November 12, 1971 - Fragile

On the exact same day that Genesis released "Nursery Cryme", fellow progressive rockers Yes released their fourth album, and second of the year on November 12, 1971, called "Fragile", 9 months after "The Yes Album" in February. After touring for that album, Yes went to record "Fragile" but keyboardist Tony Kaye did not want to play electric keyboards such as the Mellotron or synthesizer. This led to differences with the rest of the band and Kaye was subsequently fired. Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Bill Bruford and Steve Howe quickly replaced him with Rick Wakeman, who had a wide knowledge of several keyboards. This album has 4 songs that are attributed to the whole band, while each member wrote their own song as well for a total of 9. Let's see what this new, more electric Yes sounds like!

Side one opens with a group composition called "Roundabout". It has a cool acoustic opening by Howe which leads into the main riff that carries the song. It has some phenomenal bass playing by Squire and Wakeman playing synthesizer. The latter switches to organ in the chorus with some really fantastic stuff! A new heavy guitar riff starts a new part that also has some solid drumming by Bruford. How and Squire both back Anderson's lead vocal for most of the song, making a really strong trio. Wakeman delivers a fantastic organ solo, and also does a cool bacon and forth bit with Howe on guitar. They jam out one more epic verse and chorus before ending with a wordless vocals bit where Howe, Squire and Anderson all sing different parts. Wakeman really shines in this amazing lead-off to the album, and it's his song that is next, "Cans And Brahms". Due to contractual obligations, Wakeman was unable to have any writing credits on the album, so for his song he chose to adapt part of a symphony by Johannes Brahms, hence the name of the song. Wakeman substitutes all the different parts of the orchestra into different keyboards, including electric piano, grand piano, organ, harpsichord and synthesizer. The song is under 2 minutes, but I think it's a cool idea that actually sounds pretty sweet. Track 3 is Anderson's song, "We Have Heaven", which has Jon singing one line on repeat, while another track sings at the same time. There's some soft acoustic guitar, and eventually more tracks get added and there is Anderson everywhere! It creates a cool effect with what I think is 5 different parts played simultaneously. The final song on this side is another lengthy group effort, "South Side Of The Sky". It's carried by an awesome rock riff with great contributions from everyone, but especially Howe. Wakeman plays some cool keyboards in the chorus, but it's the guitar in the verses that sounds really great. Wakeman switched to piano to start a new part, and he really takes off! He plays some excellent stuff and seems a fantastic addition to an already good band. The three singers do another wordless vocal bit in this song, and they return to the awesome rock riff to close out the song. 

Side two starts with Bruford's song, "Five Percent For Nothing", which is only 35 seconds long and it's an odd and erratic song, but you have to start somewhere I guess. The next song is another group effort called "Long Distance Runaround". Howe plays the lead with a catchy guitar riff, but Squire's bass is really great backing it. This song has a really fun beat and has great contributions from everyone. It has a cool ending that leads right into Squire's song "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)". A cool guitar riff keeps the pace as the bass is able to go all over the place! Squire really shows off his abilities on this one with some excellent stuff and Anderson joins in on vocals for the last bit. Track 8 is Howe's song "Mood For A Day" and it is a true solo by him on acoustic guitar. He plays a really great main riff, slows it down with some cool flourishes and overall this is another great song. Everyone is really on their game for this album and that is certainly the case in the closing track "Heart Of The Sunrise". It comes out strong with an amazing opening riff that words do not justice to. Squire starts a different part with an epic bass riff that sounds fantastic, and also has some great drumming by Bruford. Guitar and organ aren't too shabby either as the instrumental opening goes on for over 3 and a half minutes. Finally we hear Anderson's epic voice and this song is certainly shaping up to be a progressive epic. Wakeman plays a variety of different keyboards and all of them sound great, including some really cool synthesizer bits. He plays great organ and piano at different points and everybody gets a chance to shine in this near 11-minute song. Once again, words do not do justice to the amazing stuff these guys can collectively do. A really fantastic way to end a really fantastic album.

That is the end of "Fragile" and my oh my was that an amazing album. "Roundabout" and "Heart Of The Sunrise" are both absolutely amazing songs, and the other two collective songs are also really good. Aside from Bruford's short song, each member's song was a fantastic way of showing off their talents in the way that they saw fit and I thought they were all quite good. That amounts to a truly great album, so how does it compare with their previous material? Well, simply put, it blows it away. While "The Yes Album" earlier this year was a great album, the addition of Rick Wakeman sees a phenomenal jump for the band and I think "Fragile" is better without question, making it their best album so far in my opinion. Even after 4 albums, we are still not done with this month! Tune in next time for even more great progressive music!