01	Roundabout						08:35
	02	Cans And Brahms						01:42
	03	We Have Heaven						01:28
	04	South Side Of The Sky						08:08
	05	Five Per Cent For Nothing						00:37
	06	Long Distance Runaround						03:30
	07	The Fish (Shindleria Praematurus)						02:42
	08	Mood For A Day						03:02
	09	Heart Of The Sunrise						11:27

Jon Anderson : Vocals
Bill Bruford : Drums, Percussion
Steve Howe : Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vocals
Chris Squire : Bass, Guitar (Bass), Vocals
Rick Wakeman : Harpsichord, Keyboards, Mellotron, Organ, Piano, Piano (Electric), Synthesizer


Fragile
Atlantic (7567-82667-2)
UK 1972

Tracklist:
1. Roundabout — 8:36
2. Cans and Brahms — 1:42
3. We Have Heaven — 1:28
4. South Side of the Sky — 8:09
5. Five Per Cent for Nothing — 0:37
6. Long Distance Runaround — 3:29
7. The Fish (Shindeleria Praematurus) — 2:42
8. Mood For a Day — 3:02
9. Heart of the Sunrise — 11:27

total time 37:48


bob

With Rick Wakeman replacing Tony Kaye on keyboards, this album became the first to feature the "classic" Yes band line-up of Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Howe and Wakeman. Oddly, while this line-up was fairly consistent at creating good albums, my personal opinion is that the band's best stuff usually came when one or more of these members were missing. But that's as may be...
Although this album was commercially successful ("Roundabout" has been played to death on rock radio since it was first released), it's not the best work this group of musicians would do. Fragile is one of those albums that I like, but don't find myself listening to very often.

Despite the radio overexposure, "Roundabout" is still an enjoyable track. The part about midway through where the drums and percussion really kick in is my favorite bit. "South Side of the Sky" is an often overlooked piece (but one which hard-core fans have been begging for in concert) which alternates floating, ethereal sections with heavier, driving parts. "Long Distance Runaround" is a shorter song that also gets heavy radio play, and sets up Squire's bass solo. "Heart of the Sunrise" is a powerful song, but after hearing it dozens of times I've got to say that it's maybe a bit too repetitive.

The rest of the album is made up of five short solo pieces, one from each band member. Of these, Wakeman's cut-and-paste Brahms recital is sort of a throwaway, and Howe's "Mood for a Day" is nice but not nearly as interesting as "Clap" from the previous album. Anderson's somewhat surreal mulitlayered vocal track "We Have Heaven" creates an interesting mood, and foreshadows his first solo album Olias of Sunhillow. Likewise, Squire's layers of various bass parts in "The Fish" sound a bit like his future solo album. Bruford's "Five Percent" is short but rhythmically interesting.

All in all, not a bad album but not a must-have. There are better places to start in the Yes catalog.


sean

This album is hailed by many Yes fans, as well as fans of progressive rock in general, as one of the pillars of the genre. It also has the interesting characteristic of having had fairly positive critical reception, being perhaps the final Yes album to do so. Of course since this is my review I'll give my opinion :), which is that while this album is required listening to someone getting into progressive rock, it is not the end-all and be-all.
This album contains perhaps Yes' biggest hit of the 70s, entitled "Roundabout". This song is one of the band's highlights, fusing the band's progressive aspirations with a solid rock sensibility, including some excellent band interplay, including the seamless integration of some very intricate riffs from Wakeman and Squire. Another highlight is the sometimes ethereal, sometimes rocking "South Side of the Sky", including one of Wakeman's better writing performances in the form of a piano solo in the middle. The next, albeit all-too-short, hit is Bruford's frenetic drum pounding entitled "Five Percent for Nothing" in honor of a past manager. Finally, the best has been saved for last in the form of "Heart of the Sunrise", which switches from storming power to Anderson's plaintive sense of peace with seeming ease, building towards a very satisfying conclusion.

The rest of the album doesn't do as much for me. The other four solo pieces strike me as rather uneventful, although unlike many I think Anderson's "We Have Heaven" is probably the most successful, pretty much summing Jon up in under two minutes! And while "Long Distance Runaround" isn't bad or anything, it's also not what I put this CD on to here.

