Fragile

Nerd wizard rock that I do not want.

5/10, I was initially excited for the concept of this website, but I'm repeatedly discovering the flaws of the 1001 albums list, the sheer proliferation of forgettable dad rock. Yes is fine, it's an okay band, but fuckin' hell, a genre besides rock exists, this is easily the most bland-of-its era tripe to exist. 4/10, bad ideas are extended ad-nauseum, while the good ones are cut short, this is a snoozefest disguised under a prog label. 3/10, it just gets worse as it goes on, I don't think I've ever been less interested in a band, ah yes another track of jumbled instrumentals and pained singing, 2/10 is my final. Thank God rock is dead.

To be continued...

Absolutely incredible. This album makes a catchy, fun and interesting blend of sounds, drawing from prog rock but not falling into the classic traps of the genre. The songs, while long and complicated, are easy to like and feel very timeless. The difficult playing isn't there for difficulty's sake, but to do things a simpler composition can't do. It isn't pretentious at all by prog rock standards, the album cover is great, and i love the small tracks placed in between the longer ones as it paces the whole work perfectly. Adore this album.

This is Yes at their peak before they are about to go off the rails. All over the place in a wonderful way with contributions from all band members. Love how each instrument/element/player is highlighted throughout the album. Wish more bands created output in this manner. They are one of the most listenable and original of prog rock groups. Prog gets a bad rap for some reason but I enjoy the structures and explorations. Quite a sonic journey.

Yes are the audio equivalent of Pringles to me. Once I start listening, I can’t stop. I listened to Fragile twice today. Then I put on Close to the Edge. Then I listened to the first and last track of Tales From Topographic Oceans (had this been a single LP with those two songs, I think it’d be more fondly remembered than it is now) and finished up with Relayer and bit of Going For the One. I don’t have a problem, YOU have a problem.

It was nice to hear Roundabout in its entirety. More than just a meme band, I say.

Had this one on regular repeat in my teen years. Spent a huge amount of time learning to play Mood for a Day (badly) on guitar. Still a personal favorite album decades later.

This album is a trap. It lures you in with "Roundabout" - oh boy! An entire album of songs like that famous classic! - Guess again fuckface!! All you're getting is an album full of scrapped Super Mario 64 music and weird experimental jams! YOU FELL FOR IT FOOL! THUNDER CROSS SPLIT ATTACK! You know what the kids love? Random minute long instrumentals. Let's make an album that has like 3 actual songs and the rest is weird goofy noises. It's like they were trying to create the greatest album of all time but their studio got hijacked by goblins. 3/5, because "Roundabout" and "South Side of the Sky" are that good. "Heart of the Sunrise" is pretty good as well, but Yes has better prog medleys. The rest is goblin slop.

While the musicianship is clearly good, they just feel like a store brand Pink Floyd. It's Floyd-style prog without the hooks which leaves the album feeling kind of empty and, ultimately, forgettable.

You know those girls who really dig Yes? Yeah, me neither.

Almost half a century later and these songs still go hard. The sheer VIRTUOSITY on display here is astonishing. Like, that heavy-ass intro on "Heart of the Sunrise"? Those syncopated drums on "Long Distance Runaround"?? My mind is EXPANDING!!!

Exceptional. The keys and the rambling guitar over the top of the funky bass. Amazing.

Memes aside, this is a good album

Close to the Edge is their magnum opus but this is a really close second.

Not really my style but I appreciate that it's good music. Nice to listen to under certain conditions.

Not my bag, but I respect the players' chops. Also: 1. Google a recent photo of guitarist Steve Howe and tell me he should have been cast as Elrond in LOTR. 2. I've been working on a joke review involving the word "incel" but couldn't get there. Still, I couldn't leave this review without using that word.

Obsessed over overgangen mellom Long Distance Runaround og The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)

What a great album.

