Fragile

7.1

could i write poetry to this? n

I really liked Chris Squire's bass playing. The rest of it was just okay for me. A great example of all things that people love or hate about Prog Music.

3.5 I actually liked this more than I thought I would.

Brahms??

I was halfway through the second listen of this album before I realized that I was listening to the same songs. Pretty unremarkable but nice to listen to.

The nerds are allowed to have rock too. Unfortunately, I found this one to be rather devoid of any emotion outside of a few tracks (or passages?).

Pretty good.

Roundabout is one of YES’s great ones

The longer songs are fantastic, but the album as a whole doesn’t feel consistent to me. It’s alright overall but I don’t think I’ll be listening to this again. Interesting sound though, so I’m keen to see if there are any more albums from this band on this list.

Little boring, music drones on a bit, zoned out Nice album artwork though

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.

interesting but the complexity make it hard to come back to it.

i guess it wasn't NOT enjoyable but it wasn't that interesting to me and i didn't really care about that at all...it's no thoughts head empty for me. bye

Good shit. Not for me. This early prog rock is corny to me but hey I know some people love this stuff. Corny people

If your album has only one really good song, don't put it first. Then the rest of it just is a disappointment compared to that first one. That's been the case for like 40 of these albums, this is no different.

Yes are a band that I am a semi-fan of. Their highs are absolutely mountain high, but their lows are often the core of the Earth. If there is one album in their discography that represents this little anecdote - it is ’Fragile’. Some of the tracks here are Yes at their absolute best. The phenomenal opener ‘Roundabout’, with its insane bass line and absolute toe-tapping melody and beat. The haunting genre mixing of ‘South Side Of The Sky’, the smokey acoustic instrumental ‘Mood For A Day’, and the damn near magnum opus of prog rock finisher in ‘Heart Of The Sunrise’. If I was ranking this album just based on these songs alone this would be around the 4/5 mark for me. But it is littered with fillers. ‘Cans and Brahms’, ‘We Have Heaven’, ‘Five Per Cent For Nothing’, and ‘The Fish’ are all fairly short interludes that add nothing but more runtime. I would have honestly preferred it if the band had ditched these tracks and simply extended the stronger material. It’s a true “middle of the road” record with high high’s and some very low low’s. Yes also have much stronger albums than this - so I can only hope those are on this list, as well. 3/5

I have been Bombarded by prog rock as of late, but I actually liked this more than I thought I would. The bass lines are ripping and the tracks are variable enough to keep me interested.

Not the biggest prog fan. This was ok in parts. Shorter instrumental pieces seemed kinda pointless. Don't think I'd be able to tell between these and Genesis.

I was wondering why I had the first song saved…

Best wel nice

only had listened to Roundabout from this album (which I loved) so had very high expectations, only to get a generic but slightly funkier version of Pink Floyd, not bad but still disappointed

3.5/5

Why don’t we play all the songs at once? Yes!

Yes reminds me of prog-adjacent Steely Dan. All in all, this was a fine album. Roundabout is a hit! I do think it's a strange choice to end with a 10 minute cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "America", but it's fine. Best Songs: Roundabout, Long Distance Runaround Worst Songs: Heart of the Sunrise

6.5/10

Ihan toimiva levy. Pari turhan pitkää biisiä söi kokonaisuudelta pisteitä, mut ylöspäin pyöristetty kolmonen

I hate most prog rock but this isn't bad. Some good guitar vamping that thirty five years later became a whole genre. I don't like the vocals. I once called Yes the band that will get you laid the least.

Ganz nett.

It was all going perfectly well, and then they butchered America. What a box of cunts.

Roundabout is excellent. Everything else, less so. Overly drawn out and often dull, with moments of interest. It doesn't do much to defend against the common criticisms of prog rock. 27/08/24

Roundabout is the best by far

Always welcome a little Yes. 3.5/5

+1 for the meme track

A little too prog for my taste. It was all just basically "hey bro, let's just jam and see what happens, hehe".

Das Album ist ein Paradebeispiel für die progressive Rockmusik der 70er Jahre. Es zeichnet sich durch seine musikalische Vielfalt und die technische Virtuosität der Bandmitglieder aus. “Roundabout”: Dieser Song ist wohl der bekannteste Track des Albums und ein Klassiker des Progressive Rock. Mit seinem eingängigen Bassriff und den komplexen Arrangements zeigt er die Stärken der Band in voller Pracht. “The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)”: Ein weiteres bemerkenswertes Stück, das durch seine experimentellen Klänge und die beeindruckende Bassarbeit von Chris Squire hervorsticht. “Heart of the Sunrise”: Dieses epische Stück ist zwar musikalisch beeindruckend, kann aber aufgrund seiner Länge und Komplexität schwer zugänglich sein. Es erfordert mehrere Hördurchgänge, um die vielen Schichten und Nuancen vollständig zu erfassen.

A few good songs. Of course roundabout was outstanding. But a lot of pillar I thought too.

started out thinking this album was going to be gas because of roundabout, and roundabout was indeed GAS, however, every other song on this album is about 6 minutes too long and doesn’t do anything interesting with that time. especially the last song droned on too long. that isn’t to say i didn’t thoroughly enjoy parts and moments of this album and overall had a good time. high 3

Thought this was a cool album despite not really being my thing. Long songs that change completely four times within the same song are sometimes hard to deal with, but I was never annoyed by anything. Overall an impressive entry even if it wasn't really for me. 3.5 stars

OK - I've heard it, acknowledge that it exists, but won't be listening to it again

Oh my god it's the JoJo song. I did not know of this band before this was introduced to me. I like the whole song; it's fun. I particularly like the nylon guitar present throughout the album, especially mixed with the more prog-rock aspects.

