FRAGILE

I'm a massive Yes fan but have struggled to fully understand the appeal of Fragile. It has four 'proper' songs, where the whole band has contributed to their creation. The rest of the album has been padded out with solo songs from each member, all of which aren't that great and give the album a disjointed feel. Fragile was trying to make prog more mainstream and accessible, and while doing so lacked the sort of depth heard in other Yes albums.

The sound of Fragile has a more harder and harsher feel than other Yes albums, containing little 'beautiful' or 'breathtaking' in-depth music. Roundabout and Long Distance Runaround are the most assessable songs and are pretty average; there's little that will keep the listener captivated. South Side of the Sky is better but is no masterpiece. Heart of the Sunrise is the only song that achieves the level of brilliance Yes are known for. The part near the beginning with the blend of drums, bass, and mellotron is something very special, and the rest of the song contains great complex arrangements. Not perfection but not far from it.

The solo pieces aren't good at all. They feel very pointless and like I said, disjoint the album. The only success here is The Fish which sounds like a band performance. For me it's a highlight.

So there's about 20 minutes of good material here, and only 12 of them really shine. The main problem is that album doesn't really work as a whole and doesn't flow well. 3.5 stars.

One more thing I will add; unlike most Yes material, everything on this album sounds heaps better live.

Share this YES review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Quirky Turkey
• Report this review (#552462)
• Buy YES music online with PA partners
• Show all YES MP3/Stream
• Go to YES page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Fragile page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for YES related discussions