Je vous propose de diviser cette critique en deux parties : j'évoquerai les événements récents dans la première et formulerai une analyse de l'album dans la seconde. Première partie : Vous avez sans doute lu dans ma critique de Let It Be des Replacements les raisons pour lesquelles j'ai été convoqué devant l'Amtsgericht de ma ville de résidence en fin de semaine dernière. Pour résumer la situation, j'ai ce mercredi, et par inadvertance, tabassé une de mes élèves en raison du fait qu'elle portait un chandail à l'effigie de Morrissey. Une fois l'audience terminée, les magistrats ont délibéré et jugé que les traces de strangulation présentes sous la minerve de la victime ne pouvaient être imputées avec certitude à ma paire de mains et que les attestations fournies par les quatorze témoins présents ainsi que mes aveux n'y changeaient rien. En revanche, il a également été jugé que l'élève, heureusement sortie indemne, devait à présent porter en continue un pull imprimé d'une photo de Ray Charles en position fœtale. Celle-ci a fait appel, je vous tiendrai informés de la suite dans une critique ultérieure. Deuxième partie : Fragile du groupe Yes est un album que j'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à écouter.

As I've commented for earlier Yes efforts, they sound like pretty basic rock music with extra steps. So it is here - I've got a lot of tolerance for prog fiddling as long as the end result is worth it, but wasn't feeling it today

2 1/2 stars. I found this a bit of a difficult album to wade through. I have never been a Rick Wakeman or Yes fan. Having said that there are a few songs that I can get into somewhat like America and Roundabout which may have to do more with familiarity than anything else. Of the songs a I haven't listened to previously Heart of Sunrise is good. I understand the influence of this album.

From all the first 3 seconds on all albums, this must be one of the best.

What can be said about this album beyond Wow! I was fortunate enough to see them live once. What a fantastic show.

Have had this music in all forms..album,8-track,cassette,cd,Spotify ..hard 5 for this one,loved it since day one

One of my favorite albums of all time. It's what got me inspired to pick up an instrument back in middle school.

Y E S

Still one of my all time favourite albums. There are sections that could probably be trimmed (South Side of the Sky could easily be 5 minutes), but I love the album. Prog rock is all about excess!

bruh its fragile

Keigoei grief joeng

Discazo!! A++

Steve Howe!

One of the OG prog rock bands and a really good listen. Massively influential to so many acts following in their footsteps

This is that shit that has Roundabout on it. A lot more than just Roundabout - lots of prog rock shit going on. Pretty good album imo.

Rick Wakeman's debut for Yes is a masterpiece

to be honest except Roundabout for becoming a meme i can vibe to, this album really hit a miss with me, i can't find myself to enjoy it, Edit 1 : i like the second half of the album where it's just beat i could vibe to without the necessary vocals that ruins the melody listened 4/9/2024

I liked this. Close to the Edge is better tho.

While I really like some of the tracks, the full album gets a bit much. Unless of course you are high!

The album kinda sucks you in, starting with an amazing track in Roundabout. The rest doesn't quite hit the same and sometimes feels a little experimental. I still really enjoyed it, but they kind show their entire hand in the first track.

No. 247/1001 Roundabout 3/5 (5x) Cans and Brahms 3/5 We Have Haven 3/5 South Side of the Sky 3/5 (5x) Five per Cent for Nothing NR Long Distance Runaround 4/5 (2x) The Fish 3/5 (2x) Mood for a Day 4/5 (2x) Heart of the Sunrise 3/5 (7x) Average: 3,16 Prog album that works a lot of classical music into the songs. Pretty good, but no song that I will come back to.

Half of this album is “Roundabout” and “Heart of the Sunrise”. Not really a complaint, but I don’t know what it is with prog rock and its marathon songs. The thing is, most of the rest of the album were short instrumentals that didn’t really match the energy of “Roundabout” or even “South Side of the Sky”. Makes me think that the construction of the album was fiddled with a bit too much, but I guess that was normal for prog rock of this era.

