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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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!

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.

Ugh. Prog rock with classical influences. Not my thing. Some of it is fine, most of it is not.

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.

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

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

Fragile The Yes albums we’ve had are mixed up with the ELP album in my memory, so it’s hard to place this one in that context. Looking back at the reviews I didn’t seem to care much for Close to the Edge but I didn’t mind The Yes Album. But I actually can’t really remember much about either of them. I know Roundabout, apart from Owner of Lonely Heart, it must be their most famous song, and it is brilliant; a catchy melody, an excellent bass line, some great spacey synth noises, a superb keyboard solo, nice acoustic and electric guitars and a suitably melodramatic sense of pomposity. Reading about how it was constructed is pretty interesting, but my favourite thing I read is the genesis of it: ‘The song originated when the band were on tour and travelled from Aberdeen to Glasgow, and went through many roundabouts on the way.’ Inspirationally Craig David-esque. Thereafter, despite it having the usual, undeniably amusing tang of prog rock self importance, it never veers into overbearing and I found myself enjoying it, it feels like what I’d imagined Prog Rock to sound like before I actually listened to any of it. Cans and Brahms is probably the one of the few sour notes for me, feeling a little pretentiously forgettable, but We Have Heaven is enjoyably daft with its folky playground feel and South Side of the Sky is really good, giddily powered by the kind of portentous Prog riffing that is genuinely enjoyable. Five Per Cent For Nothing is thankfully brief, but the keyboards and piano are great on Long Distance Runaround, it’s a relatively straightforwardly accessible bit of Prog pop, with a Supertramp feel, segueing nicely into the The Fish, with its nicely haughty latin in parentheses, and an insistent groove - another good track. As are the rather earnest folk stylings of Mood for A Day. And the Heart of the Sunrise is an enjoyably serious Prog workout, never staying in one place for too long and playing on the margins of disappearing up it’s own fundament, just about staying out of the brown zone. Sonically this is great too, the bass tone (and playing) is excellent and I love the drum sound, it has that really dampened but resonant quality to it, and the keyboards have a great imperiously bombastic feel to them. I don’t know whether because it’s my last working day before Christmas so I’m in a good mood and I therefore imagined a sense of humour and sense of self awareness amongst the self importance and magniloquence, but I didn’t find this annoying in the way I did their other albums. I really got into it, growing into it on repeat listens, so much so I’m going 4, as it feels like the only Prog Rock album I want to listen to again 🫡🫡🫡🫡 Playlist submission: Roundabout

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!

Man Roundabout would make for a bizarrely good anime outro (👀). I love this sound it’s like psychedelic but still rock and head boppy. Very fun album but I have a enemy stand user to go take care of now

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.

This album must be Italian or something. As of this morning I had only listened to two songs, but I finished it just so I could make that joke. This was decent. Liked Mood for a Day.

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

I did not particularly like this. It seemed too pleased with itself and noodly. They needed a good editor to try snd make sense of the ideas here.

No

Goofy carnival bullshit. Roundabout is ok so I’ll bump it up to two stars.

Pretty much what I expected from a Yes album, a few bright moments but mostly obnoxious and full of random noises.

Like being stuck in a 'Dazed and Confused' scene, but the music sucks. 'Mood for a Day' is okay.

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!

A pet peeve of mine is documentaries featuring snotty punks from the ’70s claiming they saved music from the pretension and overindulgence of prog-rock—reducing the complex dynamics of culture, history, art, and creativity to the inane binarism of 'few chords = good, many chords = bad.' But now having listened to this album, I think I kind of get it.

My friends in prog places would have my guts for garters for saying this, but I find it difficult to listen to most prog rock artists. It's too hard to hitch your attention to any single instrument or melody for more than a nanosecond. Gentle Giant's Octopus is the exception (inexplicably). When ‘We Have Heaven' came on, I had a horrendous flashback to my dad playing this record while doing the pools in the Express and Star, which meant it was Sunday. Say No to Yes. NB: if any of my listening peers made it through the whole album, I commend you.