Not my style. Not too bad musically, but the progressive aspect is a bit goofy.

I quite like this album. "Roundabout" has been memed to death and a certain section of it feels out of place. The other songs are alright. I don't consider "Fragile" groundbreaking unlike a few albums from this period. It's the only Yes album I've listened to as of now. I'll give "Fragile" 3 stars.

Pleasantly surprised at the amount of piano on this album. Still just a middle of the road album for me though

Has its moments but an odd mix of songs. 3

This album was definitely better than the last Yes album. I liked "Mood for a Day", and the first track was pretty decent too.

135/1001

I have never listened to this album (nor any Yes album) all the way through. Of course I know "Roundabout" and "Long Distance Runaround" but the rest will be new to me - along with hearing an entire Yes album in one sitting. I liked it. It was better than I expected (I'm not sure why my expectations were so low).

It's 70s Dad rock... it is what it is

Favorite Track: Roundabout other picks: cans and brahms, Long distance runaround, Mood for a day

song reco: roundabout ⭐⭐⭐ i did not expect this album to be purely instrumental after roundabout. still, it was a good listen.

Roundabout is worth the price for admission on this but it also carries the weight of this album. I cant get past thinking of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure since its become so linked to that song. The rest is okay, but still pretty enjoyable, they just put the best up first.

Roundabout slaps. The rest is looong

I was hosting office hours while listening to this and no kids showed up. It was fine. Really liked the instrumental stuff at the beginning of the first song but subsequently tuned this out kinda.

6/10 - Opening with a meme song is great but it was really interesting going from a short song to a long song and back and forth for a bit like that. There were some other songs that I enjoyed however the last two were so long and I did not fully vibe with.

Still find prog rock boring as hell. Nothing about this stood out to me

Really liked the weirdness

Not big into prog, which I think this is? Roundabout is a good tune I was familiar with. Sounded a lot like Chicago I think. In fact I’m pretty sure I thought roundabout was a Chicago song. Anyway, not a horrible listen, didn’t really standout. EXCEPT for the (what I think) is Spanish style guitar sprinkled throughout.

It’s a good album but compared to Fragile it lacks depth

"Fragile" showcases Yes's technical prowess and ambitious compositions, with standout tracks like "Roundabout" and "Long Distance Runaround." The album's prog-rock complexity impresses, but occasionally veers into self-indulgence. While innovative, some segments feel disjointed. A mixed bag of brilliance and excess, "Fragile" is an important but uneven entry in Yes's discography.

I thought I'd like this more, it's good music but a bit tedious

I always liked Roundabout and always hoped they had more songs like it. Big catalog of music over the years, but not many other songs that weren't too strange to listen to. I will crank up Owner of a lonely heart(not on this album obviously) anytime it's on...but for the rest of the Yes catalog it's just not my bag. This not a solid 3...it's a 2.6 and I'm being nice since they are in the Rock hall. Catch me on a crappy day and it's a 2.

strange...

Much better than I expected after the two Yes albums I'd had before. Obviously that's not hard, but my sense of dread gave way to mild happiness when this turned up some songs with tunes and a groove rather than endless noodling!

It's like they improvised the entire album but without missing a single scientifically placed note. If Steely Dan were more steely and less Dan. This drummer fucking loooves quarter notes on the snare.

Fui para este álbum com muita precaução, já tinha ouvido o álbum "verde" dos Yes e honestamente fiquei um bocado desiludido. Este álbum muito pelo contrario não me desiludiu, não achei uma obra prima, mas achei muito mais interessante do que o tal álbum "verde". Por onde começar, pelo inicio obviamente, então para iniciar o típico do álbum, torna-se essencial abordar a cultura do meme, neste caso do meme proveniente das Aventuras Bizarras de Jojo, o tal de "To be continued". Então o álbum abre com o Roundabout, que tornou-se muito famosa devido ao fim dos episódios de Jojo onde o episódio terminava em suspanse e entrava esta música que depois continuava para o fechamento. A juventude que é muito moderna passou a fazer vários clipes onde cortavam assim que as coisas iam correr mal, com o momento congelado como em Jojo e com esta cantiga. Assim conheci a música e muitos outros jovens. O que se pode dizer para além de se encaixar bem esta música é sem dúvida o magnum opus dos Yes nada do que eles fizeram é tão bom quanto isto. Mas o álbum não é só isto, existem mais coisas, mas nenhuma que chegue perto do nosso querido roundabout. Mas há que dizer que os Yes sofrem da síndrome de Dream Theater, ou os Dream Theater sofrem de síndrome de Yes, como vocês queiram interpretar. Mas que síndrome é esta? É o facto de a banda ser magistral na composição instrumental e depois a voz peca em comparação, não é que seja má, mas está há anos luz de qualidade. Mais Yes do que Dream Theater. Uma Ressalva, acho mal não estar aqui nenhum álbum de Dream Theater nesta lista. Bem, existem algumas experiências engraçadas como o Cans and Brahms onde flertam com música clássica e o mesmo no Heart of Sunshine. O America é uma cantiga que se ouve bem e curiosamente o álbum esta repleto de músicas mais curtas quase que uma passagem para chegar as músicas mais compridas e complexas, músicas curtas como o Five Per Cent for Nothing. No geral é um álbum que passaria ao lado se não fosse a instrumentação magistral em músicas até que boas mas nem sempre. Para além da maravilhosa Roundabout destaco a Heart of Sunshine. Nota: 6/10 Data: 15/06/2024