Bookended by good rocking pieces. Questionable mid section. Not the classic I was expecting. A low 3/5

Legendary prog rock album that I’ve enjoyed in the past but for some reason a listen through didn’t do it for me, seems scattered and not as cohesive as I remembered it. 3 stars with the hope that the yes album and closer to the edge will come up and get higher ratings

Maybe there's some music-for- musicians thing going on here, but it's not working for me, just increasing the sense that prog rock was kind of a musical dead end. Really felt like a chore listening to this today. A whole lotta noodling.

A benefit of beaming these records onto a hotel television is my wife’s opinion on the music and Spotify band photos: “This is “get a grip” as well. Go to the gym. Get a haircut. Go for a run. Go see a dentist. This is not music I could like.” When the band show a flash of groove - like the start of South Side of the Sky - they immediately fidget out of it and thwart fun: they’re awful at flirting, and can only flirt, and were I not under an obligation I would not have stayed beyond hors d’œuvres. Fragile has the constituent components of a passable ZZ Top EP, an alright Sweet LP, a sub-par Shellac letter to friends, and a moderately successful Gypsy Kings single, but tragically they are Yes.

So the first thing I thought when I saw the name of the album, is this going to be in French? Get it? A Christmas Story? Nevermind.... And that is what I got form this album. Me thinking bout a Christmas movie. Roundabout is a decent tune, but when you're putting out 10 minutes songs, you're taking your music and your band way too seriously. To quote me, from my last Yes album review, Yes is a big No. I'll score 2. Just because it wasn't outright annoying. And now, to finish off my self proclaimed Prince week. On this beautiful Friday afternoon, 69 day no less, I'll leave you with my final lyric that I hope will inspire you on this wonderful holiday. Yes, 69 day is considered a holiday in many places, but you have to be a true believer to find those places. Fellow Prince fans know that place! Anyway..... Let's go crazy Let's get nuts Let's look for the purple banana Until they put us in the truck, let's go!

Oh BABY. I've been on a huge Yes kick lately and have already listened to this album several times lately. Such an absolutely great album. Listening to the Steven Wilson remixes for this listen through. The talent of every member of the band is seriously absurd. I would say this probably isn't my top Yes album but man it is so god damn good.

<3

This was fantastic. It will make it into my album collection

Just simply immaculate prog rock from some of the best in the game to do it. 5.5 if it was available.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’m gonna round up to a 5. The only reason I’m not at a flat 5 is simply because of the shorter tracks here – I get that they’re meant to be solo tracks, made as partial filler and a partial showcase of their individual talents, but they don’t have a really cohesive bend to them that makes the concept work – those tracks are no Speakerboxx / The Love Below, to put it one way. There are great tracks within those solo tracks though – Long Distance Runaround is a treat, and for some reason, Mood for a Day really fucking clicked with me. The rest are just sort of there, though. The main tracks on this album, which I would consider to be Roundabout, South Side of the Sky, & Heart of the Sunrise are all spectacular, and they’re the reason this gets a bump up to a 5. Roundabout is obviously the huge one, and I loved hearing it again, but I genuinely preferred South Side of the Sky more in terms of the storytelling, sound design, and atmosphere. Heart of the Sunrise is the longest one, and the most “epic” but the reprise of “We Have Heaven” closing out the album feels like a really staggering mistake to me. The track listing in general didn’t feel as coherent as the stuff on “The Yes Album”. I guess now’s a good time to point out the near-bookending of all this – we did get their last album on January 5th, and it’s now November 18th. That’s 10 months; I have heard so much fucking music this year, that this didn’t quite blow me away in the same way as The Yes Album did, but that’s less a fault of the album and more a consequence of going through this project, and just hearing so much music. It’s still great prog rock, it’s a great Yes album, and I really hope there’s more – it’s a pretty enjoyable 40 minutes, even with a few flat spots in there. It deserves to be bumped up to a 5, and everyone in the world should hear the main 3 tracks on this album at least once.

Ich fand bisher YES uberschätzt. Und jetzt höre ich zum ersten Mal FRAGILE und finde es unsagbar gut.

