Fragile

Yes, Roundabout is genuinely fun and the rest of the album is interesting enough to make a listen through decent. Probably don’t need to hear it again though and I know there are two more Yes albums on the list and I fear they won’t be as palatable as Fragile

3.1/on one hand, roundabout is glorious. but on the other, what is the rest of this album doing. vinyl was in collection.

Three stars for being not outrageously obnoxious like a good bit of the 70's prog on here. It doesn't grab me as particularly remarkable, it's just on here because of Roundabout. The cover is cool.

1971 So, I've got this, and for a while I used to wax lyrical about how Yes should be reverred in a godlike status. The musicianship and technical ability being demonstrated is pure prog. However, whilst I love the opener, 'Roundabout' and the production of the album as a whole. I find, as I've got older, it's all a tad arrogant and self-indulgent, and interludes between the main tracks are simply 'look-at-me' statements for each member of the band. Punk needed to happen. Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️  Show-offs ★★★☆☆ (6/10)

I've already listened to his album (18). Starts really strong, then gets boring as Yes usually is. But that first track is really something.

I keep forgetting that I actually enjoy this record. Even if Yes can become a little tiresome.

Enjoyed a lot of these, especially roundabout, felt some tracks could have been shorter though

difficult

Just a note before I dive into Fragile too far: I think "Roundabout" is one of the great rock songs. Not just of prog, but of all rock music. It is tight, and rocking, and melodic, and weird, and I love it. Also, until I looked up the lyrics on this listen, I always thought it was "Marlins come out of the sky and stand there." "Mountains" makes a bit more sense, I guess? Anyways. I've always particularly loved that middle break that repeats the introductory guitar part, with the chorus sung over different chords - it's beautiful! That being said, Fragile really could've been boiled down to an EP. "Roundabout" "South Side of the Sky" "Long Distance Runaround" "Mood for a Day" "Heart of the Sunrise" That's all you need, and I think you can even lose one of "Sky" or "LDR." I really enjoyed The Yes Album so I was a bit let down by Fragile - it's got Rick Wakeman after all, and Roundabout! But overall it just doesn't hold together as well. Oh and one more thing - Bill Bruford is a boss. Good lord, this guy. One star for him, one star for Roundabout, one star for the rest of the album combined + the artwork. THREE STARS

Quite proggy. Jazz rock to some extent. I find it hard to take seriously but this was more enjoyable than some of the others I've heard in this genre.

started out great, but lost steam after roundabout, and never got back to where it needed to go.

To be continued…

This is the 2nd Yes album I have been dealt so far, they’re not a band I particularly knew coming into this and just like with The Yes Album, I’m left liking the proggy nature of this but feeling like I’d need more listens to properly appreciate it. I also think I preferred The Yes Album.

Fine-gile

Should be right up my alley but felt like a mixed bag.

it was fine

hehe funny bassline

Ok

One minute I’m a little leprechaun frolicking around, the next I’m an English lad having a night in town with my boys in the 70s

Prog rock! Sounds great. I was impressed with the bass and drums on these tracks. Hard to believe this is from 71. Fun album!

Some real bangers on here, but a lot of it just doesn't work for me.

Not as good as Close to the Edge, but still some good stuff. I like Heart of the Sunrise.

Ok cool Prog rock goodness Got bored about three songs in but good musicianship

"Roundabout" is perfect in every way; It's dramatic, it's funky, it's fun, it's epic in scope, it's just a truly great song. While the album never reaches this high again, the longer form songs ("South Side of the Sky" and "Heart of the Sunrise") are still great, and there are pairs of songs ("Long Distance Rundaround" and "The Fish", "We Have Heaven" leading into "South Side of the Sky") that compliment each other well enough that they could be one song. and then you have the filler of "Cans and Brahms", "Five Per Cent for Nothing"'s angular jazz thing, and the actually. pleasant "Mood for a Day" which seem like unnecessary detours that didn't add anything.

Alright, I appreciate how incredibly nerdy this album/band/genre is. If you like prog rock and renaissance fairs, this is probably right up your alley. Album length is a big dose for this kind of music and I don't think I need more than a few tracks at a time, no matter how good the guitar work is, or how nasty the baselines are. Seriously, the opening bass riff on “Roundabout”? Disgusting. About 1/2 the songs feel like they started with some sheet music for some kind of very obscure classical guitar music and then they just decided to jam around it for 6 minutes. If they just did that with far less singing, maybe I could handle more.

No.

Feared the worst but pleasantly surprised how much of this I actually quite enjoyed.

Roundabout is iconic but the rest of this doesn't ever really come close to reaching those heights again. 6/10

Liked it a lot more than I thought I would, some decent prog rock in there but a lot of forgettable stuff in here as well,

don’t have much of an ear for prog rock, i.e. not sure of the conventions of the genre, but it was definitely really interesting and engaging to listen to with all the funky time signatures and combos of instrumental and vocals. great bass on ‘roundabout’, spectacular guitar on ‘mood for a day’. i liked the kind of singing in round on ‘we have heaven’. not sure that i’ll listen again but didn’t dislike it! neutral!

Liked the instrumental components of this album. I’d listen to it in my free time.

Ooof. This was super exhausting. I admire the musicianship, but this brought up a strange dilemma: why am I going crazy for almost the same thing as Fripp & co are doing here when it's The Decemberists or MGMT or other modern prog-y bands that clearly have inferior musical (and often also lyrical) abilities to Yes while at the same time I'm just unable to open up to this album? I have the same feeling I did with the Peter Gabriel LP: I'm too stupid for this. Anyway, one fewer thing to want to have on vinyl, at least :)

Profoundly uncool music, made by and for those for whom Pink Floyd is too conventional. It is nonetheless pretty good, particularly in its bookending epics. I am stunned to learn that Red House Painters' Long-Distance Runaround is actually a Yes cover.

Just ok!

Yes

A couple good prog rock tracks that get washed out by excessively long jams that do nothing for anyone.

5/10

Enjoying this more than I thought I would. Mix of styles and never really know what's going on

got jojo-jumpscared which was cool. the rest of the album is just okay. i liked that there was interesting instrumentals but it really blended together for me. good music to have in the background when you work!