God I hate prog.

Classic. The first vinyl record i ever bought.

One of my favorite prog albums.

I know this one! My dad is a big fan of Yes and had most of their catalog on CD. Definitely remember this one though it's been a while since I've done a full listen. Some of my favorite Yes songs are in here like Roundabout, Long Distance Runaround, and Heart Of The Sunrise. Forgot how much The Fish jams. The other songs are fine, though admittedly not super special or memorable. This is going to be a 5 for me, but on the lower end of the 5 spectrum.

Among the prog powerhouses, Yes is certainly in the top tier right alongside King Crimson. They are always good, and when they are great, they are untouchable. This album is in that latter category and Yes repeatedly makes a case for inclusion of prog into mainstream rock without diluting the brand. Roundabout kicks things off with a propulsive bassline and some of the finest organ soloing this side of the Mississippi. I think this was among the earliest songs that helped me realize a personal proclivity towards music with strong, forward basslines. Cans and Brahms is a quirky segue into classical cannon. Weird, but its par for the course with Yes. We Have Heaven is more a transitory piece than anything else. An experimentation in vocal layering that gives way to silence before bleeding over to South Side of the Sky -- one of my favorite non-singles here. Absolutely love the tension in the instrumental and proggy composition with dramatic internal shifts in tempo and style. Long Distance Runaround is another standout here. Much brighter in tone than the rest so far, but plenty of bass to sink your teeth into. Just a fantastic little ditty. The Fish is a wonderfully crusty sounding open jam of a piece. Then there is Mood for a Day, a stripped back bit of clean flamenco guitar strutting. The album rounds on Heart of Sunshine, which has drums and a soul that remind me of KC's Larks Tongues. Love this song. Great all around album. Soft 5 / 5 for me.

This is cool as hell. I feel that this has a very diverse sound such that it consistently demands your attention without becoming a chore. In the best way possible, large parts of this reminds me of the most enchanting video game background music ever, like a Sonic stage on acid or something. Best of all, there's no pretence that any of these lyrics really mean anything, so you never get the grating pretentiousness you might otherwise expect from such an eccentric album. Maybe there's one or two tracks I could do without, but that won't stop me from giving this a 5*.

Perfection. I loved it. Especially the longer tracks like roundabout and the last one on the album being 11:30 min.

One of the prog greats. I prefer Close to the Edge but Fragile is a solid second place. I like how the sides are split between group and solo contributions. The solo ones are stripped down but not lacking in spite of that.

I loved this. “Nerd wizard rock” that I DO want hahaha. I was unfamiliar with this band + album before this listen, but there were a ton of sound bites I recognized from sampling in modern media. Altogether very fun.

Отличный альбом. Помимо песни из мема "to be continued", которая сама по себе очень хороша и представляет из себя сложный восьмиминутный басо-гитарный запил со сложной мелодичной структурой, тут есть небольшой психоделический вальс и несколько абсолютно отбитых (в хорош смысле) с точки зрения музыкальной сложности и структуры песен. Слушаешь это и понимаешь где черпали вдохновение гиззы и прочие тейм импалы. Это база и основа, слушать всем!

This whole thing is epic Like a rock symphony Would be so cool live

When you listen to "The Yes Album" to "Fragile" to "Close To The Edge," you can definitely feel the band upping their game. With the addition of Rick Wakeman into the mix, the band gets the progressive sound they were looking for. Bill Bruford stated that Rick Wakeman is one of the few players he knows who does not have an ounce of jazz in his playing. The solo pieces on the album are a bit of a throwaway, but they are definitely re-listenable. If it wasn't for "Five Percent For Nothing," Bruford would not have grown to the composer and musician he is today. The big song for them, THE hit: "Roundabout". I had first heard the live version of this that is on the "Classic Yes" compilation. So the whole acoustic opening I had missed. It really brings a lot to the song, but I still like the live version. Can I listen to this song over and over again? More than I can "I've Seen All Good People". And "Roundabout" (for me) isn't the best song on the album. That would have to go to "Heart of the Sunrise". Bruford and Squire's interaction in the beginning is exquisite. The album has a lot of great pieces, and is definitely up higher for me than the previous album. Not as good as "Close To The Edge," but it is still a great and important album. If someone asked me what Yes is all about, this would be one of the albums I tell them to listen to. Classic.