Yes. No

sometimes unnecessarily complicated muso crack

jam band, funky bass lines, this album was kinda all over the place... but that said i enjoyed it more than i thought i would. i actually had a pretty good time listening to it and was grooving along. i don't know how often i would go back to this, but i think that i could easily see myself exploring more of their discography. 3.5 is the true rating, but ill give it a three here.

Minus the first and last songs, I enjoyed it, but those two were basically half the album so can't score it too high.

I almost gave it 4 stars, but I wasn't blown away...

other than the meme, it was weird

Pretty good - reminds me a bit of Rush (or... it's the other way around)

An album with a few songs that have stood the test of time, but are far better live.

I struggle with Yes (I think all my reviews of Yes so far have started with something like that). I'm struggling a bit less with this one though, can hear the influence on later bands I've enjoyed such as Flaming Lips at times, notably on We Have Heaven. Unsurprisingly (to me) it's the shorter, more consistently structured grooves that stand out for me - Fish is excellent for example. I love prog, just don't think the British brand of it is my bag. Bring me the Germans. A few too many abrupt left turns on the opening track for me to get into it, but later tracks like South Side I generally enjoyed. Don't really love it (or really feel that repeat listens would engender that), enjoyable listen though.

Some okay tracks but too many of them I wasn't a huge fan of :)

- Yes, einfach irgendwie eine coole Band, die ich trotz großer Sympathien irgendwie nicht in meiner Freizeit höre - Album sehr vielseitig, hat aber trotzdem viel wiedererkennungswert - Es packt mich aber einfach irgendwie leider nicht 3/5

- Echt cooles Album, hat Spaß beim Hören gemacht - viele tolle Instrumentalsachen dabei 3,25 / 5

Day139 - i’m not a big fan. roundabout is a classic and the rest aren’t bad just not my cup of prog tea

Really funky sounds. Enjoy the fast-paced riffs.

2.5

Jes

Such a weird album. “Roundabout” is a great song, but there’s all kinds of instrumental piano, electronics, etc. a really eclectic mix of stuff.

One of the albums I have a physical copy of. But I don't really like Yes. I tried, but what's keeping this rating up here is Roundabout and the sound Chris Squire is getting out of that Rickenbacker.

nice summer vibes similar to Jamiroquai good for studying some are haunted house-type songs

This might have been revolutionary back in the day, but it just sounded like generic dad rock to me.

I dig it

Yep, that's prog rock! Not very interesting, but I'm not sorry I listened.

"Roundabout" slaps, rest is just a little better than good, but not quite great.

I like the first track, after that it bores me a bit for the rest of it. Not that its bad, its solid, i just think progressive rock is not for me

What a cool band. Album starts off strong with Roundabout (best song) and moves smoothly through. Will definitely listen again.

The first track is supposed to be the best by far, and I didn't like it. What does that mean for the next 50 minutes? Oh no... I mean... hang on... it's not that bad. I kind of prefer some of the other tracks to the opener. It's not really my thing, but it's not bad. It passed by well enough. Plenty of wanky instrument noodling, but it doesn't come across as completely obnoxious, and there are some nice instrumental bits in there. I deem that this album is "OK".

Got there for the meme song, stayed for a conceptual groovy album.

Close to the edge är bättre, men det kan bero på att jag har lyssnat på den mer är denna. Några låtar var faktiskt bra men jag trodde lite bättre om Yes.

not my thing but it was ok

Roundabout is understandably popular, even outside of meme status, although Heart of the Sunrise is my favorite from the album (mainly the instrumental first half, maybe the singing is what I don't enjoy in this album?). Unfortunately much of the rest of the album comes across as a little generic though. It's by no means bad but I think I'd skip most of these tracks if I'd discovered them outside of this challenge.

Really fun in places and pretty meh in others.

Roundabout // Heart of the Sunrise //

don't like it as much as the other big one, but still some good prog rock

Decent release, some good tracks on there

A decent album, but in a roundabout way the majority of the score only comes from one song

2024-04-18...

Amazing musicianship but the vocals sounded flat and almost like I was listening to the same song over and over.

Decent album. Reminds me a bit of rush, and similar to the supertramp album. Classic mid 70s beginning to experiment with sounds. 6/10

Nothing special, but roundabout is a classic.

Not a bad album. I was really surprised to hear a classical piece as well as what sounds something like a classical acoustic guitar piece (Mood for a Day), which I happened to really like.

already had listened the first song idk where lol like it!

I liked it more than the Yes Album. 3 all time tunes and a couple of questionable ones. I like Yes.....hope thats it from them tho.

Roundabout is good and the bass player can flat jam! Solid prog rock that either led, or followed, the introduction of the genre in the 70's.

