FRAGILE

Ahhh.. Fragile. Earlier this year, on a drive home from school (4 1/2 - 5 hours) I popped this CD in once. Twice. Three times. Each time i found something else I liked about it and i wanted more Yes.Now I am not a traditional, old school prog-rock fan i guess; I never liked Yes too much, am struggling more than i should to get into genesis, and ELP and King Crimson is not overly special yet... the only exception is Pink Floyd, whom i adore. So needless to say i was surprised i liked it as much as i did. I had bought it, listened to it once or twice, and shelved it. Now when i take it out i get excited. Its a mostly solid release with only a few let downs that appear in the form of Five Percent for Nothing and Cans and Brahms. Ever other song is wonderful. Anderson's vocal layering and interplay in his short fugue We Have Heaven is a personal favorite as is the beautiful classical guitar piece Mood for a Day. The Meat of this recording are the 4 longer pieces which are all beyond excellent. Heart of the sunrise is an incredible listen, shifting moods, masterful guitar and bass work, and one of my favorite vocal performances from Anderson lyrically as well as performance based. Sharp! Distance! Fragile is a carefully and purposefully crafted recording that, as most Yes albums go, is just fun to listen to. I dont get a deep well of feeling or emotion from the music, and i am not moved to tears or anger or joy, i just have a lot of fun. This is why, in my super-ultra-mega-crazy-humble opinion, this disc is more successful than CTtE. its not the masterpiece that album is, but i enjoy this much more. Four and a quarter stars for Fragile. Great CD.