FRAGILE

After The Yes Album Yes's big commercial brake was imminent. Tony Kaye was replaced with Rick Wakeman, and thus the ultimate line-up was formed. They continued on the path they had chosen with The Yes Album, but with Wakeman they managed to create a more rich and colourfull sound. Also the production had improved, and for the mainstream audience there even was a hit-single to be enjoyed.

1. Roundabout (8:29) Written because of a bet between Jon and Bill, Jon had betted he could write a song about anything, so Bill dared him to write a song about a roundabout that they had just passed, Jon went at it, Steve Howe completed the song with some guitar parts and one of Yes's best known songs was born.

2. Cans And Brahms (1:35) The first of five 'solo' pieces, where each member got a chance to create something unique for the band. A Wakeman song, piano based Brahms interpretation, quite nice, but nothing real fancy, works great as a prelude to We Have Heaven though.

3. We Have Heaven (1:30) A Jon Anderson composition, with very good vocal harmonies, lyrics being sung in parts, and in the mix the different parts come together quite well. (Queen did a similar thing with vocals on The Prophet's song on the Night At The Opera record)

4. South Side Of The Sky (8:04) complex arrangements, heavy guitar's, strong Bass-riffs, jazzy drum rhythms and very good piano melodies, with again beautifull typical Yes vocal harmonies. brilliant and captivating from the first second till the fade at the end.

5. Five Percent For Nothing (0:35) Bill Bruford's easy money track :-), another reviewer said it was about a manager getting 5% without doing something for it, makes sense I think. funny for once, and a nice intro for the next song.

6. Long Distance Runaround (3:33) One of my favourite Yes songs. nice 'simple' piano/guitar melodie, with great basslines and wonderfully and beatifully sung.

7. The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) (2:35) Squire song, Sounds created with the Bass guitar give it indeed an underwater feel, with nice melodies, and strong rhythms.

8. Mood For A Day (3:57) Together with 'Clap' Steve Howe's most famous and well known accoustic guitar pieces. Technically brilliant, and unsurpassed.

9. Heart Of The Sunrise (10:34) The grand final of a great album. Heavy fast bass-line with equally fast drums begin the song. Fast paced and slower paced sections alternate, smoothly arranged, with very good captivating melodies, and brilliantly sung. With one of Wakeman's best keyboard solo's somewhere in the middle.

Overall a brilliant album, very likeble and easaly accesible. The only reason I give it four stars instead of the full (and probably deserved) 5 stars is that there are better albums to follow (eg. CTTE, Relayer) and compared to the rest of Yes's catalogue it''s very good, but not that brilliant.