half of the track (especially in the Steven Wilson mix), become more prominent later as a billowing pipe organ, and then a Moog synthesizer leads into the track’s climax. Wakeman’s cathartic Hammond organ solo towards the end of the track is a rare moment of pure rock and roll transcendence.
Side Two of Close to the Edge begins quietly. “And You and I” builds from a folk-inspired ditty showcasing Howe’s proficiency on acoustic instruments. Later, the track ascends to epic status with cosmic overtones enhanced by Wakeman’s swirling Mellotron. The finale arrives with the inscrutably titled “Siberian Khatru,” a funky rocker more straightforward than everything preceding it. Bill Bruford’s propulsive drumming and Chris Squire’s lockstep basslines belie the personal tensions underpinning Bruford’s departure.
Close to the Edge was hugely successful upon its release in September 1972. Within a month, it sold half a million units in the United States, reached number 3 on the Billboard 200, and made the top 5 on the UK Albums Chart. Yes – who had to relearn their studio-contrived parts to perform the album live – were among the era’s major concert headliners. In 1972, little else thrilled progressive rock fans as much as a new album from Yes.
This glory period would be short-lived. Some critics saw Close to the Edge as evidence that rock music had sunk into unbearable pretension. NME’s Ian MacDonald characterized the album as “meaningless magnificence” in a review shortly after its release. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called Close to the Edge “a waste” conceived by “a one-idea group”. Such comments anticipated the backlash against groups like Yes as the punk scene took root in the late 1970s. The records Yes made during the 1980s – Drama, 90125, and Big Generator – contemporized the group’s sound, but their status as progressive rock kings began to wobble.
Nowadays, when prog-rock is once again “acceptable”, Close to the Edge needs no apology. Rhino’s Super Deluxe Edition affirms the album’s status as a classic achievement exploring the outer limits of musical form. However, the set suffers from a certain amount of redundancy. Six versions of the record (CD, LP, plus four iterations by Steven Wilson) are more than anyone needs once the preferred mix and format have been chosen.
The “rarities” disc includes just one non-album song, a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America”, already included on the 1975 compilation Yesterdays and in last year’s Fragile box set. The rest of the tracks are studio outtakes, alternate mixes, and single edits (some original, some by Wilson) that add few insights into the main album.
More novel are two discs containing the Yes performance at London’s the Rainbow on 16 December 1972. Comprising material from Close to the Edge and Fragile, the CDs provide a time capsule of classic Yes at its peak as a live band. Again, some of the material mirrors previous releases. Takes of “Close to the Edge” and “Starship Trooper” from the Rainbow appeared on 1973’s triple LP set Yessongs, and seven other shows from the same tour appeared in the 2015 box set Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two.
The Super Deluxe Edition of Yes’ Close to the Edge is potentially an audiophile’s delight, given the inclusion of many formats to experience the album. Beyond that niche, its appeal is limited – especially given its paucity of previously unreleased material. Steven Wilson’s remixes tame some of the high-end in the original set. Still, to my ears, the original mix – available in remastered form on a single CD or LP since 2013 – sounds adequate for a record whose strengths were already apparent upon its inception.