Should pray for them🤘🏻

While Roundabout is one of my favourite Yes tracks, I feel as if Fragile falls into the same category as Closer to the Edge for me. The records are brilliant and deserve the hype, but I am curious how they became the quintessential Yes albums. The way I see it, their strengt is the combination of complex prog forms and beautiful melodicism with a hard hitting energetic sound. While this comes through. And while both of these albums have loads of that, so does Time and Word, The Yes Album and their later 70s stuff. I even love Yes post 90125, while it is a very different band. This comment is not so much to hate on the two records in question, but to ask why the other albums don't get as much hype when I would say they are at a possibly even higher artistic level. But yeah, 5 stars!

Wonderful album. Been a fan since my friend Randy Kolb introduced them to me in the 70s. Saw them at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago, March 21, 1972. Great album!

I have been familiar with "Roundabout" for a long time and, though it is still my favorite track on the album, the rest of the album does not disappoint.

Helped on along drive

Volvemos al reto éste miércoles con Yes, una de las bandas progresivas clásicas que en mi momento de mayor curiosidad por el género escuché y que no me encantó como otras pero siempre aprecié. Siento que es porque siempre fue una banda de virtuosos que buscaron sonidos limpios y luminosos y la oscuridad es lo mío: por eso mi favoritismo por King Crimson, los primeros discos de Rush o las búsquedas sonoras de Pink Floyd. El disco arranca con un bajo criminal, que es lo que siempre me flipó de Yes: todos eran/son musicazos, pero Chris Squire siempre fue un bestia. Mención especial para el ingreso de Wakeman en los teclados: un adelantado a su época. Lleno de temazos, es una gran elección para éste reto. Hasta mañana.

Intricate and elaborate, but also oddly emotional. Long orchestral pieces and short interludes, and continued surprises, even though I’ve heard this record many times. I don’t think anyone quite makes music like this anymore, at least not ironically, but to me it still sounds energetic and fresh.

So sick. Such obvious talent.

I had this album long ago. I loved hearing these songs again.

Extraordinary. The obvious - the musicianship, the synchronicity between mates, and the immensely creative song structures. But what makes this album great is what makes any album of songs great - emotional impact; and emotional impact comes from the use of harmonic structure and, most importantly, strength of melody. What's so amazing about this album is that there are often three and sometimes four counterpoint melodic ideas going on simultaneously and most of them are really strong. There are more strong melodic ideas in many of these individual songs than there are in most modern albums. And the complex harmonic progressions SERVE the emotional impact of the songs, rather than just show off an understanding of harmony and a capacity for complex ideas. Yes, these guys are all exceptionally learned, technically proficient and clever. But the album is great because the musicality is primary; and the cleverness and complexity are always employed in service of its pursuit.

I love this album. I was actually getting paranoid that it somehow didn't make the list. I have many fond memories of listening to this record, particularly on vinyl. There are certainly some imperfections so to speak when it comes to this album. Not all of of the "individual spotlight" songs truly hit but I do feel that Mood For A Day is a amazing instrumental; it always has and continues to make me feel emotions every time that I hear it. The "real songs" are all very good. I do think Roundabout might be a bit overrated but Heart of The Sunrise always moves me. I just love the music and the vocal performance is just amazing to my ears. I will always love that song. It has a few flaws that I can overlook because the strength of what works is just so so good. A no trainer 5 for me.

i was mostly expecting "Roundabout" to be the most fun track on here, but as it turns out, almost every track on the album is fun or bright in a way that i wasn't really expecting from how people regard the band Yes. you expect a big, stodgy, self-important piece of rock (and of course there are important, abstract themes of nature and emotion tackled on here) but on each track there's always a joyful little vocal harmony or a funky little bass part hidden in every corner of this ecosystem. i think there's really only one misstep and it's the weird moogy cover of Symphony in E that took 15 hours to record somehow? outside of that, it's kind of no surprise that Yes turned into 80's Trevor Horn pop the next decade. Yes could do whatever they wanted, but they do melody the best.

Yes

90% Best: Roundabout; South Side of the Sky; Heart of the Sunrise Must-Hear?: Yes

Amazing cult classic

I’ve recently described Roundabout as one of my favourite songs ever so with that and Heart of the Sunrise and all of the other weird songs in between, this surely has to be one of my favourite albums.

