I have ofter wondered to myself if I could erase my knowledge of a classic album, then hear it again, would I end up liking it all over, or would it be a product of the time and place all those many years ago.
Well, CLOSE TO THE EDGE sort of fits that bill, mostly because I never owned it, and I don't even remember hearing it in the past. My YES listening over the past 30+ years has been "The Yes Album" and "Fragile". I never really got into anything else.
So, along comes a test copy of "CLOSE TO THE EDGE" for me, under a non-disclosure agreement, to check out on various players, in the car, and check for errors with menu's and such. The best part about doing this is that I get to hear the preliminary disc early. Can't tell anyone, but it's great to get all fired up and have a new DVD-A for the car.
Well, I have to tell you, I have been listening and listening to this album, and what the hell? How did I miss it. I LOVE IT!! (Well, at lest the first two songs). I keep playing them over and over. I still need to appreciate the third tune, but I really like the first two.
First off, you better have a center channel and a good center speaker, because the lead vocals are solo'd in the center. I know some of you don't like this, but Steven does this better than anyone, and it really shines in the car - as well as at home. But in the car, WOW!!
About 10 minutes into the first tune, the surround really envelopes the listener, as the rears and fronts have a vocal choir effect surrounding the listener, almost in a cathedral like manor. Then, the lead vocal "It get up, I get down" comes solo from the center. WOW! WOW! WOW!
I want to make a track marker here so I can go back to it for demo purposes. What an amazing job by Steven. To me, this is the center piece of the surround mix. The entire track is gorgeous in surround, and I'm really a first time listener. You guys who love this album will be blown away.
Track Two, "You and I", is tremendous as well. Superb use of the surrounds, and although I never owned this album, this was the tune I sort of remembered, but not in detail.
When this gets released in a few weeks, I'll be back with more. The beta testers got permission to review this disc today, so you may hear from a few more folks, but I already know this is a 10 for me.
And if anyone thinks I'm "sucking up to Steven", or anyone, well think what you want. I LOVE THIS DISC!!! :banana: