YES - Fragile (1971)

Bassist Chris Squire was often known for his lateness in turning up for recording sessions after spending too much time in the bath - which earned him the nickname "The Fish" from his YES bandmates - and on his commemorative plaque, it reads: "'The Late' Chris Squire." 

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - December 02 2023 at 15:39

YES - Sounding Out - a brief documentary recorded at Hemel Hempstead Pavilion back in 1971, where new YES member Rick Wakeman talks about the problems of being surrounded by banks of keyboards in a prog band, compared to sitting down at a piano in the Strawbs. 

Progishness wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: Track Listing 1. Roundabout  (8:29) 2. Cans and Brahms  (1:34) 3. We Have Heaven  (1:38) 4. South Side of the Sky  (7:57) 5. Five per Cent for Nothing  (0:35) 6. Long Distance Runaround  (3:28) 7. The Fish  (2:36) 8. Mood for a Day  (2:55) 9. Heart of the Sunrise  (11:16) On my digital listing of 'Fragile' I discard the five shorter solo tracks, thus retaining 1) 4) 6) and 9) from the above listing, but also tagging on the studio version of 'America' as the final track - which was recorded around the same time as the rest of Fragile, but was only released on an Atlantic sampler album, but is now included on the more recent CD re-issues as a bonus track. Personally I think that makes for a more satisfying album. I would add that I seldom tinker with tack listings.

^ I love "The Fish" and thinks it works very well and organically following "Long Distance Runaround". It really adds to it for me. "We Have heaven' I really like too, and think that works very well coming before "South Side of the Sky."

In fact in general, to me the shorter tracks add value to the experience. Fragile has been very much loved album by me.

Probably the best sounding album I've ever heard. Eddie Offord was the sicth member of Yes. 

Fragile is excellent! My favorite track is "South Side Of The Sky". Band members contribute solo pieces /original songwriting that I enjoy and the album has a good flow to it. It's really important for an album to have that particular quality and Fragile definitely has it. Some people feel that entry of solo keyboard or classical guitar immediately after "Roundabout " or "The Fish" is awkward..but it always felt like it fit to me.

When I was a teenager in the early 70s...the lineup of Anderson, Wakeman Squire, Bruford and Howe was very popular. Pictures of them appeared on the front cover of Circus, Hit Parader, Creem and Rolling Stone magazines.

They became popular enough that kids made references to them with their last name. At concerts kids would scream...BRUFORD!! or "WAKEMAN!!! etc....but there was no official concert released by Atlantic Records. The live album YESSONGS featured one track "Perpetual Change" performed live by this line up. Over the last 20 years I have noticed bootlegs..but nothing official. Unless I missed a show being released on a box set?

There was archive material released with Banks and Kaye, but not Anderson, Wakeman, Squire, Bruford and Howe. I would appreciate comments...its possible I missed an official release ..I have been researching and coming up with nothing

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Progishness wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: Track Listing 1. Roundabout  (8:29) 2. Cans and Brahms  (1:34) 3. We Have Heaven  (1:38) 4. South Side of the Sky  (7:57) 5. Five per Cent for Nothing  (0:35) 6. Long Distance Runaround  (3:28) 7. The Fish  (2:36) 8. Mood for a Day  (2:55) 9. Heart of the Sunrise  (11:16) On my digital listing of 'Fragile' I discard the five shorter solo tracks, thus retaining 1) 4) 6) and 9) from the above listing, but also tagging on the studio version of 'America' as the final track - which was recorded around the same time as the rest of Fragile, but was only released on an Atlantic sampler album, but is now included on the more recent CD re-issues as a bonus track. Personally I think that makes for a more satisfying album. I would add that I seldom tinker with tack listings. And You and I both know that if the Fragile album hadn't included those five shorter tracks it could have been a 5-star masterpiece.

For me it is a masterpiece. The only solo song that I think drags the album a little bit down is Cans for Brahms. We Have Heaven is too short to actually do much damage, and it actually sounds cool as an intro to South Side of the Sky. Five Percent... well, I might just get distracted for a moment and it already passed without even noticing it, so, who cares? The Fish is actually very good, and Long Distance Runaround wouldn't be nearly as good without it attached to it as if they were the same song, with a cool bass solo at the end (though I certainly wouldn't apreciate it so well if it were just by itself). And Mood for a Day is also a very good piece in its own right. Now, I have read that Wakeman had written what became Catherine of Aragon for his solo piece (that's why that song actually features the whole instrumental line-up from Fragile), but wasn't allowed to use it because of contractual obligations... and that is the very change that would have made this 5 star masterpiece an even more 5 star masterpiece.

No question - great album, but its the last of the first five (the Yes sweet spot) I reach for when looking for a Yesfix.  The disjointed nature of the tracks steals whatever momentum may have been gained from those outstanding extended pieces.  I wish they'd have fleshed out those solo ideas with the group, included America and Wakeman's Catherine and turned Fragile to a double LP.  As it stands, those individual solo tracks get in the way of that classic Yes interplay, which is on full display on America - to me, one of the best covers in rock history (Mitch-eee-gun seems like a dreeeem to me naaaaoooow!)

Edited by Intruder - December 22 2023 at 07:10