Close to the Edge is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released in the UK on 8 September 1972 and in the United States on 13 September 1972 by Atlantic Records. Comprising just three extensive tracks, the record represents a peak in the group's 1970s progressive era. It is their final album until Union to feature original drummer Bill Bruford, who found the painstaking recording sessions intensely laborious—influencing his decision to leave Yes to join King Crimson prior to the album's release. Following the commercial success and promotional tour for their previous album Fragile, Yes regrouped with producer and engineer Eddy Offord at Advision Studios in London to record a follow-up. Anderson and Howe compiled various musical sketches written on tour, which were meticulously assembled in the studio through a democratic, section-by-section arrangement process. The album's centrepiece is the 18-minute title track, an ambitious four-movement suite with lyrical themes inspired by the Hermann Hesse novel Siddhartha. Side two features two contrasting pieces: the pastoral, folk-infused "And You and I" and the hard-driving rocker "Siberian Khatru". From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_t...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)