FRAGILE

Fragile is an album that sees Yes between a rock and a prog place, if you'll pardon my pun.. While it still bears the rawness and art approach of their earlier work, there is a hint of what was to become the generic progressive suites that they would fill on albums to come. For me the melodic passages and harmonies are a maisve strength on Fragile and this gives some parts a slight folk element though the music in the background defies this with its off beat timings and lush musicianship of the exceptional musicians that made up Yes, now with the added depth of having Rick Wakeman on keyboards and pretentious pieces ("Cans And Brahms" if you don't mind). Jon Anderson's voice has yet to reach the scale of elfism (or a little elfish even?) and that is music to my ears, he sounds quite beautiful without the high frequency register of later Yes works. He sounds exceptionally good on "Roundabout", a song that clocks in at around 10 minutes or so but never out of place or boring. But the key song that holds Fragile together, [as the album ]does sound very uneven in places but again this uneven qualiy is masked by the brilliant skill of the players, is the massive "Heart Of The Sunrise". An epic tune that drills a rapid fire round of riffs at the listener with ease, before pulling back and building up over and over again at a brooding pace. Bill Brufords drumming is exceptionally tight and solid and this gives the song its tenacity and power-though it has to be said that Yes might have borrowed a little from their peers King Crimson some where along the line for this number, a compliment rather than a crime I would think. Fragile is a real good progressive album that may be self indulgent but rarely overblown and it's raw nature adds a neat tangent that makes it a worth while album to own. Prog fan or not.