Listening to Fragile

Grumpyprogfan wrote: dougmcauliffe wrote: The Steven Wilson remix from the vinyl boxset changed my perception on the album, it seriously might be the best sounding record I’ve ever heard from the 70s. Really??? Ever heard Aja? Steve better not touch that mix.

Grumpyprogfan wrote: ^I'm worried you don't realize Aja has a perfect mix. It can't get better for my ears. Anyway, love Fragile, but haven't heard it in 40 years.

progaardvark wrote: I don't stay folded for very long.

Fragile is a messy album but the three best tracks (Roundabout, South Side Of The Sky and Heart Of The Sunrise) are just unbelievably good. Prog taken to a new level <tick> but it needed another outing for the band to hit the bullseye.

Fragile has always seemed better taken in parts than as a whole - maybe it's the solo approach to the writing; maybe it's that Side 2 is so much more listenable than Side 1; maybe it's Wakeman getting settled in; maybe it's 'cause they left their version of America off the LP (a personal favorite of mine).....whatever it may be, it just doesn't hit the heights of peak Yes as a whole.  Some of it's parts even exceed material from other LPs of the era, but as a whole, it's always been the classic era Yes LP I put on the least.  

It's very, very interesting to me that CTTE is too much for some people to grasp/get past!

iluvmarillion wrote: Progishness wrote: I rarely tinker with album running orders but for Fragile I have my own playlist. I omit the 5 shortish solo tracks, and instead include their version of Paul Simon's 'America' which was recorded at the time they were making Fragile, but was originally issued on an Atlantic Records sampler album, and now included as a bonus track on more recent CD reissues. Thus: 1. Roundabout 2. South Side of the Sky 3. Long Distance Runaround 4. Heart of the Sunrise 5. America Which in my opinion makes for a much more satisfying listen. I totally agree with you this one. Normally I don't like additions to the original recordings on the reissues, but in this instance America is a great way to finish off the album. Comparing The Yes Album, Fragile and CTTE is like saying which Van Gough painting you prefer. What criteria do you choose?

Edited by Progishness - June 21 2021 at 07:03

It's excellent, third best after Close to the Edge and Relayer. Could be above Relayer if you take out Five Percent for Nothing, Cans and Brahms and We Have Heaven and replace them with something else. Five Percent for Nothing is just pointless, it's not even filler as it barely occupies space, I see no point in including it in the album. I like Cans and Brahms and We Have Heaven is ok, but they're just too short for them to develop into something, and they fact that they're together in the album doesn't help. It's like Roundabout ends and I'm just waiting for South Side of the Sky to start. They could have just developed Cans and Brahms a bit more and gotten rid of We Have Haven. Having two songs that don't reach a minute and a half together is pointless. These songs just make the album less cohesive, but the three main tracks are superb, especially Heart of the Sunrise which is a TOP 5 Yes song. Long Distance Runaround and Mood for a Day are very good and the best among the shorter pieces.