Es raro. La diferencia de duraciones en las canciones, los mil instrumentales. El primer tema está bueno, es largo y parece que setea lo que va a a venir... Pero no. Ni te esperás lo que va a venir.

high three this was awesome sometimes

i liked some of the songs quite a bit

Actually much cooler than I expected, I still don't really expect to return to it but was enjoyable for sure. I would like to listen to an entire album that sounds like the last minute of Heart of the Sunrise. Yes clears Rush for sure Fav song: South Side of the Sky

If you want a whimsy, wimpy King Crimson

3/5 only real good song was roundabout and the rest where mostly just doodling by the musicians. Fun listen but not planning to return.

Roundabout is elite. Everything else is pretty meh though unfortunately.

A range of genres. Rock one minute, medieval the next, instrumental, funk. Always love the unique sound of Jon Anderson's vocals. Feels experimental given Rick Wakeman's influence on synthesisers and the new sounds they were producing. But there are better Yes albums than this one

“Roundabout” is quite good. But from this vantage point, the album just seems like competent, not transcendent, prog-rock. This isn’t the prog-rock I’ll return to when I (rarely!) have that itch. And this isn’t even the Yes album I’d turn to when I want to hear the band. (90125, from my “own” era, is what I’d want to hear.)

Roundabout is the obvious high point of the album. But just like with other Yes albums, it’s all solid and makes fantastic background music

When I hear extremely progressive rock like this sometimes I think they're just doing too much. It just comes off as pretentious. Complexity is fine so long as it doesn't detract from actually being enjoyable. When they just rock out without getting too weird it actually sounds really good. Favorites: Roundabout, Mood for a Day Least Favorites: Five Per Cent for Nothing

Wide range of musical styles in one album. The good songs were good but some of the filler was a little too out there for my taste.

it's almost good, a little too prog rock for me though ( i did wonder what kind of person was listening to this back in the day .... )

Oh God. Back in the 90s, before streaming music, Yes was the bane of my existence. They would stop your classic rock radio station in its tracks. “Muthafucka, I came for Led Zeppelin, not ten minutes of carnival organ.” Swearing off this for 25 years, now it’s … pretty good. I get it. Let’s bury this thing, Yes.

Yes is one of those bands who are often cited as influences for bands I love (in particular Rush), but I don't seem to love the same way.

Appreciated the classical tracks

Ummm…edgy!

3.7

3 out of 5 Lot of slow songs. I’m a big fan of Yes but not all their songs.

Albums with long running tracks just don't click with me.

only listened to part of it

More enjoyable than I expected with some cool bass and guitar parts but overall the band is just not my cup of tea

Only knew Roundabout, and there's some great bass and guitar riffs on this (though I can do without all the various keyboard overload). "Heart of the sunrise" was a real ripper!

Re-listen

I kind of outgrew a lot of prog-rock stuff. The classical like guitar parts are pleasant to listen to, but I wouldn't cal the album my thing. Just feels very like long songs, progressive rock, misses a bit of pop catchyness I find. The last 15 seconds I was a bit like, what is going on, what is this.

I guess I should get high. I'd probably get high and listen to this again.

As a fan of other Prog or "Progressive" music, Rush, Genesis, Polvo, etc. Yes, is one of those bands that I knew existed but I had never heard, or if I did hear them they did not make an impression on me. Before listening to this album I did go and see what other people thought, and it does seem to be similar to me. A mid album from a mid band. Although there are 3 bangers on this Roundabout, Fiver Per Cent For Nothing, and Heart Of The Sunrise.

Gut

Generelt: Er de lange låtene inspirert av Bohemian Rhapsody og Queen? Eller generelt progrock? Er jo vanlig med veeeldig lange låter, men Bohemian Rhapsody var veldig pioner på akkurat den. Kult album, men kommer nok ikke til å høre på det igjen? Frekk basslinje på første låt, god damn. Progrock, 100 prosent. Mye som sklir inn i hverandre, deilig at det føles ut som en lang improvisasjon av noe slag på første låt. Andre låt på albumet - wow, barokk-vibes. Gir mening når det er Brahms i tittelen. Albumet er fullt av overraskelser. Tredje låta; gøy med koring og litt polyfoni. Og selv om det går i 6/8, føles det ikke helt slik. Litt fucka rytmisk. Dette er gøy. Fjerde låta: Hva slags modalskala er dette på refrenget med modulering? jeez. Akkurat som første låt, veldig proggete - føles litt ut som en lang impro med spesielt piano i midten av låta som bare improviserer. Spennende oppbygning med koringa - hvor går det hen? Fortsatt spennende skala på pianoet. Litt skuffende oppbygning og overgang til vokal igjen. Sjette låt: gøy med tostemt rytmisk start, fucka rytmisk her også. Går det faktisk i 4/4? Følers ikke slik i starten. Gøy start og slutt hvertfall, og rytmen satte meg ut. Syvende låt: denne går faktisk i 7/4. Føles ut som en forlengelse av forrige låt med overgangen. Deilig med gitar som ikke tar helt over, og begge gitarene som bare ligger i bakgrunnen og plukker. Samme med bassen. Åttende låt: Samme med barokk-vibes. Veldig klassisk med kun akustisk gitar i starten. Ser for meg en kar som sitter med gitarkroppen mellom beina på en scene med et betraktelig gammelt klientell på operaen. Ble litt mindre klassisk halvveis ut i låta, og mer frekt spansk gitarspill nærmere slutten av låta. Niende låt: Veldig kontrast fra forrige låt, hahaha. Betraktelig mye hardere lyd og trommer, og gøy med orgel-lyd. Gøy med halfbeat, mer spaced/atmosphere-sound på halfbeat. Kul oppbygning med synth, repetativt gitarspill etc., til vanlig beat. Fuck, hvordan plukker bassisten så kjapt? Akkurat som første låt, drit lang låt med følelsen av lang impro/miks. Så mange forskjellige deler i én låt, følelser og sjangre/stiler. haha, hva var overgangen med synthene? Tiende låt: Call and response-start. Det er gøy. Samme rytme som repeteres, hvor går denne spenninga hen? Siste låt er som første låt, bare en tidligere miks? Overtonene <3 Og med en faktisk barokk-klassisk gitar outro. What?!