Great. Roundabout justifys the entire album

Great

I cannot recommend this album highly enough. It’s strange that it is so similar to King Crimson, and yet the latter really rubbed me the wrong way. Fragile takes one on a journey that is both an escape and a deep immersion into reality.

Ok, so, Yes is one of my favorite bands. This is not my favorite Yes album. A lot of the shorter songs are pretty forgettable. But the majority of this album is so good!! It’s Prog, so this is either going to be the best thing you’ve ever heard or a complete waste of your time. For me, it’s the prior. Having the JoJo meme song also really helps, especially because it’s just genuinely one of the best songs ever. Past that, “South Side of the Sky”, “Heart of the Sunrise” and “America” are all 5/5 songs. I desperately want to give this 5 stars, as I’ve just listed like 80% of the album. I just might. You know what? Yes.

Good ol' nerdy prog. This album has a pretty good balance of nerd rock, mainstream sounds, and classic prog sounding stuff. These are talented musicians for sure and I think it's cool that they could make a pretty technical album that could appeal more to the mainstream. I liked this more and more as the album went on.

Wow. What a record. To me, this album is really defined by the book ends. Roundabout is incredible. Such a classic. The whole journey of that song. Its like a prog jazz rock opera and I'm all here for it. The keys are the winner in this song. Every song after is good, interesting, obscure and enjoyable. Its easy to groove and flow with it, but I also get somewhat lost or distracted. But then Heart of Sunrise pulls you back in, making this album feel more like 4.5 then a 4. I'm all in, I'm jamming, I'm having fun. But then.... America. And holy shit this cover is insane. Mind blowing. I had this on all of my downstairs speakers and was just shredding with this cover. And it just gets better the longer it goes. Its perfect. So that bumps this album to a 5 for me.

Jojo memes here (and a pretty darn good album)

Timeless. Funky. Fresh. My only previous exposure to this was those memes with the intro to Roundabout. Can’t believe how old it is, it feels quite modern and fresh.

Too bad all the songs can't be as good as Roundabout. Would be 6 stars if they were

This album is great. The bass lines and sounds of the bass on this album are some of my favorite, but everybody basically kills it on this album. 4.5/5

This was super cool. I wasn’t sure it would be my cup of tea when it started with and 8 and a half minute song but it was great. The bass is immaculate on this. The songs alternate tempos and dynamics really well, there isn’t constant lyrics which allows the instrumental parts to shine really well. Overall just sounded really, really good.

Finns int mycke bättre

Jakby było samo Roundabout to mocne 5. A dodali do tego idealny album. GOAT/5

Absolute goated album, been one of my faves since high school. Like others have mentioned, front to back I don't think this is their best album. yet another dad rock album on this list

I may be biased because I love Yes, but man what an album. Everything feels so beautifully crafted and purposeful, even the somewhat sillier moments. There's moments on this album, not only because they're explicitly inspired by classical music, but feel as well put together and earnest as classical music. I don't know what else I can say, just listen to it and give in not only to the calm but the chaotic moments. Favorite tracks: Roundabout, South Side of the Sky, Long Distance Runaround, Mood for a Day, Heart of the Sunrise 5/5

While not my favorite album by Yes, it is still a prog rock statement. It could have done without "Cans and Brahms" which was a great vehicle for Rick Wakeman to show off his considerable musical chops. "South Side of the Sky" and "Heart of the Sunrise" are epic. Always a favorite.