Superb

Perfect

Love me some Yes!

Bass tone on Roundabout puts this at 4.5+

Self-indulgent musical masturbation and I'm completely here for it. Brilliant.

JOJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

One of my heros! Highly recommended

I wanted to listen to this album for a while after getting the Yes Album and it didn't disappoint. Everything in Fragile is so good and even better than the previous album. It feels like they got it down with amazing guitar solos, great drums, and well crafted songs. I also like after most major songs they have instrumental interludes which add to the overall experience of listening to the album. Really just Yes at their peak! Favorite songs: Roundabout, South Side of the Sky, Long Distance Runaround, Heart of the Sunrise, America

Whoa

This one's an all timer for me. I got this album because I had a guitar magazine that had the bass tab for Long Distance Runaround in it. It was a lot of fun to play. Chris Squire was a killer player. That fat punchy sound of a Rickenbacker played with a pick, it cuts right through the mix. Excellent album. 5 stars all day.

I thought ok another 1 good song then trash, but this album was actually pretty good!

In my opinion the best line up. Wakeman & Bruford.

Nerd Wizard Rock that I *definitely* asked for

yes

An easy 5 stars for one or my long time favorite albums, though it can be hard to hear it with fresh ears. It strikes me as music that was precision engineered to be loved by dorky music majors in the seventies. Maybe I feel that was because that perfectly describes my dad, who introduced it to me, but I bet the pattern holds. Beyond delivering some absolutely killer bass lines, what this album does so well is layer wild musical complexity while staying approachable and catchy.

People on here hating real music that makes you happy for some reason. 5 stars always for one of my favorites. Not even bill Bruford's best work and it's still objectively better than anything - anything - released after 1999.

Didn't want it to end

The 4 main songs are amazing, the solo stuff adds some charm, works well in-between the longer prog epics

Did I like this? Yes

My Journalism teacher in high school introduced us to this album which introduced me to prog. Next thing you know Jethro Tull and Moody Blues are in heavy rotation on my turntable.

Pump that weird shit into my veins, I love it.

Love it

Love this album. I may pull out my LP copy and listen to it again tomorrow.

Turns out I like Yes.

Yes

Awesome period end of sentence!

One of my favorite albums of ALL time!! Loved it!! Love it a million times over!!

I don’t know why, but I love Yes. This is the 2nd album I’ve gotten from them, and I just love it. Not as noodly as a lot of other prog rock which helps.

Although very much built around two songs (Roundabout and Heart of the Sunrise), three if you want to include Long Distance Runaround, the fact of the matter is that Yes' Fragile as a whole is one of the most important albums in not just progressive rock but in rock itself. The album being named Fragile seems intentional, for it belied the epic magnitude of the music contained within it as it nods (at times) to classical and would often foretell genres that would upend prog itself in coming years. Fragile's intrepid nature is something that makes it worth revisiting upon first or many more listens, whether it is the first minute of Roundabout, the throttling bassline of Heart of the Sunrise or the charming South Side of the Sky. Although it was made in 1971, it is music made for 2071.

Such an iconic album. What else can be said about it? I loved it.

The run Yes went on in the early 70s is absolutely unreal. The Yes Album, this, Close To The Edge, and I would also throw Tales From Topographic Oceans in there, is an incredible run of incredible records. Giving this a listen today really confirms Fragile as their masterpiece. Such an accessible easy listen for how complex of a record it is. Every member of the group is firing on all cylinders. The versatility of new keyboardist Rick Wakeman and guitar superhuman Steve Howe are the standouts for me, although Jon Anderson is also turning in a great vocal performance throughout which ties things together very effectively. This gets dogged on for the shorter solo tracks, but I feel save for Cans & Brahms and Five Percent For Nothing they work very well and stand on their own as enjoyable listens. In short, masterpiece? Probably. This rips, and I’d be hard pressed to find better bookends in Prog than opening with Roundabout and closing with Heart Of The Sunrise.

YESSS