Another Yes album. This sure is proggy, but for some reason feels more tolerable than their other records on this list.

This is hard for me to rate: on one hand I really like the musicianship and the parts that just "groove", on the other hand the singing really detracts from the aforesaid parts. This could be a classic like most of the WAR albums if the artists would just hang out in a space instead of moving to something else in the effort to show off. Be that as it may there are 3 or 4 really good songs on here and the album should be on the list as an example of great keyboard and bass playing if for nothing else.

Some of the short instrumentals are meh, but when this rocks out, there’s some fantastic riffing and I don’t even hate the keyboard solos.

Actually quite a nice album to listen to. No songs added to my playlists though.

nerdz

pretty nice album, i enjoyed mood for a day and heart of the sunrise

1. To be continued...meme song. 70s prog rock. 2. Short song. Kinda classical. Sounds like it would be in period drama in the 70s. 3. Another short one. 70s folk rock chant. 4. Feels/sounds like Mastodon a little bit; a slightly dark edge, more dramatic. Actually like this one. Good for a prog Playlist. 5. 38 second nonsense. 6. Kind of a filler song. Did move me much. 7. Another short song. Weird song name that is also the only lyrics. Too lazy to Google what it means. 8. Nice acoustic guitar. You can tell the guitarist knows what their doing. Slight Spanish feel. Almost a modern day Melody in the middle of the song. 9. 3 and a half minutes before the first lyric. Prog journey type of song. 10. Song about hitch hiking in America? Idk. Michigan mentioned! Kind of a bluegrass feel. Sound like what America might sound like if that makes sense. 11. The first song but an earlier mix/version.

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: Roundabout, Long Distance Runabout Yes album number three on the List. In my opinion, this album is not as good as Closer to the Edge or The Yes Album. It's a perfectly cromulent album, its just not clicking the same way the other albums did. I may need to have a few more listens. Closer to the Edge had the epic 18 minute eponymous song on side A that pretty much sealed the deal for me, and The Yes Album had both Starship Trooper (which I had not heard until listening for the first time) and I've Seen All Good People (which surprisingly isn't their most popular song, and in fact its more surprising that Roundabout is their second most popular song by plays). Anyways, even after 3 listens, the album still didn't really click.

Some songs were very good, others just a bit repetitive.

Enjoyed this more than close to the edge but still not massively up my street. Easy enough listen

Good musicians. Too many drugs.

It was okay. Made me want to listen to steely dan

Not my favourite style of music.

Really good i want to be a nerd so i actually enjoy it but i know its good, prog rock is not yet my thing... but one day... it will be

Forgetable i think didnt get to finish it

I like Yes and there are a few great tracks on this album but it's a little uneven?

𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 showcases Yes at the height of their technical prowess, with standout tracks like 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 and 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 delivering the full force of their prog rock vision. The musicianship is top-tier, and each band member gets a moment to shine — literally, through individual solo pieces. But that’s also where the album stumbles. The constant shift between sprawling band epics and short, sometimes whimsical solo interludes makes the listening experience feel uneven. The flow suffers, and not every piece earns its place. Impressive in parts, essential in context — but not quite the cohesive masterpiece it wants to be.

probably earns another star or two if listened to while driving around on a sunny day with the windows down not bad by any means, but found this album a bit of a slog to get through when listening actively. i like Yes’ hits (aka the guitar hero songs) but maybe i’m not just a huge prog rock guy. shoutout to Heart of the Sunrise - starts off “oh damn this is a jam”, look down and see its 10:35 long lmao. probably has the opposite effect on me than what the artist intended

Not my fav prog rock album. No doubting they’re all brilliant musicians and one or two songs I enjoyed.

Progressive Rock.

Heart of the Sunrise was longer on a different edition. From Wikipedia, I discovered there was a hidden track originally. I was able to hear it on the original from Spotify.

A couple of truly great songs and a fair amount of noodling.

Is this album a Jojo reference?

3.5 Early Yes is a mess. But a joyful one at that. The covers were excellent ("No Opportunity Necessary") and the originals were taking shape ("Starship Trooper.") When Rick Wakeman joined, the writing sped up and they figured our to bottle the lightning ("Heart of The Sunrise" and "Long Distance Runaround." They even got a badass single with "Roundabout." The cohesion is not on "Fragile" and it is so vaunted in places. So, it makes me wish they slipped their amazing cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "America" in there. Then it wouldn't be so full of itself. Which ultimately is their downfall, ("Close To The Edge" is alive with tension and a need to make it work AND make it fit together - therefore, their best.) and the exposure of taking yourself too seriously as the Achilles Heel of Prog Rock.

-6 charisma +9 bass on "Roundabout"

Like the hits

So much music so little reason

dont like

Mwah, sommige nummers zijn wel oké, andere minder.

This was an interesting new discovery. Not sure why it's in this list, but some solid organ rick - kinda 60s psychedelic type stuff.

Rating: 6/10 They can play their asses off, no question about that. The longer songs were all quite good, even though these songs would oftentimes meander and the band would focus on the wrong ideas. The other songs are pure filler.

5/10

Fun and creative but a bit all over the place with no guiding thread

it's pretty interesting but there are one too many indulgent guitar solos (an inescapable part of this genre, i suppose.)

Roundabout is too long but a banger. Then two random songs that I do not need again. That is the prevailing theme of this album, a great instrumental idea that’s too long followed by little snippets that don’t add much. There is a straight primus song on here that rules though. Heart of the Sunrise is great until he starts singing but then it will not end. Feeling a hard 3.

I’m conflicted. Half of this is really good, but then it overstays its welcome and becomes everything that sucks about prog rock. These dudes can clearly play and the bassist is stellar in particular. I think the album gets progressively worse with each song, im feeling a strong 3/5 still though.

I’m on a streak of fair to middling albums. This is one of them. I have affection for Yes because I greatly enjoy prog rock, but this album is a little underwhelming. Fine, perfectly OK, but nothing special.