First yes album I heard still sounds good if slight classical overload for me

A decent listen, not the biggest fan on super long songs, but some of them slap Top tracks: Roundabout, Long Distance Runaround, America

This album was super cool! You can see how these guys were classical trained. I liked how the classical bits were weaved in but also had some dedicated songs. I wasn’t blown away but wasn’t dissatisfied either. Solid album. Favorite song was Long Distance Runaround. Did not add to Spotify library.

Roundabout and you’ve seen all good people

Solid album. Nice change of pace. Awesome bass lines. Listened to the whole album twice Their cover of America is really cool and everything displays their intense talent

Angular in a way I didn't love. Massive highlight: Mood For a Day

This "nerd wizard rock" was delightful. Maybe I'm more drawn to YES because I love RUSH. Either way, this was enjoyable. Make sure you have a pair of headphones on so you can truly enjoy how they experiment with the left and right channels.

Better than the last Yes album, but average overall.

This was a surprisingly fun cruising album. And yet another album where I don’t actually care for the most popular tracks- I may go as far to say that the filler is more fun on this one. This album kept me on my toes, and was absolutely chaotic. We get mellowed out chilling vibes one song, and then get beat in the face with a guitar on the next. I think America has got to me my stand out favorite of the bunch, and I will deff be revisiting this album. (I’ve never heard of Yes before)

This is prog rock and it starts so strong. Roundabout being the Jojo theme song I am fairly familiar with that song but never bother to listen to anything else. It starts strong though. It is weird and hits every genre and the synths and bass are so strong of some of these tracks such long distance run around. Like with the rush album that we heard early on this is good. I think it drags just a bit with the last ballad of a song. America is much better than heart of the sunrise for sure. This is boom prog rock but I enjoy it its just a good 7/10 to me. Five per cent for nothing is one of the worst interludes ever imo

не передать моё умиление когда я поняла что кавер на Саймона и Гарфанкеля и на этот альбом попал! тру фанаты. приятный, интересный альбом, надо продолжать их исследовать

not really for me

Is the song 1 minute long... Or 10 minutes ? Has it ended, or is it just beginning ? This is musically speaking a great album, and I feel like listening to this live would be a great experience. Perhaps only a musician can truly enjoy this album through and through while sitting on the couch or driving to work. You need to get into it. Ultimately, my reaction was exactly that of the girl trying Kombucha meme lol, Roundabout is a gem but it became too much of a rollercoaster...

I was never a huge Yes fan, but it was hard not to like I’ve Seen All Good People, the single released earlier in 1971 (& given another life when used by Cameron Crowe in the film Almost Famous). And based on that I got a copy of Fragile, the follow-up album, from the Australian Record Club. Standout track was the opener, Roundabout. Given it a few spins in the last couple of days. It’s aged well enough. I never saw them (although I did see Rick Wakeman when he eventually turned up in 1975). However I have a mate, Dennis Aubrey, who was probably Sydney’s best-known busker in the 70’s, & was always busking outside concert venues before big gigs (which he could then afford to attend with his bundle of coins). I didn’t know him then, but met him in the 90’s at Bob Dylan Appreciation Society monthly meetings. And he was in no doubt that the best live concert he ever saw was Yes at the Hordern Pavlova in 1973. And only a couple of weeks ago, at about 4 a.m. one morning, I heard him confirm that to a dee-jay on 702 who was trying to keep his audience awake by getting them to ring in & tell us all what was the best gig they ever attended.

first i was scared but then the bass riff started and i was lowkey head bopping. why was it lowkey good. but the singing was ok so kinda made it not as good. instrumentals 🙂👍👍 i kinda liked it, it was also different but i wouldn’t listen to it again sos x

Not bad.

hab irgendwie gedacht des gfallt mir mehr. sehr langwierig & anstrengend manchmal

Solid but not for me

3.4/5 Best Track: Roundabout

Okay

3.5 stars. An interesting rock album with lots of different progressions and cool instrumentation

Some parts of Roundabout seem vaguely familiar. I like the guitar instrumentals and background, but I feel like it’s a bit much. Random classical music. There’s a lot of vocal harmony, which is interesting but in my opinion doesn’t really match with the background music. And it’s a lot of “la la la” and “doo doo doo”, which makes sense if you’re singing a capella, but why not just make those sounds with actual instruments if you are using them anyway? Heart of the Sunrise is amazing. The album really grew on me as time went on. I have my qualms with it, but pretty good overall.

The first album our group has had that has been name-dropped in School of Rock, and as Dewey Finn promised, it blew the classical music out of my butt. Also the first Prog Rock album I’ve listened to all the way through. The solos and blends of different styles seemed like a new experience, and some of the chord progressions were very interesting and kept you guessing. I really enjoyed listening to this one. Mood for a Day was my personal favorite, with Roundabout coming in second.

to be continued?

In the words of dad 'i like the idea of Yes, but can't quite love them'

Became a YES fan after seeing them live back in the mid 90’s. I was entertained)

Songs do not need to be eleven minutes long. Seriously, what is wrong with people? I thought I liked Yes, but I listened to what I thought was this album and hated it & then I realized I listened to the wrong Yes album from 1971. Then I listened to the actual album and my thoughts are more No than Yes.

Enjoyed, but preferred Genesis. Also Asia.

Classic

I generally like the idea of "prog rock", but this one doesn't do it for me and I'm struggling to put my finger on why exactly.

Quirky, spacey rock. Positive vibe throughout and fun to listen to.

Good album. Some solo songs don't fit the vibe of the album.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

It's a typical but not bad prog-rock album. A couple of interesting flourishes here and there, but not particularly memorable.

