Yes was formed in Birminham, England in 1968. From the start they had become part of the 70's prog rock scene along with such greats as King Crimson, and Genesis. Throughout the years, they have stood the test of time and have seemed to become more popular all the time. Fragile released in December 1971. Reached number seven on England's album charts and number four in America. The lead single "Roundabout" had become the most popular Progressive Rock song up to that point in time. None of Yes's "rivals" at the time including King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer had ever had a hit as big as "Roundabout". Fragile is the first Yes album to also feature Rick Wakeman. Who replaced Tony Kaye when Tony went to join ex-Yes guitarist Peter Banks to join the group Flash. Fragile was completed within a two month time period. Part of this reason was because they needed to pay for Wakeman's new equipment and the other part was there was only four songs on the album that featured the group as a whole. The others were single member efforts.
Roundabout - This is probably the most popular song Yes has ever released. It starts off with a very recognizable acoustic guitar "riff". Afterwards a great bass line comes in and the song goes from there. But the keyboards really blend in nicely with everything and bring a great overall feel to the song. After a while the song changes completely and starts to get a little darker than before. A nice change up, but afterwards goes back into the opening guitar line. The goes on to have an amazing keyboard solo. Then they go right to the main riff again. Great song, definitely a highlight. 5/5
Cans and Brahms - This song is an individual effort by Rick Wakeman its basically just him playing the piano. Nothing really too special either but it seems to be just a filler track. I don't really care for this track. 3/5
We Have Heaven - This song is also somewhat of a filler. It is very short, barely even a minute and a half. It song only consists of a simple guitar beat, drums, and Jon Anderson singing "Tell the Moondong, Tell the Marchhare". 2.3/5
South Side of the Sky - After two less than great tracks we finally get all of Yes performing together. The song starts off with the blowing of wind in the background, then some good drumming. From there the song goes off, the song is led by an absolutely awesome guitar riff from Steve Howe the whole song is just centered around this riff for the first half of the song. About halfway through, the break comes and a beautiful piano arrangement is delivered by Wakeman. Afterwards Anderson's trademark singing comes in and blends in so well with the piano. From there they go right back into the main riff and after that goes on for a while there is an interesting guitar solo towards the end. Great song. 5/5
Five Percent of Nothing - Running at just over 30 seconds, there can not be a whole lot accomplished in such a time period. But Yes managed to fit a great deal of music in. Very proggish and sounds great. It has really interesting guitar work, just a little too short. 3.2/5
Long Distance Runaround - The song starts off with some interesting guitar work. Almost sounds like it could come straight out of a video game, odd enough. The song slows down a little bit, then the focus seems to go to Anderson's lyrics which I find really wonderful on this track. Then after that it goes straight back into the main theme and finishes up. Very good song.
4.5/5
The Fish (Schindleria Praematerus) - This song starts off with some really great harmonics. Then that is the real center point for the rest of the song. It is a really great song, but the problem like some other songs on Fragile is that it is too short. 4/5
Mood For a Day - The song starts off with some really simple acoustic guitar chords. Basically this song is just a showcase for Steve Howe to show his skills on the guitar. And he does a damn good job of doing just that. There is no vocals or anything just guitar. It definitely shows that he can play more than one style of music. Definitely a favorite of mine. 4.5/5
Heart of the Sunrise - Here is a more upbeat and fast track compared to the others on the album. At the start there is an unbelievably fast guitar line which starts it off nicely. Then they slow it down a bit with an incredible bass line. It calms down about four minutes into the song, with really faint guitar playing and some nice singing by Anderson. Probably the best lyrics off the whole album and that is saying quite a lot. After that they start to get back to the main riff of the song. With constant keyboard breaks which are just wonderful along with the rest of the song. Towards the end there is some odd singing going on I can not really tell what they are saying. Overall, it is a very good song and great close to the album. 5/5
In overall, it is a pretty good album. There are some great tracks on here and some not so great ones. But the great ones completely make up for what the less than great tracks do not have. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in Classic Rock, Progressive Rock, or just plain rock.