Way too long but the first disc was pretty good. Had the meme song! Did not listen to the rest. So 3 stars

Nerdy singers talking bout sum nerdy shi idk didn't listen much but the mixes and unique production was fire lot of ear candy and doubled vocals

michelle found it extremely enjoyable, which in skeptical about. she appreciated the instrumentals. i thought it was aight.

solid classic rock

I once was so down for prog rock. I also was a teenage stoner at the time. Now, while I appreciate the musicianship, I don’t have the interest or patience for the epic jams. 3.5 stars

Heard a bunch of these songs. Not something I will listen to often but decent.

Since I started listening and buying Rock music (55 years ago) I have skirted around the prog bands without ever going fully in, loved Genesis and Jethro Tull at the time but don't revisit their music hardly at all these days. Yes passed me by, but I gave it a good go this morning - listening to 'Fragile" twice, there is a lot to admire in the sheer musicianship in the band but it didn't connect for me on a deeper level I am afraid. YES? sorry lads, but it's a NO for me!

So so

Good album. Yes has a unique sound that I like in small doses. A whole album starts to get a bit tiring. Fortunately they’re not long albums.

This was kind of interesting. For starters I was floored to find the theme music of the "To be continued" meme. The rest of the song is quite good, as is the rest of the album. It's a unique sound the band has, and parts of the album feel pretty epic in their composition. It's nice... But I don't think it's totally my thing. I can acknowledge how the music is well put together, but I don't feel the need to listen to more.

Banging opener. Uneventful continuatio.

I want to like Yes, I really do, but they don't make it easy. There's some great stuff in here (like the surprisingly funky Roundabout) , but there's also plenty of noodling for the sake of noodling that frustrates me. Heart of the Sunrise is the best and worst of Yes all within 11 minutes. In the hands of a more restrained band that guitar part has the making of an absolute rock classic, but instead it's a sprawling opera that dilutes it to the point where it could barely be considered a coherent song, let alone a great one. Bumping it up to a 3 just so I don't disappoint my dad too much.

Was excited to listen to this one, but was disappointed. "Roundabout" is a great track, the rest is your typical boring 70s prog rock with noodling and jamming.

Sometimes great, sometimes too kooky.

• 3/5 • love love the baseline on Roundabout, but don’t find the rest of the album enjoyable - too experimental/prog/self-indulgent

A lot to digest with this one. The musicianship is obviously top notch, and for me the opener is probably still the most enjoyable. Plenty of other musical surprises peppered throughout, especially a very original and different take on America. I was wanting to like it more, but it just didn’t quite get there for me. It’s still quite good, just not the next level I was hoping for.

Really only one song on this that does anything for me, and the rest mostly not really my thing.

Yep, Yup, Yeah, Yea, Uh-huh, Sure, Sure thing, Absolutely, Totally, Definitely, For sure, You bet, Affirmative, Indeed, Without a doubt, Of course, By all means, That’s right, Roger that, Aye, A-OK, Indubitably, Fo’ sho’, Hell yes, Hell yeah, I do, I will, I can, Consider it done, No doubt, Sure enough, Right on, Word, Mm-hmm, You got it, 10-4, Sounds good, Works for me, Copy that, I’m in, Count me in, Naturally, As you wish, Fine by me, Why not, All right, Looks good, Okay, Okie dokie, Yes.

Hard to keep up the pace after a banger of an opening track. Thought this was good but not great. 3.25/5

A wonderful mess of an album. Bookended with two of the best Yes songs (Roundabout is an all timer), but the middle of the album feels like sketches of an idea rather than a coherent work. A joy to listen to this album as a bass player though, Chris Squire really had it going on here.

This is reductive of me but this album really is just the home of Roundabout and 8 other songs... South Side of the Sky, Long Distance Runaround, and Heart of the Sunrise are good but man these runtimes are brutal. Not enough meat for the duration but some really great sounds.

I hear a lot of pink Floyd Wish you were here, but it was released 4 years prior! Especially South Side of the Sky. I don’t mind this record. It probably needs a few listens to take it all in.

OK

I have my problems with Yes albums. I really like prog rock, but the influences from classical music or jazz, for example, should not get out of hand so that the virtuosity overshadows the melody. Ian Anderson's voice also depends on my mood. But the album has some great moments and the positives outweigh the negatives.

why is it so looooooonnnnnnggggg

In equal parts impressive and annoying. I’ve never really cared about virtuosity in music. Here it’s a bit much ”we play rock music but we’re serious musicians”. I don’t feel it. Except when I do. There are some intensely groovy parts. Especially the first two-three minutes of ”Heart of the sunrise”. And ”Roundabout” is great. I think I am at risk of being sucked into the black hole of prog rock if I stay in it’s proximity. I should probably put on something with worse musicians quickly.

Favoriten Mood for a day

Back half of this album was much better than the front half, mostly bc they kept their mouths shut and just played their instruments. 2.5 stars. Will not listen again willfully.

A lot of the songs sounds like roundabout

I’ve never knowingly listened to Yes though I generally like prog rock as long as the concept isn’t too tossing, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as I expected to. Something about the mix of soft sound and classical references didn’t work for me.

Mars volta vibes, wel te weinig echte liedjes

It has the traditional prog problems of dragging on too long and beating its best ideas into dust. I like quite a few long songs (Queen's The Prophet's Song, Taylor Swift's full All Too Well, Elton John's Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, and Rush's 2112 come to mind), but those songs feel distinct moment to moment; they adapt both lyrically and musically as the piece progresses, while still feeling like one thing. This just feels like dragging out solos to give the vocalist a break. That's a shame, because there's a lot of good in the three grueling songs, especially Roundabout and South Side of the Sky. They even find a way to play out ideas in record time. We Have Heaven goes on too long at 100 seconds. It's a weird record to evaluate song to song as a commercial album, because there's three songs that are a "usual" length (which I'm GENEROUSLY saying is two to seven minutes), and two of those are just riffing. Still, despite being frustrating in its construction, there's a lot of good in this. Long Distance Runaround stands out as a hidden jem, South Side of the Sky works great when it focuses, and Roundabout has a LOT of moments that are aching to be fleshed out on their own. I wonder how much of what I'm critiquing here is affected by the industry, and the format that people consume music. First, it might sound samey because they didn't have access to the tools that later artists did. And not even new recording or processing equipment, it took advanced computing to even understand how and why certain instruments sounded the way they did. Less than a decade later, the available sounds from a single chord on an electric guitar grew rapidly. Also, these tracks can't be pressed for 45's, and radio hates long songs, too. TikTok and similar platforms have given rise to short songs in recent years. It will be interesting to see how popular music progresses in the era of... this. What will song length mean? What will albums mean? The longest number 1 song was broken a few years ago by an extended cut rerelease of a failed single, and three years previously, biggest song in the world was under two minutes. There's clearly a shift in music consumption that the industry has not figured out yet. I'm curious to see what will happen, because the music industry is usually the most interesting when technology creates new methods of either production or consumption, and we're at both. That barely related to this album, but it felt good to get it out. It's a bit of a chore, but there's a lot of good bits. I understand why it was influential, and I like a lot of what it influenced more than I like it.