Omg it's the meme song. Decent music for trip research but they really like to milk their one popular song. Not a long album and 2 tracks are the same (different mixes tho)

Fun to listen to. Seems like it might be a concept album, but a couple of distracted listens didn’t get to the meat of it.

2.5

I have a love/hate relationship with Yes. I've always loved the two records which sandwich this one 'The Yes Album' and 'Close to the 'Edge'. I've never really connected with this one as much, at it's best it's fantastically composed, technically incredible prog rock, but at it's worst it's just all a bit wanky isn't it?

honestly wasn’t my favorite, i could see it growing on me but it was kind of a funky sound that didn’t really click with me off the bat but it’s definitely a unique interesting record

Rare experimentele plaat, hakketakkerige popmuziek wordt afgewisseld met een klassiek stukje piano en een verstilde gitaarsolo. Zeker weer zo'n misbaksel uit de koker van Brian Eno, dacht ik nog. Maar kennelijk hebben ze dit geheel op eigen kracht gedaan. En het kan niet ontkend dat de heren kunnen spelen en dat het mooi vol geproduceerd is.

Some great music but a bit too eclectic for me.

yes

Not my favorite. More keys/piano than expected. Solid, great prog album

Fun and charming

hell of a lot more listenable than close to the edge

Ushering 70s jam rock, which is good, but there’s not many hooks (lyrically), which some may not like

Meh

I don’t think it’s as interesting as it thinks it is. But it’s still more interesting than most. And an album being interesting is more important than it being good. 3/5

Man I'm burnt out on prog thanks to this list. This was okay because it wasn't excessively long. The highlight for me was "Heart of the Sunrise," with its slightly harder sound.

This record has some great songs, and some really not great songs. The first and last songs are great but there isn't a lot more than that.

Im still not the biggest yes fan but I like some of their music. This also applies for this album. It’s good but no track really stands out here

Prog rock is like a younger cousin to me. I can relate to it but sometimes I roll my eyes a bit (fondly). I enjoyed the album! Roundabout is really good. But I can't rate it a 4 in good faith.... I'm so sorry....

I say yes

Best Songs: Roundabout Listen Again: Probably

I've never been able to really get into any band's prog-rock phase (and some bands never had any other phase, I know), so it's hard for me to enjoy this album as much as I should/could. That said, I enjoy Yes' prog-rock sound about as much as (maybe more than?) Genesis or ELP. This album is kind of a weird one, though, with the way it only had half of the songs as true band collaborations, so it's hard to call it much of a complete album (I did like the story behind "5 percent of nothing", though). I'm not sure it's fair to rank it a 2, but my 3-star rating seems a bit generous, I'll admit.

part of me wants to give this 5 stars because I believe they achieved their intention with this album: it's well executed, coherent, and consistent. The other part of me wants to give it 0 stars because I so much do not care for this type of music. I have no idea why anyone would listen to it. I can't imagine dancing to it and I don't think it's interesting enough to listen to on its own, and it's not ambient enough to be background. I'll cop out and give it a 3.

Nice hints of Hammond organ. Invokes feelings of situations.

I can appreciate this for being well done - good musicians. Weird how the album is all over the place - a little classical guitar, Brahms I guess, and some more psychedelic rock. Not really my thing but also not bad.

The album is interesting, but the pianist and lead guitar are often attempting difficult music that is outside of their playing abilities which I found distracting.

Progressive rock. Lots of musical components and composition requirements. This was a really uniform album. I can see how Yes pioneered and made this genre popular.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would

Rock progresivo. Ni fu ni fa.

It's exactly 12 minutes of good music and 38 minutes and 38 seconds of the recording engineer's wasted time in the studio.

Gute Bassläufe. Typisch progressiver Rock für die Zeit. Einzelne Titel sehr gut.

Classic bass lines

Bass lines were the best parts of this album

Enjoyed this but I preferred 'The Yes Album'

It's not bad but I expected more.

When I first heard this album I thought it validated my taste in music and that it made me very sophisticated. But, in secret actuality, I found it tedious and not that easy to listen to. Now, all these years later, I’m inclined to double down on the sense of sophistication, but I still find it a bit tedious.

Was just ok

Tror sgu det er første gang jeg har hørt en hel Yes plade! Havde en good time.

Der var sgu noget ornli' orgel på den plade, men det var ikke fordi jeg elskede pladen ..

Enjoyable! Good for listening at work.

Un poco raro tipo pink floyd

Yes (pun intended), it's that anime cliffhanger ending meme song right off the bat. Pretty good album, even if I'm more partial to their 80s work ("Owner of a Lonely Heart"). The short songs are a bit odd but there's some great gems, like "South Side of the Sky." Be sure to listen w/ headphones as there are tons of tiny stereo effects to discover.

Very experimental but amazingly well done. Showing skill and creativity. Sounds like Queen took some inspiration from them as well. Not really my personal taste but I can appreciate the skill and art that went into making this album.

The percussion is great. Progressive rock, very jammy, chorus singing similar to classic rock bands. Feels Steely Dan adjacent. Orchestral parts are interesting.

This is one of those albums where I'm really reminded that this list was made by a British man of a certain age. Nothing about it stands out or seems interesting or unique to me, but I'm sure it seemed fantastic to the author at the time. It's not bad, just mid, as the kids would say. There are a lot of albums like this on the list, and some of them have surprised me, but most are just as average as I expected.

