FRAGILE

Enter, Rick Wakeman.

I believe 'CTTE' and 'Relayer' are the finest works of Yes's career and music in general. But there is something that 'Fragile' has above all else, and that would be balance. The album has a perfect mix of 5 solo compositions that each was so interesting and innovative, given the knowledge behind each piece. The addition of Rick Wakeman gave Yes its undisputed classic line-up. Chris Squire ultimately set himself apart from all other bass players with his overpowering style that is clearly evident right away in 'Roundabout'.

The solo works:

'Cans and Brahms' by Rick Wakeman. Rick takes a classical piece by Brahms and plays the 5 different section on his keyboard and combines them all in. It is a wonderful adaptation and sounds beautiful.

'We Have Heaven' by Jon Anderson. This is along with Squire's piece, one of the most innovative tracks at the time and in today's standards. Anderson messed around with different tape effects for his voice and combined a numerous amount of vocal lines combined into one coherent piece. The track is one of the most interesting pieces I have heard while listening to a variety of music.

'Five Per Cent for Nothing' by Bill Bruford. Another track that is truly 'out there'. Based on a bar created by Bill, the band copies Bill's rhythm twice while he plays his one beat that creates an extremely unconventional track.

'The Fish' by Chris Squier. The most innovative track in music as far as I am concerned. This ridiculous track was made through Chris taking different sounds on his bass and writing multiple lines that he would mash together. Catchy and full of innovative ideas, this is a true 'classic' of music.

'Mood for a Day' by Steve Howe. Another shot at the classical guitar piece. This one was a complete hit. A brilliant piece that is still part of the Yes live staple today.

The band works:

After creating such unique tracks that show what the members can do by themselves, truly outshine it with all mini- epic track lengths that are each filled with undeniable brilliance. Songs like 'South Side of the Sky' that are nice rock songs, become disturbed and loose when Steve Howe breaks into the versus with fanatic guitar chops and rhythmatic leads. The symphonic brightening by Rick Wakeman in the beautiful closer 'Heart of the Sunrise' which also features Jon Anderson's vocals at their peak. Each member played in sync, yet threw in a little bit of what makes their style of music so unique and brilliant. Each band piece was massive in coherence matched with unconventional and erratic, yet seemingly controlled chaos.

The brilliance of both sides of composition, solo and collectively, were shown masterfully. Some people don't enjoy the solo works and think it is self-indulgent. I feel like it was a way to know what each member was about and what they can contribute. The band pieces showed the chemistry that they can create. An easy 5 star rating from me. A masterpiece without any doubt.

Share this YES review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to ProgBagel
• Report this review (#184107)
• 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