YES!!!! Roundabout is almost enough to make this a 5 star album by itself. South Side Of The Sky is another banger track. Long Distance Runaround feels pretty applicable to me today. Mood for a Day is really soothing. Heart Of The Sunrise is not my favorite but not enough to keep me from 5 stars on this one.

Les virtuoses du prog. Yes maîtrise tout le vocabulaire du prog anglais des années 1970: si, dans certains passages, ils sont capables de sonner comme Gentle Giant, King Crimson ou Genesis, jamais ces autres groupes ne sonnent comme Yes.

Musique de vaisseau spatial avec des lumières qui clignotent partout. Les contributions solo sont cools; les pièces en band torchent toute. Bruford est mon drummer calme préféré. J'y donnerais 4.5 mais faut arrondir.

Meme spotted!!

Großartiges Album! Richtig episch teilweise! Ich fand jeden Song super. Favorit wahrscheinlich „South Side of the Sky“ und „Roundabout“, aber eigentlich war jeder Song gut. Auch teilweise so viel progressive Klänge: Klassik-, und Metalelemente. Ich bin begeistert 6/5.

5 - prog at its best

While this may not be the band's most thematically consistent album, I think it is really the peak of the band's playing as a whole: every member is so completely locked in here, the band sounds so tight and in sync. They rock much harder and get way funkier on this album than any of their later, more whimsical ones. Just unbelievably good playing from all the members, they're all playing at peak level, and on a far higher level than most of the rock bands of their time. It's impressive to hear an album that goes so hard, while also maintaining this high of a level of sophistication. Say what you will about Yes' artsy, fairy, spacey tendencies, but the band could TRULY rock as well or better than the best of the best bands, as showcased here. I adore Close to the Edge, but I think the mixing and sound quality is far better on this album. The instruments all sound so clear and present.

Wow! I knew the first song because of radio play, but I was amazed at the other tracks. I love the classical influences, the wackier sounds on some, such variety. Great musicians. I think there was only one track I wasn't blown away by.

mengmol het s 17jöhrige ich musiggschmack gha. roundabout isch soooo geil. icj denk soo oft a de song aber losen fast nie. IN AND AROOOUND THE LAKE. so viel teil und hooks aaaah. wie hends die orgle so schnell gspielt? würkli die ganz ziit aah de teil gits au no so viel hooks. hammer. picarrrrdiscjer schluss geil. haha cans and brahms isches actually brahms? ok jo 4. sinfonie. we have heaven isch afoch ei idee meh oder weniger und mega verschachtlet findi au easy geil. south side of the sky wieder mega lang und etz gad riese piano interlude. aber s tönt immerno mega noch yes irgendwie. nooooh wie s schlagzüg wieder inechunt aaaalte. und de steve howe cha gitarre spiele fuuuuuuck. five cent per nothing au wieder churz und jo da wärs mega geil mue nöd länger sii. long distance runaround suuuuper geili riffs lieb wie de bass und giti sich doppled. hammer song. mood for a day au hammer de steve how isch insane ade akustische. heart of the sunrise wieder riff central aber crazy schöni chords ufem synthi drüber. und de anderson cha siii ge holy shit. uuuh lieb de chli epilog mit wieder we have heaven. FÜFI.

For Fragile: Not much of a music person, so cool to learn some songs I had heard before names and who sang. Not normally something I listen to. Reminded me of The Wall Pink Floyd, some short songs part of greater album stuff going on... Pretty good For Blonde On Blonde (forgot to leave notes): Another of those everything sounded the same. Good music, he had some harmonica in there which Grant likes, so I went with a 3.

Goated plus jojo

Shout out to Julesy (Dad) for playing this one to me constantly as a kid! Had to repeat Roundabout. Also really enjoyed Mood for a Day

This is a masterpiece, it still hits as hard as the first time I heard it. Just amazing compositions

Good album. Progressive rock is something I have liked for years. Great sound.

Very interesting. My favorite band in the world is phish. It's fun to listen to these bands from the past and hear things that a the bedrock of the phish sound. This album is cool as hell.