é muito interessante que sim, tem algumas músicas convencionais ao mesmo tempo, uma parte considerável é tipo OST de primeira rota de absolutamente qualquer pokemon da era GB/GBC/GBA/DS não vou dar uma nota baixa pq eu curto prog escondido, mas saibam que sem roundabout esse álbum seria bem esquisito das ideia

hoje somos todos LINEUZINHOS chapados de maconha na mesa de jantar!!!!! aí, achei que gostaria mais. parece que tem uns filler entre as música, sei lá. não eh ruim, mas falta algo pô

Know the band, Roundabout is a banger. Wouldn’t go out of my way to play the album, but wouldn’t change the channel if it was on.

Yup... It's prog

I remember going to see Yes in concert at Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln, NE sometime in the mid seventies…it was one of my first concerts. What I remember most about the concert was that the band started an hour late and I was pissed off, screaming “where the hell have you been?”, while they walked out onto the stage. Today I would call it rock star entitlement. Anyway, I didn’t particularly enjoy the concert, as I was familiar with only 2 or 3 of the songs, and my attitude was a bit foul due to their tardiness…and the songs seemed to go on forever, with lots of meandering riffing. Which is not unlike this album. Having said this, I enjoyed this album more than I expected…but still, prog rock just isn’t my thing. I liked the band’s hits well enough, but could take or leave most of the rest of their work. Another 3 star album for me.

Some solid B sides

Fairly interesting, the instrumentals are quite good, but I'm not the biggest fan of the vocals, and the lyrics don't grab me.

70’s

70’s rock

First song is great Very groovy Kinda lost my interest

Reminds me of Styx? Some fun, playful instrumental things happening.

I know this is well done and highly complex, but I'm not a musician so I cant reach the levels of appreciation required to give it a high score. It wasn't bad but its never done a lot for me.

Good album, only one real hit though.

i dont care

Favorite Track: Roundabout

I only liked the first track. Every progressive rock band sounds similar to me. Who knows, maybe I find something I like along this journey. 5/10

Familiar with Roundabout but most of this was new for me….very different. Appreciate it but not something I feel like going back to right away. Needs some listens.

My least favorite Yes album so far. Not bad but not interesting enough for a 4. 3/5 Highlights: Roundabout We Have Heaven America

Interesting record. Not my favorite Yes record, but nice. Still, just a 3 for me.

This album goes way back to my high school days. Roundabout was ubiquitous on the radio back then, and is still played occasionally now. Long Distance Runaround is another track heard frequently now on the classic rock channels. Some of the music on this album is very good, while some is forgettable.

5/8/2025: Roundabout is a jam. Not all that into prog rock, but solid.

Has a few really good songs (particularly the opening Roundabout) but is kinda lopsided with a few pieces that are mostly these instrumental bits that lean into more folk stylings. While I'm not a bit fan of Folk these songs just like they would have been better as full-bodied songs at best or unfinished jam sessions at worst. Seriously Roundabout does a lot of heavy lifting 『TO BE CONTINUED』

This album contains Yes' best known song. Unfortunately, that's about it. The only other real track of note for me here is "Heart of the Sunrise", the rest of the album is fairly mediocre filler.

I thought close to the Edge was a Masterpiece, Roundabout is a great song, but am I completely off the ball by feeling this album is pretty one hit wonder? I really enjoyed the fish as well but nothing else on the album had any strong effect on me. 6/10

Alternativ 70’er rock, funk, symfoni, lidt mærkelig instumenter

I know and like this album!

once again another classic. unfortunately not really up my ally so i feel like i cant give it a 4, but it wasnt bad enough to be a 3. 3.5 potentially

I don’t have much to say I’m a little bit confused to be honest. Like when it was good it was great, and then the rest had me raising a brow. Heart of the Sunrise reminded me of the War of the Worlds album which brought me back to my early childhood - loved that. The bass on this album is legendary holy wow, kind of an Audioslave vibe sometimes but way before Audioslave so I wonder if there are some influences there?

roundabout - i had no idea what i was in for. then i realised it was that meme sound and i started laughing. then i heard the bass. then my head exploded. "kaboom!" it went. this song is ridiculously good. THE GUITAR SOLO?? ORGAN SOLO??? HELLO??? can and brahms - pretty nice but very unexpected. we have heaven - i do love a good old ritual chant. south side of the sky - back to the original sound. holy fuck this guitar is good. bass goes so hard too. production on all of these songs has been phenomonal too. PIANO SOLO??? what is going on? drums in this section are amazing. back to part a now. holy frickin shit the guitar is good!!! next 4 songs were okay but nothing stood out to me. heart of the sunrise - very long song. 11:26 is longer than i would normally tolerate. this song is interesting - but i dont know if its interesting enough to be 11 minutes long. vocals are very cool. i do like it tho. it reminds me of king crimson. overall it gets a 3/5. whilst the highs were very high the lows were very low and thay has kinda skewed the rating. will be listening to this one again tho.

woof

Pretty good prog rock. Some screechy parts in songs

Simple and dope

This band is more prog rock than I expected. Good combo of interesting/complex music with a few radio hits.

This is an odd album. There's some interesting melodies, album is pretty experimental. Decent but not really grabbing me either.

