The cover of Yes' Close to the Edge was a relatively simple one, with Roger Dean's freshly-minted "bubble type" logo atop a color gradient from black to green.  But the contents within the jacket - Yes' fifth album overall, and final LP of the decade to feature drummer Bill Bruford - were anything but simple.  Building on the sound and style of 1971's Fragile, Close to the Edge was an even more ambitious suite crafted by lead vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bruford, guitarist Steve Howe, and keyboardist Rick Wakeman in association with co-producer Eddie Offord.  The album crystallized the band's determination to push the envelopes of pop and the nascent rock (only recently shorn of the "and roll") genres by fusing classical and jazz with heavy instrumentation and a dash of the avant-garde.  They largely succeeded, creating an album for the ages as well as a benchmark of progressive rock: pastoral and futuristic, whimsical and grandiose.

Close to the Edge now been revisited by Rhino in a 5CD/LP/Blu-ray set.  This is the same familiar format as past reissues of The Yes Album and Fragile as well as a number of titles from Fleetwood Mac and Ramones.  Anchored by Steven Wilson's new remixes in stereo, Dolby Atmos, and DTS-HD 5.1 surround, Close to the Edge has arguably never sounded better.  An array of bonus material, including a live show, fills out the impressive package.

This 2025 edition isn't the first time Steven Wilson has tackled Close to the Edge; he previously remixed the LP into stereo and surround in 2013 for the Panegyric label.  His new mixes here stem from a deep understanding of, and appreciation for, the original album as produced by Yes and Eddie Offord.  Expectedly, the surround mixes shine most brightly here.  Whether in 5.1 or Atmos (which can be played back on a standard 5.1 system despite the lack of the overhead height channels; the format will transmit that information to the existing speakers), Wilson's mix is immersive and discrete.  The bandmates' individual contributions are delineated with precise detail as the instruments swirl around the room; when the voices enter on the first part of "Close to the Edge," their placement excitingly jolts the listener.  It's suitably trippy, befitting Jon Anderson's stream-of-consciousness poetry rendered as lyrics, and the band's shifting melodic themes and motifs.

Anderson and Howe's epic four-movement, 19-minute title track occupied the first side of the original LP; in Wilson's dazzling new mixes (on CD 2 or the Blu-ray) but also in in Bernie Grundman's remaster of the original version on CD 1 or the vinyl LP here, it remains a spellbinding display of tension and release, alternately unsettling and tranquil.  Muscular rock, stately classicism, and an adventurous jazz spirit all can be found in "Close to the Edge."  Incorporating sound effects, a church pipe organ, and Beach Boys/Association-inspired harmonies (and that's just to name a few elements!), it proved the culmination of Yes' creativity to that point.

Anderson, Bruford, Howe, and Squire's four-movement "And You and I," the original Side Two opener, delicately melds the acoustic and the electric, and the earthy and the ethereal.  Howe's guitars lend the composition(s) a folk air, while Wakeman layers on orchestral pomp with the Mellotron and Minimoog.  Squire's nimble bass dazzles.  "Siberian Khatru," by Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman, closes the album on a heavy note.  Yet despite its thunderous pomp led by Howe's blazing guitar riff, it's also a deeply funky track anchored by Squire's furious, proto-metal bass and embellished with such distinctive and unexpected flourishes as Wakeman's harpsichord - in other words, quintessentially Yes.

The new box set seeks to deepen one's appreciation of Close to the Edge with a bounty of bonus material.  Steven Wilson's instrumental remixes follow his album remix on the second disc (and are reprised in high resolution on the Blu-ray).  All but the most obsessive fan of the album will likely find something new to hear in these stripped-down instrumental versions.  CD 3, Rarities, offers one fascinating curio after another, kicking off with the edited single version of the band's cover of Paul Simon's "America."  It's an understatement to say that Yes radically reworked the melody of the Simon and Garfunkel classic with their prog arrangement; if its delicacy and beauty were steamrolled, the ballad nonetheless provided a jumping-off point for typically tight playing and jazz-flavored invention.  "America" is presented here alongside the rare "Dry Mix" of the full-length version which premiered on a 1972 compilation album and was later supplanted on various issues by a reverb-added mix.  There's more tasty soloing in the long version, as well as a clever musical tip of the hat to Bernstein and Sondheim's West Side Story song of the same title.

The B-side of the "America" edit, a severely edited "Total Mass Retain" from the "Close to the Edge" suite, illustrates Atlantic's attempt to gain airplay for the band on pop radio.  The promotional radio version of "And You and I" is also included, distilling the sprawling track into a digestible and appealing three-and-a-half-minutes that just might have inspired listeners to seek out the full recording.  A handful of rehearsals, rough mixes, and alternate versions have been reprised from the 2003 and 2013 reissues from Rhino and Panegyric, respectively.  Steven Wilson rounds out the disc with new, well-crafted edits of "Siberian Khatru," "Cord of Life," and "Total Mass Retain" emphasizing the most melodic bits of each - in effect, creating hits that never were.

The fourth and fifth CDs premiere a concert from London's Rainbow Theatre, recorded on December 16, 1972 - a couple of months following the release of Close to the Edge.  The entire album was performed as well as the still-recent "Roundabout" and "Heart of the Sunrise" from Fragile and, going back further, "Yours Is No Disgrace," "I've Seen All Good People" and "Starship Trooper" from The Yes Album.  Rick Wakeman was on the cusp of releasing his second studio album, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, in January 1973 and took the opportunity to present some highlights for the London crowd in a solo turn.  (Alas, Steve Howe's solo spot has been omitted.)  Portions of the December 15-16 Rainbow shows were heard on the original 1973 Yessongs live album, and numerous gigs from the same tour were included on the 2015 Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two box set.  So, if there are few surprises here, the contents are nonetheless enjoyable.  Yes thrived as much onstage as in the studio, and there's a palpable spontaneity here as well as a somewhat more ragged, gritty approach which suitably contrasts the studio album.  With Bill Bruford having departed the band to join King Crimson, Alan White is behind the drum kit.  He ended up staying until his death in 2022.

The newly-upgraded Close to the Edge includes a 12-page booklet with photos, lyrics, and an appreciation and history of the album by Syd Schwartz of the Jazz and Coffee blog.  CD 1 and the Blu-ray are housed in individual paper sleeves, while CDs 2-4 are stored on spindles.  Happily, the discs are adorned with replica Atlantic labels.

Despite personnel changes and sonic shifts, Yes' success streak would continue largely unabated throughout the 1970s; the band would subsequently score its best-selling album to date with 1983's 90125, an embrace of the then-contemporary pop ethos.  Steve Howe, back in the band since 2009, led Yes' most recent studio album in 2023.  Yet Close to the Edge remains arguably the closest Yes got to perfection.  Steven Wilson's 2025 mixes as heard on this set afford a welcome opportunity to revisit it anew.​

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