FRAGILE

A great new original album from Fragile. I have seen the band live in their past life as a Yes tribute band, both with original singer Steve Carney and later with Claire Hamill, who I am also a fan of. To me the whole sound evokes warm memories of 70s Yes, whilst also being fresh and original. There are obvious Yes inspired passages but no copying or plagiarism is evident. There are also some definite classical style sections which stand out. This album seems to have more originality than their 2020 release 'Golden Fragments'. Production is clear and powerful with thundering 'Whitesque' drum passages, powerful riffing and highly varied bass, which like Squire, plays higher delicate melodies as well as powerful syncopated riffs. The guitar and keyboard interplay is highly skilled and Claire's beautiful voice soars above. A great addition to my collection.

The title track Beyond slowly builds in intensity with hypnotic vocal chanting before launching into extended Keyboard and Guitar interplay, sounding very classical. The main song begins with a pounding rhythm and innovative wordplay from Claire. There are further highly organised instrumental passages. The use of tricky time signatures is done with ease and actually groove very naturally. There is a beautiful atmospheric section and then another new section with a different groove and lyrics referring to paying the ferryman to get to the other side. We are then lead to another highly organised instrumental in 5/8 with repeated motives interspersed with highly original solos evocative of Howe and Wakeman's interplay. This leads to a beautiful ending at approx. 22 minutes. The next 2 tracks (each over 14 mins) follow similar paths with varied lead interplay between Day & Hunt and great grooves, riffs and acoustic atmosoheric passages. Claire Hamill's vocals and lyrics are highly varied and highlight vocal syles that match the music well from delicate acoustic to full-on rock.

I love the work of Claire Hamill, Oliver Day, and Max Hunt, and I enjoy a lot of music that emanated from the band YES--I might even be interested in seeing a tribute band if one came close to me--but bands motivated by near-perfect replication of a single band's sound and songs, though impressive, usually bore me. (How many Yeses, Genesises, King Crimsons, VDGGs, and Focuses do we really need?) I listened with great interest to this band's debut release from last year, Golden Fragments, but, in the end, dismissed it as four talented artists who had too much time on their hands during COVID lockdowns. But now, with a 2021 release to follow up, I am thinking that these guys are serious! They really want to create new Yes-like music.

Well, the plastic sound of the drum heads weren't enough to drive me crazy, the Yes similarities are just too close--even with Claire's crystalline female voice on top. If there's one saving grace, the bass play is neither mixed as far forward or as busy as his Yes -counterpart, the late great Chris Squire. A 21-minute multi-part epic followed by two fourteen minute suites. The former is respectful and unobtrusive--and not over the top bombastic--more like a MAGENTA composition--and I have to admit that Ms. Hamill's performance is rather charming. Oliver Day adds enough of his own style and sound selection to not be too obvious as a Steve Howe replicant and multi-instrumentalist Max Hunt does an admirable job with several key tracks, including the bass and background vocals. I'd give it a (39.25/45) rating--(It would have been higher were it not for the too-near "Starship Trooper" finale).

2. "Yours and Mine" (14:26) unfortunately, sees the band trying a bit too hard to get really close to several famous Yes songs--perhaps even to merge several. And then Claire's lackluster Heather Findlay-like vocal practically ruins it. (Sorry to be so direct, Ms. Hamill, but, what a corny lyric! I feel so embarrassed and pandered to! I'll have to go back to the magic of "Icicle Rain" and Voices just to clear my head and cleanse my palette.) (24/30)

3. "The Golden Ring of Time" (14:09) Max is no Rick Wakeman. Then they have the gall to steal Chris' melodic hook from Schindleria Præmaturus! And those galloping plastic drums! There's just a series of instrumental hooks lifted directly from Yes songs and flaunted as if this were truly a song of homage. A fair song if I weren't so distracted by every other minute's presentation of Yes-familiar riffs. Still, this is the most memorable song of the album--and thus my favorite. (26/30)

C/three stars; for curious Yes fans only.

FRAGILE is the tribute group of YES. I only know them since last year to distill a melodic rock based on the voice of Claire who collaborated with Steve HOWE and Jon ANDERSON. The group therefore decided to embark on the musical bath; inspired and daring to confront their creations with obvious reminiscences, we don't erase twenty years of cover like that, the Oliver of That Joe PAYNE, Russ and Max on guitars, drums and bass-keyboards offer three long tracks (14 to 22 minutes ) mixing and stirring from near and far notes with a Yessian declination.

3 tracks that take on the symphonic approaches of their masters, singular sound associations with a style of their own where reminiscences are only made at the bend of the five breaks, a voice bordering Kate BUSH for the 1st opus. We then dig into the discography of the first tracks with a bass and vintage keyboards, Claire's voice sends me back to my first hearings of YES amazed by the voice; halfway through an acoustic break gives more intensity, a bucolic ballad, the last break goes on "Relayer" with the divine organ and a well-chartered acoustic piano interlude. The last one has jazzy sounds on a retro background; we can find Oldfield tunes there, the intense drums allow a nice battle of keyboards. There you have it, no more comments since these 3 titles will vibrate differently inside your body.

FRAGILE will make you plunge into the classical and symphonic atmospheres of the seventies. A sound that is meant to be inventive while remaining in familiar territory, a retro vintage journey meant to deviate from one of the four progressive pillars, it is up to you to say if it does. This group is showing with this album that we can make very good retro-prog without it being vintage, used and without pure creation; here on the contrary, you will go to virgin musical lands where beauty will flood you.