3/4

it was...ok. Not my style but i didn't not like it. Not going to listen to it again. Nothing stood out

You know roundabout was written while going round a roundabout? They didn’t exit until they were completely happy with the track. Then they recorded it going around a roundabout too. Listen back. You can real feel the roundabout. UK prog rock pioneers, Houmous & Chutney gave them the idea! Absolute magic! 3.0

Technically this album is pretty cool and when the funky bass kicked in on the first track I was like, let's go. Not too long after that, I wanted to actually go. Heart of the Sunrise is a cool track I guess, but I kept thinking of my daughter's criticism of 'I no like this.' Almost went with a 2, but I think I would go 2.5 and bumping up to 3 for the technical proficiency and imagination it takes to put these songs together.

Really not feeling this one. Roundabout is clearly a classic, and the pure skill on display is out of this world. The problem is that the end product is overly long, meandering, and contains a pointless Simon and Garfunkel cover.

is that a JoJo reference???

I know Yes have a stellar reputation, and that this is supposed to be one of their best albums, but it really isn't the sort of progressive rock that does it for me. To be fair, there are only a few broadly prog rock bands that do (King Crimson, Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, Mahavishnu Orchestra, some Hawkwind)

"Heart of the Sunrise" is the banger here. The rest is overplayed or simply dull.

[guy pointing at TV meme]

I liked it more than I thought I would. The bass slaps on multiple songs. I heard pieces that influenced Radiohead and some other bands. I enjoyed it.

Groovy. Maybe not my style but fun to vacuum to.

Feeling great that I already recognized the first track as one from JoJo’s outro song. Enjoyed the flamenco elements in “Mood for a Day”. Second half of the album from “Fish” down was enjoyable for me. My favourite track is still “Roundabout”

Pretty much same as the past Yes album. Would be higher if I was into prog music. Roundabout and Long Distance Runaround being the standouts and classics here. South Side of the Sky and Heart of the Sunrise are solid cuts too, but there's a lot of short little interludes that really don't smoke much for me.

Ratatat x Mike Oldfield x 80s JoJo! Fun surprises, good sounds. A bit underwhelming as a full album

Never got in Yes, despite loving King Crimson for example. So, "Fragile" being their probably least annoying album, is a sold 3 for the great instrumental chops on display. Artistically I always found the band wanting, craft over vision etc. and enjoyed the Roger Dean artworks better than the laboured concepts of the actual songs and albums.

At times it felt like work listening to this album.

Look - this album intro is KILLER. Roundabout is a classic, no doubt about that. The intro, the iconic bassline, the harmonies on the vocals... does that mean the whole album is classic though? Not really. It's fun at times, but nowhere does it ever match the levels of the first track. It's rather weird at times and honestly, it is a pretty mid album to the end. But I love Roundabout so much. 3/5

Ahh Yes, what an interesting band and one of prog rocks finest! It was definitely a prog rock album!

The musicianship was clear and impressive however I do not enjoy this long “jam band” style of music. I prefer songs that have a tighter arrangement. Not for me but I can see how people would like it.

I think listening to Rush first made this effort more palatable. Although I still don't really know what was going on in the 70s that made prog rock fashionable, this album at least at a few more interesting ideas and harmonies compared to some of the others from the same genre.

Pretty good in parts, definately leant more into the parts of 70s Prog I find more palatable, particularly Floyd.

Sonically more interesting than most of the tedious prog rock drivel this list serves up, but still decidedly mid. At least I can say I don’t feel this album was a waste of time as there were points of interest throughout.

Harmless old rock

Enjoyed it

Hmm, not the easiest listen but at least it wasn't boring. Might need a couple more listens to get properly into.

Ok, just ok

Grand respect pour ce groupe qui compte parmi les inventeurs du rock progressif. Pas d'esbroufe chez ces jazzeux du rock

Not easy listening, not difficult either. Can and Brahms is just out of place ;-p, five per cent is juste experimental. In general while I like the instrumentals I can't help but feel that the vocals lacks presence.

Nice Melodies and rythms

Yes is exactly the kind of prog band I want to dive into, but their music demands attentive listening so it’s perfect that this album dropped on a Friday! The sound is more rock-oriented than expected; it took me some times to get used to the vocals, but I immediately loved the instrumentation. If you take the time to truly get into it, the experience is rich. I truly enjoyed it, and I am pretty sure I’ll enjoy it more and more.

There are really good parts of this album, but the other parts I don't like at all. 3 stars or C.

Fine, but not very inspiring

I enjoyed this less and less as it went on. The record (in my mind) jumps from serene to adhd a bit too sporadically for my liking. I know it’s prog but I’m not in a proggy mood, and I don’t know when I’d play this.

Overall just some regular classic rock. Not a good sign when the first song is the highlight of the album though.

Jojo! Roundabout's the best one on this. It's all complicated and impressive and all, but no tracks really stand out.

Excellent musicianship, no doubt. But it's too clinical for me, I keep wondering, "why"? If I want to groove or be emotionally touched I wouldn't go here. If I want to be all high-brow I'll put on some jaaaazzzz. In terms of prog rock, it's OK but there is better (Pink Floyd, King Crimson, etc.) Still, happy I listened to this.

Somehow I missed this record in my early prog rock days, I don't really know why. My only and favorite Yes album is Close to the Edge, wich I love very much. But I'm glad to listen to Fragile now. Of course I know and love roundabout, it's a classic. But the rest of it is great as well. I love jon Andersons vocals, always did, there is something special about them, although something about yes never clicked for me because the lyrics are so fucking lousy. Nonetheless, this record is full of highs. I enjoyed it.

I love yes. Is it really a yes album if one side of the album isn't one long song though?

A perfectly fine classic rock album plagued by a little too many guitar and drum solos. The sound is good, but I just cannot with the 8-10 minute tracks.

There was some interesting, forward-thinking material on this record. I love the sampling/looping on “We Have Heaven”, the classical excerpt, the vocal performances, and the groovy bass.

Prog rock has always seemed overblown to be although this one of the better prog rock albums. Heard some blues, jazz and classical influences. Standouts are "Long Distance Runaround" and “Roundabout”.

