FRAGILE

I think with Yes, when they were at their best, they had a certain level of 'playfulness' about them - from the actual compositions to the instrumental performances themselves - that kinda offset their more seemingly pompous tendencies. There's a certain level of vitality and purpose to their better material that, say, Tales From Topographic Oceans doesn't really have.

Basically what I'm saying is that, Yes at their best was a pretty fun band. Anyway, this is basically between their earlier, shorter material and the full blown 'epics' on the next few albums. The main meat of the album are the three longest tracks. What stands out to me the most about the album in retrospect is the absolutely fantastic bass playing; the lines are equal parts warm and infectiously groovy. The three main songs are lengthy, yet they're pieced together in an organic, natural sort of way - "Heart of the Sunrise", in particular, has some truly gorgeous melodies throughout it. The shorter tunes sort of vary in quality, but a couple of them ("We Have Heaven" and "Mood for a Day") are nice tracks.

It's a bit below Close to the Edge, but not really by a huge amount.