Really musically fun and experimental. I can't find myself listening to this with the majority of songs being ten minutes or more. But overall it wasn't annoying. Just not my favorite or go to.

Some great songs.

Better than 3, not quite a 4. 3.75 stars.

innovative , captures a specific texture of joy and positivity. sound masters

On the one hand, I can appreciate the complex arrangements, musicianship augmenting some commercially acceptable melodies. 'Roundabout' for example is a decent track with various catchy vocal and instrumental melodies. On the other hand, it does tend to meander (like a lot of prog-rock) and some of it is a bit lifeless. It's pleasant but unavoidable is the fact a lot of this sort of music is rather dated to modern listeners.

Ok

3.4 enjoyed it

Roundabout is the one everyone knows Very instrumental heavy but quite cool actually. Quite muddy production not sure how keen I am on that and feels almost like it could be cut down quite a lot more. THe America cover is quite cool, slightly Police/Supertramp vibes Mood for a day is actually just a very pretty guitar piece, unexpected but enjoyable. it’s very diverse musically, and quite weird (cans and Brahms) but actually pretty cool 3/5

I enjoyed this! Much more than I expected to. I'm giving it a 3.5 but rounding down to 3 for that cover of America which baaaaarely even qualifies as one.

Honestly, not too bad! I was very impressed with their musicianship, but prog rock isn’t my favorite genre.

Ok, 1970 music

Interesting.

Highlights: Roundabout, Cans and Brahms, Five Percent For Nothing, Heart of the Sunrise. In a nutshell: Virtuoso prog rock. The band, along with album cover illustrator Roger Dean, build a universe with each song. Without the band’s new direction and the inclusion of Rick Wakeman on keys, rock music wouldn’t be the same. Some songs are long (Heart of Sunrise, America) but will give a free pass because they hold my attention. As for the “one song per member, the rest as a group” concept, it feels fractured to me. Overall: 6/10

It’s fine. Pretty forgettable.

Despite having some solid tracks on the record, there seemed to be something disjointed stylistically between the longer and the shorter ones. Favs: roundabout, south side of the sky, mood for a day

Prog rock not my fave

3/5. Really special bass work on this album that really pounds home the idea of more prog rock even in the early 70s.

I did not enjoy this album too much. Beyond their hit "Roundabout" (which is very, very good!), few tracks caught my attention. Favorite Song(s): "Roundabout", "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"

Decent enough

Used to not like Yes. Now I kind of do? 3 stars

Roundabout is good

This record lacks the cohesion needed to have a highly rated product. There are as many highlights as lowlights on this record, and in my opinion, Yes would go on to produce a few records better than this one.

Pô essa Roundabout é boa demais, independente dos memes. Os caras usam stereo a dar com o pau. Tem elemento pra cacete nas músicas. Obrigatório usar fone. Mas aí continuei a ouvir o álbum e.... é bem... experimental? Não sei se essa é a palavra, mas não me agradou muito não. Além da Roundabout, que é excelente, tem mais 2 legaizinhas e é isso. O resto todo não foi divertido de ouvir não. Muita música gigantesca que até tem partes bacanas, mas a maior parte é chatinho. Queria dar 2.5 se tivesse. Como as músicas são diferenciadas/ricas e tem Roundabout, acho 2 estrelas meio injusto talvez, então vai 3 mesmo.

3.9

hey i know the first song, its a meme song! The rest of the album is okay, didn't dislike it, didn't completely vibe on it either.

Digger 80 %, resten gir meg angst:)

There are some REALLY good songs on here but it’s interspersed with random B.S. for no reason.

The songs range from fun to awful

Nice. Roundabout is my favorite. Not a big fan of mostly instrumentals.

Atsit "Supernatural", daudz jamming. :D Tipisks progressive rock.

Had to really fight myself to not turn off the jazzy tunes. Started very promissing.

pirmā dziesma bija ok

Niet slecht maar ook niet wow m.i.

Musically very interesting, lyric wise, it was just OK.

Roundabout is good. Not much else to say about the rest.

Not my favorite, not ideal for background music, as it goes a bit everywhere

Eh. Yes isn't really my thing. They always sound too polished, like there's no soul in the music. It's good, but just not for me.

3.5

It wasn’t really memorable to me. It reminded me of being a kid at the neighbour’s garden party when Józsi bácsi was blasting progressive rock noone heard about from CD-s he collected. All the suburban mums hated it but the progressively drunker dads were kinda living it. Anyway, will probably not revisit, but it was still a good listen. Also, I was tired when listening, so I probably not have given it the fairest chance.

Mix of short melodic Guitar Riffs and 10 minute musical journeys. Soft lyrics and gentle guitar with drums, heavy riffs inbetween

Intressant - men kanske inte fullt så intressant som man hade kunnat hoppas. Några hyfsade låtar, men dessvärre ett antal skips.

Interesting early album with only one hit that I remember liking a lot more than I did mixed into this album.

Iconic opening to the album; I can see why it became a meme. The synthesizers and flamenco guitar were nice, but my weird aversion of organs affected my enjoyment of some songs. I would listen casually, felt very bright and went by quickly while studying. Overall not many complaints but nothing I could obsess over. 6/10

It's a really solid 3. Liked it back in the day but some of it sounds a bit dated now. Excellent musicianship all round though. Roundabout and Mood for a Day always brings a smile to my face.