To reiterate, I think that this album should be heard by every progressive rock fan. And really, isn't that all you have to know?


joe

Yes' fourth studio album was their most successful one yet, with a solid if un-anticipated FM hit entitled "Roundabout." What is left for one to say about "Roundabout"? If you are a prog rock fan who still has never heard this song, oy vey! But what about the rest of "Fragile"? Well, it's more an album of parts than of sum. "Heart of the Sunrise" like "Roundabout" is a true classic, if again played to death by now. "South Side of the Sky," has a breathtaking middle section proving that Rick Wakeman could play with a degree of subtlety and grace when he set his mind to it. The remaining group effort, "Long Distance Runaround," I've always thought to be both overrated and overplayed. The rest of the album is pretty much sneak preview offerings of what would be more fully presented with the band members' solo work: a metrically-audacious snippet from Bruford; a driving, bottom-heavy tune from Squire; delicate classical guitar from Howe; layered space-chants from Anderson; and Bach's Lunch-tripe from Wakeman. Out of all their 'classics,' I'd have to say Fragile is the least, though it's still a fine album and a necessity if you are a fan of Yes.


eric

Enter Rick Wakeman and the "Golden Era" of Yes. An essential release that belongs in any music lovers collection, prog or not. Reading the book "Yes Stories", it is amazing these guys didn't murder each other in the recording studio. The attention to detail given to every facet of every song is amazing. Wakeman also brings in an obvious classical music approach, which raises the songs to another level. Fragile is interesting in that each member has an individual piece of music: Wakeman's "Cans and Brahms", which Rick himself dislikes, but because of contractual obligations he couldn't have writing credits. Anderson's vocal piece "We Have Heaven"; Bruford's "Five Per Cent For Nothing", which is... different; Squire's "The Fish" and Howe's acoustic guitar classic "Mood For A Day". If you find the solo stuff not to your liking, Fragile also contains the classics "Roundabout" which though abused by radio is still amazing today. Also, "Long Distance Runaround" and the majestic "Heart of the Sunrise". "South Side of the Sky" is no slouch either. A great CD period, and a must-have for everyone. Essential!


brandon

This somewhat fragmented disc contains some excellent material, divided into two groups: "solo" works and band compositions. The solo works are short pieces written by a single bandmember. Of these, Jon Anderson's vocal dub-fest, "We Have Heaven" is the weakest, along with Wakeman's overly tasteful (read: dull) interpretation of a part of the third movement from Brahms' 4th symphony. Bill Bruford's sarcastically titled "Five Per Cent for Nothing" is actually one of the more interesting solo works, being a bizarre piece characterized by spastic-sounding playing in a weird meter. Chris Squire's bass dub-fest "The Fish" is a great instrumental, and the following acoustic guitar piece from Steve Howe is also excellent. The group pieces are more consistent; anyone who's listened to the radio has heard the opening track, a strong piece with some great aggressive bass playing. "South Side of the Sky" is pretty strong as well, though lacking something that the best Yes compositions possess. "Long Distance Runaround" is a catchy tune that could have been really annoyingly bad had the band not wisely kept it to three and a half minutes. As it is, it's enjoyable and fades nicely into the Squire solo work. The final piece is the masterpiece of the album; "Heart of the Sunrise" is a rocking tune that's by turns intense and serene. Anderson's best vocal work, in my opinion, can be found in this piece, and the band interplay is spotless. It's this piece that makes this album a classic. Not as perfect as some would have you believe, then, but still very worthy. Being very accessible, it's also a great way to start exploring the band's vast (and rocky) repertoire.


dom

Years after being considered anything close to a Yes fan have eroded some of my more passionate opinions about their music, but I can say that for me, they're still the archetypical progressive rock band. Symphonic to a fault, this was a band who thought it more appropriate to play Stravinsky than even their own music before concerts - and yet, despite their admittedly lengthy reach, there is a certain charm in their ambitions. Fragile was the first Yes record I owned, probably because classic rock radio played "Roundabout" to death. Hearing the album now, I'm not less than impressed at the vision of the quintet (even when they can't hold down solo non-sequiters on a bet). "South Side of the Sky" may well have been the best pre-Close to the Edge Yes track, and I'm in full agreement with the praise for Wakeman's playing on the bridge. "Heart of the Sunrise" (a song I could barely stand when I was younger) is a very satisfactory run-through for the more lengthy epics to come, and to my ears also sounds like a stab at the desperate virtuosity of Relayer - yet, at this point, I wonder if Yes had the pretense to leap into that mystical abyss. The fact that they were still willing to knock out throwaways like "Five Per Cent for Nothing" and "We Have Heaven" says a lot about their frames of mind - what's more, those were some of the coolest things on the record! In 1972, Yes still had much to prove (maybe moreso to themselves than their audience), and Fragile demonstrated that prog didn't have to be convoluted to be interesting.





