Yes: Close to the Edge Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Yes: Close to the Edge Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 10, 2025

Regular readers here often look forward to our annual December Top Ten List of various reviewers' favorite releases from the previous twelve months (give or take). Two or three years ago I broke the rules (what else is new?) by placing A24 rather than a single film in my top spot, and then I repeated my refusal to follow the customary way of doing things again last year by offering Blu-ray Audio in my top spot, since 2024 was such a banner year for hi res audio (the link points to the 2024 aggregation of reviewers' choices, including mine). For those wondering why I might have made that somewhat unusual choice, as well as why I particularly singled out Warner Music Group and Rhino, look no further than this stunning new version of one of Yes' best remembered albums. Yes has already been rather well served by Rhino courtesy of both Yes: The Yes Album and Yes: Fragile (one of the 2024 releases that spurred me on to make the above Top Ten choice), both of which offer really spectacular remix work from the venerable Steven Wilson, who also lends his particular brand of sonic magic to this release.

The Blu-ray's track list can be seen in the screenshots of the disc menu I've uploaded to accompany this review. The other discs (CDs) in this set offer the following:

CD 1: Original Album Remastered

• 1. Close To The Edge (2025 Remaster)

  I. The Solid Time of Change

  II. Total Mass Retain

  III. I Get Up I Get Down

  IV. Seasons of Man

• 2. And You and I (2025 Remaster)

  I. Cord of Life

  II. Eclipse

  III. The Preacher The Teacher

  IV. Apocalypse

• 3. Siberian Khatru (2025 Remaster)

CD 2: Steven Wilson 2025 Remix and Instrumentals

• 1. Close To The Edge (2025 Steven Wilson Remix)

  I. The Solid Time of Change

  II. Total Mass Retain

  III. I Get Up I Get Down

  IV. Seasons of Man

• 2. And You and I (2025 Steven Wilson Remix)

  I. Cord of Life

  II. Eclipse

  III. The Preacher The Teacher

  IV. Apocalypse

• 3. Siberian Khatru (2025 Steven Wilson Remix)


• 4. Close To The Edge (2025 Steven Wilson Remix) [Instrumental]

  I. The Solid Time of Change

  II. Total Mass Retain

  III. I Get Up I Get Down

  IV. Seasons of Man

• 5. And You and I (2025 Steven Wilson Remix) [Instrumental]

  I. Cord of Life

  II. Eclipse

  III. The Preacher The Teacher

  IV. Apocalypse

• 6. Siberian Khatru (2025 Remaster) [Instrumental]

CD 3: Rarities

• 1. America (Single Version) [2025 Remaster]
• 2. Total Mass Retain (Single Version) [2025 Remaster]
• 3. And You and I (Promo Radio Edit) [2025 Remaster]
• 4. Siberia (Studio Run-Through of “Siberian Khatru”) [2025 Remaster]
• 5. Close To The Edge (Rough Mix) [2025 Remaster]

I. The Solid Time of Change

II. Total Mass Retain

III. I Get Up I Get Down

IV. Seasons of Man

• 6. And You and I (Alternate Version) [2025 Remaster]

I. Cord of Life

II. Eclipse

III. The Preacher The Teacher

IV. Apocalypse

• 7. America (“Dry” Mix)
• 8. Siberian Khatru (Steven Wilson Edit)
• 9. Cord of Life (Steven Wilson Edit)
• 10. Total Mass Retain (Steven Wilson Edit)

CD 4: Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72

• 1. Siberian Khatru (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)
• 2. I’ve Seen All Good People (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)

a. Your Move

b. All Good People

• 3. Heart of the Sunrise (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)
• 4. And You and I (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)

I. Cord of Life

II. Eclipse

III. The Preacher The Teacher

IV. Apocalypse

• 5. Close To The Edge (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)

I. The Solid Time of Change

II. Total Mass Retain

III. I Get Up I Get Down

IV. Seasons of Man

CD 5: Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72

• 1. Excerpts From “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)
• 2. Roundabout (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)
• 3. Yours Is No Disgrace (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)
• 4. Starship Trooper (Live at The Rainbow, London, England, 12/16/72)

a. Life Seeker

b. Disillusion

c. Würm

An LP (you know, vinyl) is also included (with the same track list as CD 1), cut from the original analog master by the legendary Bernie Grundman.

Yes: Close to the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While I'm not giving this release an "official" video score, much as with Yes: Fragile, the menu here is slightly animated, with the clouds wafting across the image.

Yes: Close to the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Yes: Close to the Edge features Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options on the Blu-ray disc. Rhino has frankly not been consistent in how it authors its discs in terms of how you can navigate between codecs. In this particular instance, there's good news and bad news. Let's start with the less fortunate aspect: you can't use the colored buttons on your remote to toggle, and even getting to the listing of options on the menu requires navigating to the bottom each time. The good news: the song/album doesn't start over when you change, though my system experienced a brief handshake issue. As I've attempted to show in the screenshots of the disc menu, a selected item turns yellow with an underline, while toggling to other selections turns those selection titles green until they're actually selected, at which point they turn yellow. That probably niggling qualm aside, how does this disc actually sound? To put it simply: gorgeous. This is another really stunning Atmos mix that provides some wonderfully immersive moments literally from the get go, as the slow but steady fade in with natural (?) ambient environmental sounds starts to almost "fill" the surround channels with activity. The two multi-movement pieces offer a whirlwind of surround activity. You can hear vocals shifting between the front and rear channels, and some of those almost arresting interstitial backups that "interrupt" The Solid Time oF Change offer such discrete separation that you can actually hear the separate notes a major second apart in the rear channels that Jon Anderson provides. Rick Wakeman's organ also almost overflows the surround channels at times with impressive enveloping majesty. As I mentioned in my Yes: Fragile Blu-ray review, there were times on that disc that I actually preferred the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, and I can see some fans liking the 5.1 mix on this disc as much as the Atmos, and perhaps even more, as it tends to offer a somewhat more focused midrange. The stereo offerings are all great sounding, and the instrumental versions should be of particular interest to fans.

Yes: Close to the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with many deluxe offerings from Rhino in particular, this is another one of those "one fan's supplement is another fan's main feature" sort of offerings, where readers of this site may understandably think of the Blu-ray disc as what they're really after. I've listed the contents for the other discs above, so will concentrate here on the rather luxe packaging. This comes in what is more or less a reproduction of a gatefold LP sleeve, here measuring approximately 12 3/4" square and about 3/4" deep. Opening the gatefold reveals a sleeve holding the LP on the left (in its own separate paper sleeve), with the outer cardboard sleeve itself holding another smaller sleeve which encloses the Blu-ray (which, in similarly hilarious "nesting doll" fashion, is in a mylar sleeve within the cardboard sleeve). The CD of the original album is also on the left. The right panel has four inserts holding the other CDs. That left cardboard sleeve holding the LP also encloses an oversized booklet (basically the size of an LP jacket) with archival photos and a great essay by Syd Schwartz.

Yes: Close to the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Well, I may be breaking the rules a third time on our Top Ten List if Rhino and Warner Music Group have another year like 2024. This release is a sterling example of what Rhino does so well, offering fans absolutely stellar audio in deluxe packaging with some really gobsmacking extras (the CDs are a veritable treasure trove for Yes fans). Highly recommended.