Só tem uma música boa

Gute Musiker, die sich auf ihren Instrumenten einen abfiedeln. Hat gute Momente, aber die Songs kommen zu Meist einfach nicht auf den Punkt (Was meistens das Problem mit Prog-Rock ist)

Dollar store prog. Favorite songs: Roundabout, Long Distance Runaround Least favorite songs: We Have Heaven 3/5

I'm sure some of these are demo tunes from a Casio keyboard... Fine, a bit Dad rock, maybe alan partridge but perhaps thats just because i'm biased by the name...

Not thrilled or surprised by it but it was decent

wish it didn't open w/"Roundabout" since that is the best track on album. still overall a fun listen-like the harmonies, and even all the synth. 3.5 stars

IT'S THE SONG FROM THE THING!!! This left so strong impression that I barely remember anything else. I think the music was a little bit whimsical?

An absolutely epic start followed by 50 minutes of frenetic keyboard and guitar playing. It's not bad but it fails to reach the heights that the first song does. An album I found enjoyable but not one that I need to play from start to finish again. 6.5/10 (3.25/5)

I've never been a fan of prog rock but this is actually ok. The musicianship is excellent and there's some moments of musical genius but there is also a lot of rambling self indulgence. Better than I expected but I probably won't listen to it again.

Worth Listening to for Squires Bass playing alone.

3.6 I can see its historical significance. The last song though long is a banger imo

i am trying to balance my respect for the music with my depths of not caring for it this is the kind of vibe that made "prog rock" carry negative connotations for me growing up my respect says this is respectably a 3/5

I liked the little solo acoustic guitar bit. I'd have listened to an entire album of that.

wtf it’s the to be continued meme song

point0.

Klingt gut, aber bisschen stressig; Genre heißt progressive rock

I had a decent time with fragile. It's lo5s of great musical ideas but sometimes it's just too much changing to get in the real grove. It's progressive and I do like progressive stuff it's just not 100% my thing. I will say roundabout may be one of the most perfect songs ever written so u got that yes. Good damn job. Joo reference or whatever

Good instrumentation, interesting lyrics, not so keen on the voice.

It was fun to listen to, just should have been 20 minutes shorter

This was what I expected from yes. Weird. Proggy. Wouldn’t listen to this again. Super talented dudes though.

Actually very good, but I wouldn't normally listen to this type of album

A little all over the place but not bad

I honestly don’t know how to rate this album. It was interesting but I don’t know if I would say the music itself was great. Low 3 high 2?

classic opening track, killer baseline, culminates in glorious cacophony. for the most part, its downhill from there. some great moments dispersed amidst the barrage of "prog." clearly, not my favorite genre. complex, virtuosic, but alas, its hollow. at once manages to be sterile in its complexity, and saccharine in its romanticism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhP2_FxgzBc Jack Black is indeed correct. Standout tracks: Roundabout, Long Distance Runaround, Heart of the Sunrise Though I do love the keyboard solo on Roundabout, this is still a learning moment on how much keyboard is too much.

I recognized "Roundabout" right away — that bassline and guitar work are iconic. Easily the standout track and probably the reason most people know the album. The rest of Fragile is kind of a journey, but not always one I wanted to take. It’s like they had a contest to see who could cram the most technical stuff into a single song. Don’t get me wrong — the musicianship is next level. You can tell every member of Yes is insanely talented. But some of the tracks just feel like prog rock for prog rock’s sake

Sone bekannti Gruppe, und ich känne nur Owner of a lonely heart...De Sound hät ächli öppis vo Pink Floyd. Die spanische Gitarrekläng sind gmögig. South side mit mega Klavier und Five per cent isch sehr experimentel und nur 38 sec. S Album isch für mich nüd ganz stimmig, sicher nöd äs Album wommer sött ohni Shuffle lose. Bonustrack America vo Simon & Garfunkel..

Partially awesome, partially a mess. There’s a mix of strong songs, phenomenal playing, tight harmonies, and interesting arrangements that all excite me, but also time where it veers, or outstays it’s welcome, and I zone a bit. The groups tracks are better than their individual; while some are cool, some really break any cohesion the album would have had (classical and flamenco tracks). And they’re not necessary, because each member shows their talents in the group songs. But of course all of these guys are monsters of their instruments and Squire’s bass tone is just stunning. Cool stuff but would have preferred a more cohesive group album than what this turned out to be.

It's good music, but also boring.

Interesting arrangements and instrumentals. Maybe a touch meandering at times, it's high points are great but fleeting.

Probably the strongest opening minute to an album - it’s a shame the rest of the album can’t reach that same height. However there are still plenty of good moments and fun songs. The musicianship is on full display here but something about yes that doesn’t quite gel for me on many songs, e.g I feel like there’s a lot of potential for a cover version of south side of the sky. The stretch from five per cent to end of the album is solid enough for a strong 3/5

Quite interesting, not sure I'd listen to it again. A lot of the songs were far too long and they seemed to be trying to fit as many notes into the time as possible. Loads of rapid arpeggios, not much melody. Kind of a shame because I feel like apart from that the band's sound is quite reminiscent of Boston, which I love

OK only. Enjoyed the virtuoso instrumentations but as a lot of prog rock records the songs aren't particularly memorable.

Every self-respecting bass playing aficionado has listened a Roundabout about 1000 times. Some of us have even forgiven Chris Squier for using a pic on it. Outside of that I don’t know if I’ve ever listened to a full Yes album before. The hard part about listening to Yes is that Prog-Rock can’t be listened to passively. It is musically dense and masterful, which constantly requires active listening. Aside from Roundabout, South Side of the Sky was a great song, though I wasn’t quite anticipating getting a George Gershwin style piano solo in the center of it. Other key songs were also the Fish because I couldn’t tell exactly where I was going and it felt like it was a whole lot longer than two minutes. Mood for the Day was pure enviable guitar showing off. This album is definitely listen-to again with headphones in a dark room with a lava lamp and some YooHoo soda.

This one was forgettable as well. It was pleasant and I enjoyed listening to it enough, but I wouldn't recognize it if it was played anywhere. I wouldn't turn it off, but I wouldn't reach for it again.

Not bad. JOJO REFERENCE???

Surprised myself with this one, didn’t think l was going to enjoy some ‘Prog Rock’ but I did. Of its time.

Progressive rock album. The genre does not much to me, but I can understand Yes is an important band.

Didn't really vibe with it- but objectively very good.

Loved Roundabout. But not really the others.

