Artist: YES
Album: FRAGILE EXPANDED & REMASTERED EDIT. (DIGI+O-CARD)

Release date: 1972/ 2003
Media type: CD

Fragile is the fourth album by the British progressive rock band Yes, released on Atlantic Records, catalogue 7211. It was the band's first album with keyboardist Rick Wakeman after the departure of Tony Kaye, and the first to feature cover art by Roger Dean, his work emblematic of both the band and progressive rock as a whole. Fragile was issued in the UK in November 1971, but was held back in North America for two months because of the chart momentum of The Yes Album. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 during a stay of 46 weeks, and as Atlantic 2401 019 reached #7 in the UK album chart.

Work on the material began while Kaye was still in the band. In a 2006 interview, he said, "I did rehearse Fragile before I left. I left in the middle." Four of the nine tracks feature full performances by the new line-up with Wakeman, three of which were of eight minutes length or longer. Its best known track, "Roundabout," was released in the United States in an edited version as a single. Rick Wakeman contributed to the writing of "South Side of the Sky" and "Heart of the Sunrise" by adding piano interludes to both songs, but wasn't credited due to contractual conflicts. He was instead promised more money by Atlantic studio executives, which he claims he never saw.

The remaining five tracks showcase the band members' individual talents. "Cans and Brahms" is an arrangement by Wakeman of the third movement from the Fourth Symphony in E minor by Johannes Brahms, his utilization of synthesizers adapted to classical works in vogue at the time, evidenced in efforts by Wendy Carlos and Isao Tomita. "We Have Heaven" is by Jon Anderson in which he sings all the vocal parts, a technique later used on his solo album Olias of Sunhillow. Bill Bruford's "Five Per Cent for Nothing" derives its instrumental passages from the rhythm line, while "The Fish" and "Mood for a Day" serve almost entirely as bass and guitar solo pieces for Chris Squire and Steve Howe, respectively.

On January 14, 2003, Elektra/Rhino released a remastered version for ordinary compact disc playback systems, with two bonus tracks and an essay by Bill Martin.

TRACKLIST:

"Roundabout" (Anderson/Howe) – 8:30
"Cans and Brahms (Extracts from Brahms' 4th Symphony in E Minor, Third Movement)" (Brahms, arranged Wakeman) – 1:38
"We Have Heaven" (Anderson) – 1:40
"South Side of the Sky" (Anderson/Squire) – 8:02
"Five Per Cent for Nothing" (Bruford) – 0:35
"Long Distance Runaround" (Anderson) – 3:30
"The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" (Squire) – 2:39
"Mood for a Day" (Howe) – 3:00
"Heart of the Sunrise" (Anderson/Squire/Bruford) – 11:27

2003 Reissue bonus tracks:

"America" (Paul Simon) – 10:33
"Roundabout (Early Rough Mix)" (Anderson/Howe) – 8:35

LINE-UP:

Jon Anderson - vocals
Steve Howe - electric guitar, steel-string acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Rick Wakeman - Hammond organ, piano, RMI 368 Electra-Piano and Harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer
Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals
Bill Bruford - drums, percussion