FRAGILE

This is the first Yes album in the 'classic line-up', it featured two newcomers. First of course Rick Wakeman, embellishing the Yes progrock sound with his Hammond organ, grand piano, electric piano, harpsichord, Mellotron and Minimoog synthesizer. Very soon he turned out to be a keyboard wizard, a great classically trained composer and a humurous personality. The other newcomer was Roger Dean from the Canterbury School Of Art. After he had designed the covers from Atomic Rooster, Babe Ruth and Osibisa, he was now asked for the first time to do the artwork for Yes. Oringinally the record company intended to release Fragile as a 2-LP (one side studio and one side live) but because of lack of time this was cancelled. The first composition on "Fragile" is "Roundabout", the intro features acoustic guitarwork from Howe with flageolets and a Spanish flavor, followed by a swinging and powerful rhythm. Rick Wakeman shows his skills on the Hammond organ with sparkling runs and a virtuosic solo like he played in Yes for years! The album contains five solo pieces: Rick Wakeman on organ in "Cans And Brahms", Jon Anderson with vocal overdubs in "We have heaven", Bill Bruford on drums in "Five Per Cent For Nothing", Chris Squire on bas in "The Fish (his nickname) and Steve Howe with "Mood For A Day" (wonderful Spanish climate). Not every piece is my cup of tea but in those days 'self-indulgence' and playing soli was as normal as drinking tea for these Englishmen so I don't mind about this! The other tracks "South Side Of The Sky", "Long Distance Runaround" and "Heart Of The Sunrise" (MELLOTRON!!) deliver a seminal mix of classic, rock and symphonic featuring distinctive vocal harmonies from Anderson and Squire. MY CONCLUSION: DUE TO THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN WAKEMAN AND HOWE YES HAVE MADE THEIR FIRST MASTERPIECE!!!