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Fragile (1972): Yes it is a Great Album, Yes it has some Classic Standards from the AOR FM radio days of my youth, Yes it is very well Produced. As mentioned in previous reviews of Yes releases, I've had the "Yes Album" since 1980 and "90125" since it's release in '83. Loved them both and they both got quite a lot of play on the old turntable and of course on a 90 minute Maxell cassette tape in the car. Being that I never dove any deeper into the Yes catalog until mid 2013, I find myself judging all their other material against those two works of art. I started to give "Fragile" four stars, because in my personal opinion I like the "Yes Album" and "Close To The Edge" and "90125) just a bit better. But, maybe that is not the proper way to view their work, so I'll just try and rate "Fragile" on its Own Merit.
"Fragile" opens with a great song for any tyme period "Roundabout", eight and a half minutes of sheer bliss. "Cans And Brahms" is something that I might not have appreciated had I heard it back in my youth, yet it would have stuck with me through my musical evolution...it is just a short little lesson or Xperience in Classical Music, which might take an interested listener on another adventure. "We Have Heaven" seems to fit well with the whole album flow, but if there is a cut on this album that is going to annoy the listener, this would be it. It has a very repetitive, almost childish, line throughout the entire minute and forty seconds...I'm probably just missing an intended point. Track four "South Side Of The Sky" clocks in right at eight minutes. I do not recall ever hearing this song played on the AOR FM stations. I'm going to say this is one of those somewhat overlooked gems, that those in search of the next Popular song would dismiss, but those who actually listened to this album or tape straight through would have enjoyed Immensely. I really have enjoyed finding this one. "Five Percent For Nothing" is a very short intrumental that just takes the listener from one song into the next. That next song "Long Distance Runaround" which is another AOR FM Staple. My only wish is that this song was another one of Yes's eight minute long works. Great guitar, Great Song. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" follows, actually it pretty much is the closing of "Long Distance Runaround", mostly an instrumental with an interesting smooth delivery of Schindleria Praematurus during the final fifty seconds. So, you put "Long Distance Runaround" & "The Fish" together and you have a six plus minute song. "Mood For A Day" Steve Howe introduces the listener to some samplings of what sounds like Spanish Guitar styled playing, it might be a European style...it is very pretty and easy on the ears. It is little things like this that make listening to an entire album versus just picking through the popular hits so worth while...not all albums have that quality though. Enjoy the ones that do. Track Nine "Heart Of The Sunrise" is yet another overlooked gem that I have no recalection of ever hearing back when Yes was getting air play. Could be it is a regional thing, but in the Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston areas I never heard it. This song could easily be considered Classic Yes, clocking in at eleven and a half minutes, and it just flows so smoothly. At the closing of this song it has a connection to the ending of "We Have Heaven"...I don't personally understand the intent of the connection, but it is there and probably means something.
The Bonus Tracks: "America" (Paul Simon), this is a ten and a half minute version of this cover. Very good and I think I prefer this version to the shorter (Single Version)...but, that's just me. Towards the end of "America" (9:50 mark) they quickly go into what sounds like a Santana Latin Drum rendition...kind of cool. "Roundabout" (Early Rough Mix), I don't think most listeners would be able to distinguish this version from the original, to me it sounds pretty much the same...and that's good, real good. Since I never listened to this album way back when, I have no reference point for what the album should really sound like, but I feel the two Bonus Tracks are welcomed additions to the original release.
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2005
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- Anglian TravellerReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2012
Fragile & powerful at the same time, Yes soars to new heights
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