FRAGILE

Well folks i've always had some issues getting used to early prog rock. i mean i love rush, styx, kansas, dixie dregs, etc. and the new prog rock bands like Spock's Beard, Flower Kings, Tangent, Transatlantic, etc. But for some reason i couldn't get into some of the other early prog rock stuff....EVEN YES. Well that all changed when i finallys started listening to the right songs on the right albums. This Cd really help me discover that true prog fans have opened minds and i didn't know mind could get this opened as i finally was able to get a special edition copy of Yes fourth successful studio relase FRAGILE. It took me a while to finally get this album as i've always been a fan of STARSHIP TROOPER and ROUNDABOUT and getting this album was definitely a grand day for me as FRAGILE really stood up to what's in known as this album really has made me realized YES is one of the true pioneers of Prog rock. Anyway well good things about this cd are that Rick Wakeman makes a grand debut with Yes on this album, Then you have all the short filler which displays each band members talents. Now i'll be honest i'm not huge fan of filler songs they either way but these songs don't bother me and being a drummer the 35 seconds of FIVE CENT PER NOTHING is really grand with BRUFORD'S craziness. But anyway the other songs really make the meat of the album starting with my favorite YES song ROUNDABOUT. This displays YES at their progiest with a nice acoustic intro followed by a lead bass line and one of my favorite bass lines by SQUIRE then on to the song as YES really displays great musicianship i really love the nice percussion latin section along with the dueling solos of WAKEMEN and HOWE. then next big song we have is another good favorite of mine SOUTH SIDE OF THE SKY. Steve Howe does a fabulous job on this song as he really lets you know that hey he can play some mean guitar even if it does sound country to me at times but i don't mind. plus the quiet section of the song is very nice. makes me wonder why this song didn't get so much praise though??? anywya the next big song that has gotten some attention is LONG DISTANCE RUNAROUND which also a nice catchy Beatlesque number that leads into the other fillers and finally the grand puma of FRAGILE the grand 10 minute epic HEART OF THE SUNRISE this song def. one of my favorite 10 minute yes tracks (along with AND YOU AND I and MACHINE MESSIAH) as this song has such a great riff very fast and somewhat aggresive plus the quieter sections are nice too with ANDERSON's very lucious vocals. Plus the tightness of this song is so great i mean just listening to it makes me realize how they were able to make such a tight aggresive number. Plus you also get 2 extra bonus tracks if you have the SE like i do with another great 10 minute yes track AMERICA and a studio run through of ROUNDABOUT. This album has definitely become one of my favorite yes albums (although its second to CLOSE TO THE EDGE) and if you wanna hear some great 70's prog in blooming colors get this album its worth it!