Sic Semper Tyrannis

Fragile by Yes (1972)

A Random CD Review from the Stutzman Memorial Library

Fragile by Yes (1972)

Well, Excel really picked a winner for today. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of old-school Yes and this is one of their classic albums. Even non-prog people have at least heard of this album. This one was on pretty heavy rotation in my car around my junior or senior year in high school. This kind of musical excellence deserves a rack-by-track breakdown:

“Roundabout” -one of the best starts to an album that I can recall. It’s a quick fade-in that kind of sounds like “uuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnggggggggghhhhhhhhhhHAT!” And then immediately after it: bling! Open string harmonics on an acoustic guitar. I’m not sure how they achieved that backwards fade-in, probably some cutting and splicing of tape, but it’s an amazing effect. This song has one of the coolest rock bass lines ever, some excellent organ work by Rick Wakeman and just all around fantastic production, melodies and harmonies…..Man! This is a perfect rock n’ roll song! (Well, maybe not perfect, I think the lyrics were written by a 17th century Martian.)

“Cans and Brahms” -so one of their ideas for this album was for each member in the band to have a solo piece that was their baby and this is Rick Wakeman’s adaptation of some Brahms theme for an orchestra of analog synths a la Wendy Carlos.

“We Have Heaven” –this is Jon Anderson’s multi-tracked a capella vocal piece. I can’t think of anything more to write about it. So I won’t.

“South Side of the Sky” –one of the three or four actual full band songs on the album. Can I relate to you how awesome Chris Squire’s bass sound is on this song and on the whole record for that matter? I doubt it.

“Five Per Cent For Nothing” – this is drummer Bill Bruford’s compositional contribution to the album and is just odd meter weirdness that probably only appeals to other prog-rock drummer-type people.

“Long Distance Runaround/Fish” –this, along with the opening track, you hear quite a bit on the radio and rightly so, I think. This is, once again, a show of fantastic musicianship as they play the syncopated groove underneath Steve Howe’s quirky guitar line. There are a couple very memorable melodies in this song, (which was, incidentally, covered nicely by Red House Painters), and it segues right into Chris Squire’s bass showpiece, “Fish (Schindleria Praematurus.)

“Mood for a Day” -Steve Howe is a phenomenal acoustic guitarist. Enough said.

“Heart of the Sunrise” –this is a great epic song that has several sections. Robert Fripp once accused them of stealing the beginning riff from a King Crimson song. Be that as it may, there are some very dynamic sections to this song and some melodies that stuck in my head for days at a time when I was in high school just discovering this stuff, probably because Jon Anderson turned in a fantastic vocal. This is a great last song for an album and I’ve always been kind of annoyed at their choice to stick a little reprise of “We Have Heaven” at the end.

Anyway, this early Yes music is some great stuff if you’re interested in musicians with high ideals who care about their craft. Unfortunately, about twelve years after this album was created, Yes became another thing entirely, which I choose to not talk about, for fear I’ll stain this computer screen with tears of sorrow.

posted by Mike @ 4:28 PM