Great background music.

If Gentle Giant doesn’t make it on this list, I’m gonna spit.

Some songs I felt were long. First song made me miss the to be continued meme format

Not as good as forts album

hey it's the song from the thing

Yes's "Fragile" is a Prog-Rock album through and through. Rounabout is obviously the best known song from the album with the iconic guitar Intro. But the start of the second part of the song is actually the outstanding part of it with an athmosphere that makes you feel like you're floating in space. "We have heaven" has a theme that the song is built around with a quite cool second voice. The song is very short, meaning it wastes room to explore the theme even more or work with the accompaniments established. On the other hand I wouldn´t have been able to stand more "Tell the Moon-dog, Tell the marcher"'s. After the other Songs which include another highlight with "South side of the sky" the last two over ten minute pieces are revealed. After all I get where this got it's status as one of the essential prog albums, but it often failes to transcend any emotional reaction in me.

Already knew Roundabout Liked Heart of the sunrise a lot, and another one too (Mood for a day, I think)

Roundabout is an all time great. Unfortunately the rest of the album is so so.

Not as “something” as I was expecting, but I haven’t quite worked out what that something is.

Funky

Roundabout, Mood for a day, and heart of sunrise were the highlights of the album for me. I don't care much for the solo songs performed by the individual members of the band. They aren't bad songs, but it does make the album feel unfinished. Overall a pretty decent album.

I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

I liked this although it's a bit generic prog. The best track is the America cover which is a banger.

Good background rock

petit côté zappa sympa roundabout c'est de eux ! incroyable les morceaux sont bcp trop longs parfois

While technically and musically impressive, this music makes me think of goblins.

Definitely 70s folk psychedelic with the famous roundabout

Good British prog.

I don't mind a bit of prog rock and this was good enough to warrant a listen. Slightly interesting in that they changed musical directions slightly by poaching a electronic keyboardist from David Bowie. The musical interludes were a clever way to save a buck in the studio but are a bit boring. The rest is straightforward prog rock. Not very noteworthy but some great performances nonetheless.

This sounded like brilliant musicians who didn't really write enough tunes for an album. I enjoyed Roundabout and Heart of the Sunrise and some other bits here and there but I think I'm missing something with most prog. Not sure I know how to listen to it.

Classic of prog...Roundabout is such a great song. The rest I can take or leave, don't really move me much. 3/5

Fun old classic psychedelic rock

It was… good.

Prog blijft toch een beetje de jazz van de dadrock. Ik vind de eerste paar nummers van dit album wel leuk maar daarna is het toch een beetje de tijd uitzitten geblazen. Vooral het laatste nummer (Heart of the Sunrise) voelt als filerijden na een lange dag werk.

This album was bi-polar. Some songs being a 4-5 with others a 2-1. They have better albums than this but whoever made this goddamn book wanted to include roundabout and that is a solid choice. 3 stars.

Couple of belting bass heavy tunes, not much else. Odd cover of America - not really that interested even after 4 listens

Progressive rock, indeed! I was baffled that this came out in 1971, and yet it seems so ahead of its time. It's experimental, but not in a "trying to be different" kind of way -- more like, they knew and influenced the direction that some rock music would take. Really cool! Many of the songs seemed to contain multiple ideas or "motifs" in one song -- like a separate song within a song. Yet it never felt forced nor out of place. This was a diverse album with lots of interesting stuff to hear; there was certainly never a dull moment!

Pre-listening thoughts: Ok so I obviously know Yes from Owner of a Lonely Heart, but really crazy thing is I know their song Roundabout from when it was a meme and people would freezeframe it. But I don't think I ever listened to the whole song because it's legitimately nine minutes long. It's one fifth of the whole album on its own haha! But I know what kind of music Yes makes so I think I'll enjoy this well enough. Post/during listening thoughts: I lied I've heard ALL of Roundabout. I must have had it on like a meme playlist or something but I know the entire song. It's a damn good song tho - that synth in the back and the guitar is entrancing. Cans and Brahms sounds like video game music but like the kind in the back of like a match 3 style game or like one of funkyland's escape rooms (niche reference). Despite its repetitiveness, I really love We Have Heaven. Yes seems to love SUPER long songs or really short ones - South Side of the Sky is like 8 mins. Good song, 8 mins is a wee bit long tho. And America is like over 10 mins.... my GOD but if I'm not mistaken in my hearing it's a cover of Simon and Garfunkel so that's kinda cool. This album kinda all blends together, none of it's necessarily bad, but it's all kind of mid tier. 6/10. Fav tracks: Roundabout, We Have Heaven

Funkier than I expected but also a bit all over the place for me in terms of folky noodly bits!

"Fragile" by Yes is a progressive rock masterpiece that showcases the band's virtuosity and creativity. Released in 1971, it's a symphonic journey into intricate compositions and dazzling musicianship. Tracks like "Roundabout" and "Long Distance Runaround" highlight Yes' ability to blend complex arrangements with memorable melodies.

Pretty cool

Nothing Notable

Groovy

yeah pretty good.

To call this eclectic is a bit of an understatement, even within a song, there's nothing to set your aural compass to. It's the early 70s with a 60s hangover. The musicianship is great and the harmonies are gorgeous but it's ultimately all over the shop.

Do 4 of these songs really need to be 8+ minutes long?

