Fragile (Yes album)

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Fragile
Fragile cover
Studio album by Yes
Released 26 November 1971 (UK)
4 January 1972 (U.S.)
Recorded September 1971
Genre Progressive rock
Length 41:11 (original release)
60:20 (2003 release)
Label Atlantic Records
Producer(s) Yes and Eddie Offord
Professional reviews
Yes chronology
The Yes Album
(1971)		 Fragile
(1971)		 Close to the Edge
(1972)


Fragile is the fourth album by British progressive rock band Yes. It is best known for the song "Roundabout", which was released in an edited version as a U.S. single and became one of the band's best-known songs, along with "I've Seen All Good People" from The Yes Album. This was Rick Wakeman's first album with Yes - and also its first trans-atlantic Top 10 release.

Fragile was issued in the UK in November 1971, but was held back in North America for two months because of the still-growing momentum of The Yes Album.

Unlike Yes' previous releases, this album showcased the band members' solo talents. This was to cut down on recording time, as the album had to be recorded and released hastily because the band needed money to pay for Wakeman's keyboard equipment, thus explaining why this is one of the few albums where all songs are over one minute away from the mean time. "Cans and Brahms" is a piece by Johannes Brahms arranged by Rick Wakeman; "We Have Heaven" is a Jon Anderson solo in which he sings all the vocal parts (a technique he later used on his solo album Olias of Sunhillow); while "Five Per Cent For Nothing", "The Fish" and "Mood For A Day" are solo pieces by Bill Bruford, Chris Squire and Steve Howe, respectively. The remaining songs are all group performances.

A DVD-Audio version of the album was released in 2002, featuring Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound mixes and other additional features. The bonus track "America" features additional vocals in the last minute of the song which are not present in the 1972 release.

On November 7, 2006, two audiophile remasters of the album are set to be released: an Ultradisc II Gold CD version by the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and a 180 gram vinyl LP version by Steve Hoffman, to be released on Analogue Productions.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Roundabout" (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe) – 8:33
  2. "Cans And Brahms" (Johannes Brahms, Arr. Rick Wakeman) – 1:38
  3. "We Have Heaven" (Jon Anderson) – 1:40
  4. "South Side Of The Sky" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire) – 7:58
  5. "Five Per Cent For Nothing" (Bill Bruford) – 0:35
  6. "Long Distance Runaround" (Jon Anderson) – 3:30
  7. "The Fish (Schindleria praematurus)" (Chris Squire) – 2:39
  8. "Mood For A Day" (Steve Howe) – 3:00
  9. "Heart Of The Sunrise" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Bill Bruford) – 11:27
    • Includes a hidden reprise of "We Have Heaven" at the very end.

Fragile (Atlantic 2401 019) reached #7 in the UK. It also reached #4 in the U.S. during a chart stay of 46 weeks.

Fragile was remastered and reissued in 2003 with two bonus tracks:

  1. "America" (Paul Simon) – 10:33
  2. "Roundabout (Early Rough Mix)" (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe) – 8:35

Steve Howe's use of harmonics on the acoustic guitar for the intro of "Roundabout" would become one of his most signature pieces of guitar work.

Rick Wakeman contributed to the writing of "South Side Of The Sky" and "Heart Of The Sunrise", adding piano interludes to both songs, but wasn't credited due to contractual conflicts. He was instead promised more money by Atlantic studio executives, which he claims he never saw.

In the film School of Rock, Fragile is given to the keyboardist Lawrence as he is told to listen to "Roundabout". In the movie, Jack Black tells Lawrence to listen to Rick Wakeman's piano solo on Roundabout and it would "blow the classical music right out your butt".

In 1998 the track "Heart Of The Sunrise" was used in the film Buffalo 66.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Artwork

The cover design by Roger Dean depicts a tiny planet on the front. On the back, the planet has begun to break up and the population is escaping in a wooden space glider - a concept that was to inspire Anderson's Olias Of Sunhillow, as well as the film Floating Islands.

The LP's accompanying promotional booklet contains two additional Dean paintings; the front cover depicts five different creatures huddled under a root system; the back cover depicts a person climbing up a rock formation.

The inside of the promotional booklet consists of several different photographs of the band members interspersed with smaller Dean illustrations and photographs of the members' wives and children, save for then-bachelors Bruford and Wakeman.

On Wakeman's allotted page he features a photograph of his dog along with a list thanking everyone who helped further his musical career. Notably, he remarks "God Bless Brentford Football Club" (he now supports Manchester City F.C. after a dispute), along with "P.S. One future offspring." (Wakeman has had three children).

Front cover of the promotional booklet.

Back cover of the promotional booklet.

Back cover of the album.

[edit] Recording technology and production methods

Recorded in September 1971 at Advision Studios in London, the album is an analog multi-track production - the available technology of the day. Standard multi-track methods were employed, such as overdubbing, including a clever flipping of the master multi-track tape to record the backwards piano, cued by Steve Howe's guitar, for the beginning of Roundabout.

[edit] Reissues

1986 - Atlantic - CD
1993 - Atlantic - CD (Remastered Gold Edition)
1994 - Atlantic - CD (Remastered)
2002 - Elektra / Rhino - CD (DVD-Audio with Bonus Track)
2003 - Rhino - CD (Remastered with Bonus Tracks)
2006 - Analogue Productions - LP (Audiophile Remaster)
2006 - MFSL - CD (Ultradisc II Gold )

[edit] Sources

  • Fragile, CD booklet essay, Bill Martin, c.2003
  • AllMusicGuide.com
  • "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c.2002
Yes
Jon Anderson | Chris Squire | Steve Howe | Rick Wakeman | Alan White
Peter Banks | Tony Kaye | Bill Bruford | Patrick Moraz | Geoff Downes | Trevor Horn | Trevor Rabin | Billy Sherwood | Igor Khoroshev
Discography
Studio albums: Yes | Time and a Word | The Yes Album | Fragile | Close to the Edge | Tales from Topographic Oceans | Relayer | Going for the One | Tormato | Drama | 90125 | Big Generator | Union | Talk | Open Your Eyes | The Ladder | Magnification
Live albums: Yessongs | Yesshows | 9012Live: The Solos | Keys to Ascension | Keys to Ascension 2 | House of Yes: Live from House of Blues
Compilations: Yesterdays | Classic Yes | Yesstory | The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection
Remix albums: Yes Remixes
Box sets: Yesyears | In a Word: Yes (1969 - ) | The Word is Live | Essentially Yes
Related Articles
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
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