Yes - Fragile

Member: topographicyes

A unique and essential Yes album, Fragile is the bands 4th and an excellent entry point into Yes fandom. All the best elements of the classic sound are present in concise forms that are easy to for the listener to digest.

This is the second in what some refer to as the 'Holy Trinity' of Yes albums. Starting with The Yes Album and ending with their masterpiece Close To The Edge, those three LPs are considered the bands finest and best conceived.

Fragile is a unique LP compared to other Yes albums. On it each band member was given a track of their own to feature their unique styles. Mixed in with these are 3 10 minute numbers written by the entire band (and one short number as well) that round out the album. In a way it is a cobbled together collection of numbers, yet it works perfectly!

The classic rock radio staple and best-known classic Yes song "Roundabout" opens the album. This song perfectly encapsulates the classic Yes sound, probably better than any other number. No wonder it has become the timeless classic it has become. Even some 25 years later it sounds surprisingly fresh, thanks to the excellent engineering of Fragile. A clarity that few Yes albums posses.

Next the first of the 5 'solo' works, "Cans and Brahms", featuring the keyboard work of Yes' new member, Rick Wakeman. Wakeman remains the seminal Yes keyboardist and his involvement on Fragile is what really pushed the band to the next level of their musical evolution. Actually Wakeman wanted to submit a work of his own, but contractual snags didn't allow it, so Wakeman decided to reinterpret this piece by Brahms. He wasn't entirely pleased with the final result and that may be a reason he never played a single lick of it live. I believe the word he used to describe it was...cheesy.

Jon Anderson's vocal chorale, "We Have Heaven", follows. A beautiful collage of vocal overdubs, this is Anderson before he got too pompous for his own good. There is a simple innocence to this piece. Squire adds a melodic bass line to counter Anderson's strummed acoustic. The song ends with the sound of a door slamming and footsteps trailing off into the distance. Next you hear a crash of thunder and a chilly wind blowing which segues into the stellar "South Side Of The Sky".

"South Side" is a very special song in a number of ways. First off it's one of their finest mini-epics. Incredible vocal harmonies, pristine piano work, intricate drumming, melodic yet thunderous bass and adventurous guitar abound here. Yet, this number is the great lost Yes classic. The band seldom played it live and in many ways that has made it all the more desirable. They claim it didn't work too well in that context and that is why they didn't do it much. Still, fans hold out hope for it even to this day. If ever there was a number to send a Yesfan into a state of nirvana in a live setting, this is it. "South Side" ends with a very angular solo by guitarist Steve Howe - one of his finest.

"Five Percent For Nothing" is drummer Bill Bruford's solo entry and the band backs him for a stab at prog inspired trad jazz. This off kilter number had it's name inspired by their manager at the time which Bill claimed was paid...Five percent for NOTHING! Shame this is only a half minute, I would have liked to have heard them stretch out on this a bit, could have been really unique.

"Long Distance Runaround" is a short band penned number that is propulsive and yet very short. The main riff is a harmony between the guitar and keys and is a classic Yes riff. Another well-known Yes classic. It has one of the best segues in rock too, right into Squires overdubbed bass extravaganza "The Fish". The two numbers are inseparable.

"The Fish" starts with bass harmonics and builds and builds as different bass parts are overdubbed onto the mix. It becomes a bass army! Noteworthy is the amazing delay drenched flurry of notes at the segue into the song as well, a sound Howe would use frequently in the future...

"Mood For A Day" is Howe's solo number and the only one on this album that is truly solo. A classical piece for a lone acoustic guitar, this is Howe's best-known piece and remains a favorite to this day. On the previous album he played a bluegrass number on steel string acoustic. Here he submits a Spanish guitar number.

Capping off the album is the well-known "Heart Of The Sunrise". Another 10 minute opus, written on the first day of Wakeman's first practice with the group. This is another very concise mini-epic. So concise it doesn't even have a proper guitar solo, yet it's not even missed. Some say the opening riff may have been inspired by King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man"'s second riff, the overtly chromatic one. I think that just may be true, even Steve Howe has been quoted saying that. Musically this is another number that encapsulates all the best that Yes has to offer. A concert favorite.

Fragile is highly recommended. You can't go wrong with this album. But I bet you already knew that! If not, go out and get it now!