FRAGILE

Yes

Symphonic Prog

4.46 | 4053 ratings

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The band wanted more moog and other synths on their next album, Fragile and Tony Kaye couldn't (or wouldn't) provide them, so wunderkind, Rick Wakeman joins the band and makes an immediate impact. Wakeman is a ticking time bomb. He is too talented not to have his own band and too gregarious not to be wanting to miss out on being part of another band. Creative differences will soon again divide the band. However, at this point of time everybody gets on glowingly. Rick's keyboards don't radically depart from Tony's. Rick also uses lots of organ and piano on the album. The difference is in his playing, which is more dynamic and in his use of the moog, which is more a lead instrument. Furthermore, Fragile progresses the team writing skills of the band members in terms of complexity in the song arrangements (Rick is as much a contributor as the other band members but doesn't get any song writing credit due to his contractual arrangements with A&M Records). Jon Anderson is a more confident song writer here and he and Howe are developing more a writing relationship to the songs. The record production with Eddy Offord is outstanding. Roger Dean's surreal sleeve artwork is inspirational, depicting a fragile planet, conveying a contemporary ecological message.

On Fragile each band member democratically gets a say, so we have five solo compositions spread out between the team efforts on the album. Howe has his acoustic guitar composition, Mood for a Day, which is to become a staple live performance piece for the band. Chris Squire uses a lot of wah wah pedal to great effect on The Fish. The other pieces are a bit hit and miss. Bill Bruford's is very short. Jon Anderson chooses choir voices and acoustic guitar in We Have Heaven. Wakeman does an electronic transcription of the scherzo movement of Brahms fourth symphony.

Acoustic guitar sets off the album opener, a mainly Howe piece, Roundabout. After the intro the music switches to a Latin American rhythm to Jon Anderson's lyrics, which go, 'In and around the lake mountains come out of the sky and stand there'. The suggestion here is a traveller going on an hallucinatory road trip and suffering from sensory overload, reminding me a bit like Dave Bowman's descend to surface of Jupiter in the film, 2001 A Space Odyssey. Rick Wakeman does a great organ section in the middle section of Roundabout while Howe chips in his electric which sails over the top of everything before the coda.

South Side of the Sky continues the road trip theme. Wakeman contributes organ and piano to give the song it's atmosphere during the chorus singing, but it's bass guitar that drives the song. Long Distance Runaround is a short piece by Yes standards but is no less worthy a Yes classic with it's sentimental lyrics and arpeggio guitar runs, which are a perfect lead into the Chris Squire solo piece.

Heart of the Sunrise starts off with a really heavy bass riff, then a very long organ passage and drum rolls alternating with arpeggio electric guitar and mellotron. This all comes to a halt in the middle section with a lush vocal melody line and alternating dancing moog whose notes are retraced by Howe's electric guitar. Then you have Wakeman's piano which is retraced by Howe's electric guitar. Jon Anderson reprises the main chorus line at the end. If Heart of the Sunrise doesn't qualify as the best song Yes ever wrote it comes a close second to their best.

For those who have the 2003 remastered copy of Fragile the band does a brilliant ten minute cover version of Paul Simon's America.

iluvmarillion | 5/5 | 2020-6-11

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