Stop. Take a minute to think about our world now. Think about how focused they have become on making money, losing sight of what is truly important in a work of creative talent, artsmanship. One of the worst offenders of this is the music industry; a soulless mass of corporations looking for the next hit single for the radio, not attempting to show off their signed artists’ capabilities.

So let’s take a step back in time to the year 1972 (the release year of progressive rock band Yes’ album Close to the Edge). Recently, coming off the success of their album Fragile, Yes wanted to further improve their music, and to show the world exactly what they were capable of.

   Close to the Edge opens with an 18 minute epic that is split into multiple movements, and is both masterfully crafted and masterfully played. The first song, named after the album, begins with an offsetting tone. The band is seemingly doing whatever they want, not really appearing to be working together. But that’s just it. They are working together, and that’s part of the artsmanship. As the song progresses into its second movement, “Total Mass Retain,” it becomes a more simple jam, resolving the tension of the previous movement. The singer comes into play with his poetic lyrics and beautiful harmonies, which is a nice pace after the first movement. As the song continues, each minute seems to get more emotional, finally resolving with an organ solo played so powerfully by Rick Wakeman. It sends chills up my spine listening to it. And, the song ends exactly where it started, with that same offsetting tone and an elegant resolution.

   The second song on the album, “And You And I,” is also split into movements. However, it is intended to be both an emotional resolution to the first song, as it carries over the same atmosphere, and a song that stands on its own. The whole song is persuasive, with spine-chilling solos that make you want to tear up and let it all loose.

   The third and final song on the album starts with a hard guitar jam, but quickly the band realizes what the album needs, a climax to finalize all of the emotions that have been dug up through this venture. And that’s exactly what they do. This song is a journey through emotions too specific to define. When listening to it, people cannot help but close their eyes and wonder how a group of people could make them feel this way using just instruments and vocals. The whole band’s playing on this track is nothing short of powerful; it’s everything the word includes, and still everything the word forgets to mention.

   It is pretty clear that this album stands as one of the pivotal moments in the history of rock music. Not only does it stand as a testament of the old school approach to writing music, but as an example of how people can create something that manages to transcend the decades, and doesn’t feel old or outdated as time goes on. In fact, I’d argue that because of the direction that the music industry is propelling itself toward, time is really what allows this album to shine. It allows listeners to greater appreciate what can really be done with music.