FRAGILE

I was always wondering why people regard this as a masterpiece. I'm writing this review in order to express a different opinion and not, of course, to convince you not to like it! So, please don't attack me because of the low rating I give. If you wish to help me discover virtues of it that still lie hidden (for me) please do so.

I really can't find anything so attractive in this one and haven't heard it more than 3 or 4 times, although I'm generally a Yes fan and I really enjoy the rest of their albums of the era. I even enjoy personal Yes members albums (of the 70s) more than this one. I find all of it too cold and sentimentally dull. There are long, repetitive parts in the longer tracks while the shorter ones are, in my opinion, just pointless fillers. Some of these evils recur in other Yes albums (and in the prog rock genre as a whole for some, but I'm not one of them!), but I find most of them more atmospheric and less annoying than this one.

I realise that all members or the band are top form in this album, their playing is excellent throughout (even when they show off in a boring manner) and Jon Anderson's voice is best than ever, but this doesn't really make me play the album...