Zeppeli, why do you ... sound so dire?

2.92⭐️

Jojo reference?????

Not really my vibe. Maybe it will click for me in the future.

Rock opera, kinda groovy overall meh

Yes! Feels more like maybe, maybe you’re in the mood for some jam band where the keyboard is cranked to 100. There’s a lot of harmonizing throughout with long tracks that finally hook you in towards the end. A good flight album experience, preferable to watching an endless consumption loop of Fox News like the guy beside me. It’s at times excessive and insists upon itself, my stand out track doesn’t even seem to belong… the guitar solo Mood for a Day is now in my favorites.

I do not think I am a prog rock fan

It's all technically very impressive, it just doesn't give me much emotional response, nor does it leave me wanting to come back for repeated listens.

Not bad, a little all over the place for me. I listened three times. But will not return to this album. But give it 6 out of 10 for the stand out moments

Very cool record. I do know of these guys and have heard a few of these tracks before. These guys really remind me of my parents. They enjoyed Yes.

Het is een nogal interessant album. Ontzettende progrock en dan weer een paar korte nummers waarin korte vreemde geluiden worden gemaakt? Ik weet het niet, ik hoopte een beetje op een soort van 70s/80s rock album, maar het is een stuk meer progrock. Nu ben ik daar blijkbaar nogal fan van, als ik kijk naar de eerdere progrock albums, maar nu voel ik m nog niet helemaal. Vooral de kleinere nummers vind ik geslaagder. De meer experimentelere nummers pakken me niet altijd. De instrumentale nummers vind ik heel vet! Die zijn soms een soort jazzy, heel nice! Alleen omdat er vrij veel matige punten zitten op het album kom ik toch uit op een ratign van 3 sterren. De highs zijn highs, maar er zijn heel veel experimenten die gewoon niet zo goed uitpakken. FAVO: Roundabout, Long distance runaround, Mood for a day

Not bad, but don't love the overall sound.

i really love roundabout. goated song one of the best songs of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!! that being said i think the rest is pretty ok i like moments of it but there wasnt a lot to hook me in

2.5 rounded up to 3. Lots of interesting instrumentation that develops into nothing, not doing anything for me.

They were having fun making this

Some music rocked, some was kind of boring.

Yes? More like Ok

This was quite good 3.99

Like the South Side of the Sky track, struggle with synth prog rock with rambling instrumental epochs, solid 3 on balance.

Prog. Good but not great

The songs were all so so long. Heart of the sunrise was my standout, loved the last minute or so. Already had Roundabout saved, no new songs saved.

I fluctuate between putting this on in the car for a long drive and thinking it is a bit too complicated for that. The musicians are undeniably talented and the standouts pretty damn good. I can see how people dislike prog anything though. The fans for this kind of music can be insufferable when they beat you over the head with how complicated their musical tastes are.

It's Yes. Just what you'd expect. Solid good album.

Classic English Prog Rock. Bursting with ideas, and all over the place.

Roundabout is a tune, from some really funny videos I used to like. Some of the music was cool but I did find myself getting bored at times.

Roundabout was a fantastic start to the album. The rest didn't quite live up to this high standard. I'm a fan of Yes, but this isn't their best album for me. Liked mood for a day too. Can we also just appreciate how damn annoying Spotify is with these older albums? The only version I could find was the super deluxe version, which is 4 hours long! The original was 41mins. I wish Spotify would try to include the original too (I know it's an issue with digital remastering and the like, and remastered versions usually adding additional content, but still)

7/10 Third Yes album, my least favourite but still interesting. When the band play together it is excellent. Musically good, great take on the music of the time, much more fun than their contemporaries. Less proggy than you might expect. When they do the solo stuff here it is less engaging. Best: Heart of the Sunrise

Yes, I do actually have this on vinyl since I thought the cover looked intriguing and wanted to indicate that I have sophisticated tastes beyond ABBA, Blondie, and ONJ in my collection. No, I haven't actually listened through it before because it takes a rare state of mind to endure meandering bell bottom prog rock. I admit I did briefly wear bell bottom jeans until I got humiliated enough by the cool kids at school. Not saying bell bottom jeans are intrinsically objectionable, just that they serve as a metaphor as someone who lacks the self-awareness to realize they look dumb wearing them. But having actually listened to the record I'm sure I will really dig it once I maneuver into the right mood for it.

3 - honestly not my favorite from them

Not enough songs about Thor, glittery capes or theramin solos for me to consider this "proper" prog. Which means it's just average rock.

Some interesting sounds. Very experimental but I don't see a cohesive "whole" with this album. Meh.

Second Yes album that has come up for me on here. I don't mind some Prog, but I struggle with Yes, the opening track Roundabout is solid though. Overall not a bad album I think for me it the electric organ sound that is not for me, considering that is the main feature of Yes it explains why I have never been a massive fan. Stand out tracks: - Roundabout - South Side of the Sky - Mood for a Day - Heart of the Sunrise

Roundabout was a cool song. A meme song. The fish was cool despite the odd sound effects. Mood for a day was kinda relaxing in a weird way. Overall I kinda liked the album

New one for me, prog rock not something I'd ever choose to put on. There's a lot here to digest - super musicians, slight pretentious but with a sense of humour. Winner for me.

It was alright

Impressive variety of styles on one album, even if most aren’t to my taste.

I only like 3 tracks, but like how some songs sounded like jazz

Another good lesson on an album that I've never heard before.

i think this album leans more toward a 3.5 , the instrumentation is fantastic but nothing is particularly memorable for me and some tracks feel like filler to me. gonna come back to this one but these are my first impressions

I hate prog. It doesn’t have killer tracks.

In the better parts it’s quite good.

Not a huge prog fan. I like certain songs, they are fun, but it isn't really my thing.

3.5

Good prog. Classic Prog sound, but unfortuanately I don't love love prog rock. I can get halfway there with a band like Rush and some Yes tunes, but mostly it goes over my head

A pretty good album.

Listen, Roundabout is an unequivocal banger. The rest of the album is a mess. 5 stars for 8:30 of greatness, 1 star for the rest. 3 stars it is.

Ziemlich aufregend...

Nice enough radio music. Don’t find it memorable