I liked about half the songs. The other half annoyed me

First song is good, long, but good. The rest kind of is just there.

The music changing every 10 seconds made this a difficult album to get a fix on. I really liked Heart of the Sunrise, especially the last sung part. I also liked South Side of the Sky.

Very proggy.

Cheesy, geeky prog rock. Not for me, but can’t question their talent, deserves to be on the list

There's a lot going on. I don't like all of it. It has really good parts to listen to and parts that are just for showing off their skills, sometimes both in one song. The good parts are really good, the showing off is not very annoying most of the time. Favorite song: the fish

Isch jetzt nöd so mis. 3 bis 4 Sterne. Cooli Bassläuf. Aber echt zfescht Hippie. 3 Stern.

As much as I did enjoy listening to it, can't help but feel like it would be much better if it was put together similar to 'Close to the Edge'. That album was just 3 epics packed in with no room for filler. With Fragile it feels like despite having 9 songs on the tracklist, only 3 or 4 are actually full length songs, not some kind of interlude. Those actual songs are great, especially the closer, but I really don't see the point of the filler tracks. Could've removed those and just given us another full length track.

Haven't heard a lot of Yes.

Very fun start

This may not be a fair shake but I'm a bit burned out on 70s prog rock

Very mixed sounding album. Enjoyed the meme

Ein weiteres Yes-Album. Ich kann man mir das ja immer anhören, bezweifle aber, dass , selbst wenn die Band mir sehr gut gefällt, mehr als ein Album in dieser Liste sein müsste.

Yes is one of those bands that were in my periphery growing up. There are some amazing songs on this, but a little too much noodling for my taste.

Roundabout is a Vibe. The rest a yawn.

Maybe

Who is listening to this after playing Breath of the Wild, and feel like monsters are going to come out? Lol! But seriously I’m not really into progressive rock, but this band might have changed my mind a little. I hear the influences from Jazz. I like the piano solo in “South Side of the Sky”. It was a nice break from the common trips of this genre. Also, I think Japanese video game music is heavily influenced by progressive rock.

Very long album for a short number of songs. The songs were good, or at least every song had a good part, but the length and changes in tone for every song left me feeling confused.

HL: “Roundabout”, “Long Distance Runaround”, “Mood for a Day” Little classical flourishes in “Mood” & “Cans & Brahms” are neat, and “Roundabout” is probably their best song, but I didn’t take as easy to Fragile as I did for the Yes Album & Close to the Edge. The mix of grand, multi-part odysseys & little song fragments demanded different levels of attention, and switching between them wasn’t always a simple task June 26, 2023

Some really enjoyable stuff on this

Kind of sweet, not too self important and perhaps prog rock can be - some good tunes, some experimentation, doesn't overstay its welcome. Pleasantly surprised.

Decent prog rock, wizard vibes

-oh i know this song! (roundabout) -cans and brahms sounds like the music in a play when the king walks on stage -its cool stuff just not for me personally -are people gonna get mad at me if i say this feels like middle of the road rock 🫤 -okay love five per cent for nothing. just a bunch of funky sounds! -fade in from long distance runaround to the fish was cool as hell

prog rock meh

Jatkuvasta tiluttelusta ja keskiaikaflirttailusta huolimatta olen kuulevinani monipuolisuutta. Tiluttelu melkein pudottaa yhden tähden, mutta olen armollinen.

Not my thing, but I really appreciated it

Good album! A bit overwhelming. Wow that first song is a hit. I think I would have loved this kind of progressive stuff, if I was younger when it first came out. It’s a bit hard to get your bearings, as it’s developing, changing so often. But yeah, it’s like ear candy… almost irresistible. I had fun! 3/5

Genres: Progressive rock Formed: London, England in 1968 Run time: 11 songs, 59 min, 13 sec I enjoyed Track 1, “Roundabout” which has over 115M plays on Spotify. The other tracks are nowhere near as popular, however, they all have over 2M plays. Tracks range from a 35 second instrumental to a couple of 10 minute epics. The album features five solo pieces by each band member. The good news is they are all relatively short and not too self-indulgent, unlike some later Yes tracks. The album isn’t my taste so I will not be listening again, My Rating: ***

Okay so I dug the first song but a couple of songs after but the album as a whole wasn't really for me. At times it left like a chore to finish the album, like I said I did enjoy some of the songs on here but didn't enjoy of the concept of the album it was too velvet underground with a couple of hits. Still i finish it

Yo, this has the Jo-Jo "To be Continued" song on this. Roundabout is the only song I know this band from, and it's a great song but suffers from being a song from the 70s in that it is about 2 or 3 minutes longer than it should be. Looking at the runtimes of the rest of the album I can see that this is the case for most of the songs... I want to like this, and I do, but having songs this long and not doing much with the extra time is not ok. It has some good songs on here, but they just drag on for far too long and sometimes don't seem to have a good central theme. This had potential to be a 4, but it is a low 3

first track mid. i just don’t think i like prog rock tbh. we have heaven is cool actually… 10/10 side note why the f is every song 8 mins ?!?

Way more fun than I was expecting. Sounds like the drummer and the bassist are having a great time. Groovy psyche rock with only a whiff of the pretention I thought I was going to get. That said, the cover of 'America' was pretty dumb, drop the singing and it's an unrecognizable instrumental!

A couple of killer songs and some that fall pretty flat. Would be a great single.