Rating: 
Summary: Close to ho-hum...
Review: ...and certainly sophomoric, I must admit that this book is still a better read than the usual supercilious pedantry of the Earnest Aspiring ProgBoy Writer. The best part: Broof decks Squire. God knows Fishy had it coming; don't you agree?
Rating: 
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: 30 years ago Chris Welch was, through my formative musical years, one of the rock journalists I looked up to! But now, 30 years on and looking back, I found this biography more consistent with my adolescent literary needs of 30 years ago! While containing many facts, it also has much irrelevant nonsense and somewhat twee statements most annoyingly followed by exclamation marks (about one per page)! So much so that I got tired of the 6th form style of writing very quickly! E.g. P41 on the longevity of the band "...but here we are, still going thirty years later!". P42 on meeting other members "Within a week I had met Chris!". On P43, on early photos, "They would now be of great historical value - if Chris hadn't lost the lot!" On P43 again, on Jon Anderson's autocracy "Everyone was entitled to HIS opinion. That's the best way of putting it!". Note the tiresome and repetetive exclamation marks! Are these supposed convey Wow!? Amazing!? Oh Dear!? Oh Christ!? Or what!? Whatever the intention it becomes annoying very quickly and the text ends up reading like a fan club member's essay full of some kind of mock astonishment, conveyed by endless exclamation marks! There are better Yes books around! (Annoying exclamation marks there to illustrate a point).
Rating:
Summary: Close to the Middle - A Fragile Account of the Story of Yes
Review: As a big fan of Yes and their music, I was hoping to get a lot of insight into the band especially considering that Chris Welsh has been a personal friend of the band since its inception. However, while Welsh does provide ample information about the inner happenings of the band over the years, he shines the band in a rather negative light. He continuously talks about how the bands members did not get along and all of the problems they encountered even afer they "made it." It would have been nice to read a more balanced account. The book goes from one woe to another. Additionally, Welsh would delve into a story only to repeat part of it a few pages later. So much for chronology. On a related note, Welsh explains two ways in which the band was supposedly named. Which one is correct?! He also glossed over the creative process of making the albums. One minute the band is on tour for "The Yes Album," the next "Fragile" is in the stores. Sometimes that would happen in mid-chapter! A chapter per album would have worked quite well. Finally... Hey Chris, what about "Yessongs" and "Classic Yes" and the politics behind them? You talked enough about "Yesterdays." I give this book a rating of "3" only because of the stories involved and the discussions of the music and how each band member entered and exited the band. I know a lot about Yes and it was disappointing to get parts of the story and not the whole thing from one source.
Rating: 
Summary: Want to know about Yes? Buy this book!
Review: As a major Yes fan for over 25 years, I've often thought I knew everything there was to know about the band. Well, Chris Welch taught me a few things. His linear approach and comfortable style of writing made the book very hard to put down. I was enthralled by his descriptions of recording sessions; tours; member resignations; firings; and even how much they got paid for each gig in the early days. He delves into each member's personality and you get a feeling for how the members made the band more than a product of the sum of their individual efforts. If there's even just a single biographical book you buy this year, make it this one.
Rating:
Summary: As Good As "Close To The Edge"
Review: Don't let the book's (obviously) limited availability put you off, becuase this is the Yes biography to end them all. Bill Martin, Tim Morse and even Dan Hedges's efforts simply pale in comparison to Welch's triumphantly successful book. There are no disjointed oral snippets by band-members (Morse) or sprawling, Marxist political views (Martin) here, just a thorough, detailed analysis of a band's history by one of Rock's most respected writers and critics.Certainly, nobody except the bandmembers themselves are better qualified to write the story of Yes. Welch has known the band intimately since the its first days in 1968, and his numerous personal anecdotes offer fascinating insights into the day-to-day workings of a classic band. Welch lays it bare, all the successes and the mistakes, and the pace of the book seldom drags. Do not consider yourself a Yes fan until you have purchased a copy of this book - seriously!
Rating:
Summary: Cobbled together news articles shed little light
Review: I have to agree with most of the reviews here; mostly personality and business problems, little on the construction of what is some of the most complex music of the 20th century. The book is best when Welch talks about the early years of the band; how they started, where they came from. After the Yes Album, a lot of the book seems concerned with chart numbers, gold and platinum sales, accounting discrepencies, and first-class trips to Bermuda. A lot of this material reads as if Welch had just boilerplated his original articles into book form with little or no editing. Paul Stump does better with less, and we get a strong picture of the music. Not here. Funny vegetarian stories and Trevor Rabin's musical awards.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and informative.
Review: I've always respected Yes and their music. I got this biography in order to learn more about the band's long history. I find this book to be above average. I have learned much more about Yes by reading it. The author, Chris Welch, has written biographies on other musical groups, too. He's a popular music journalist in the UK. He offers many insights into the band's long history. He also has had personal contact with Yes. The photos are also interesting. The book is well-written. I give it 3.5 stars. It's well worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Close to the edge...meh
Review: My favorite progressive rock band from the 1970s as money grubbing spoiled rock stars? Yes? No! The author certainly loves the band but reveals them as quite human after all, blowing the lid off the Yes mystique of cosmic peace and mind altering exploration, as they scramble to keep pace with changing public musical tastes and advancing middle age. Even after reading "Close To The Edge, The Story of Yes", the band members remain as strangers coming across as mere participants in the great machine called Yes, and as less than mature men who blame all their troubles on everyone but themselves. The author's narrative rolls along serving Yes information, however tedious to the unadorned, in an enjoyable way until the end when he suddenly dropa out of sight allowing the concluding chapter to serve as a promotion for the band's new album. One wonders if the band's participation for the book was dependent on that promotion.
Rating:
Summary: Not great!!
Review: There are three major flaws with this book. One, it is marred by many inaccuracies. Most of them are insignificant but it gets irritating after a while. Two, there is more about the bands personal problems and the business side to it than about the musical side. Three, there is too little information on the "golden years" of the band, 1972-77. Welch concentrates on the very early days. If you have read Hedges, Martin, Morse and Mosbo you will know most of the story already but Welch certainly reveals more contriversial things than they did. Personally I yawn when Welch tells about how much money they made on this or that concert. I don't care!! Having said all these negative things, I have to say though that the book is fairly entertaining. If you are a fan of the band you should buy it, since Hedges biography is out of print (I think).
Rating:
Summary: Close to the edge...meh
Review: this is a great story about yes. its full of alot of details and it can be intersting at one pont and then funny at another. the problem i have with this book is that chris welch, the author, didnt write this book so good. its hard to understand it because there are barely any commas so you have to keep reading lines twice in this book a lot. I do suggest this book though for the story although it mighht be hard to understand at some times.
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