The Morning News

Saturday, November 21, 2009

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1 day ago

Albums

Yes, Fragile

Prog rock at one of its finest moments, though perhaps not at its most ambitious (and that should probably be…

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Andrew Womack
Andrew Womack is a founding editor of The Morning News. He is always working on the next installment of the Albums of the Year series at TMN. You can and follow his Twitter updates here.
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Prog rock at one of its finest moments, though perhaps not at its most ambitious (and that should probably be seen as a good thing), Fragile sees Yes expressing restraint in its endeavors, with a keen eye toward expanding the parameters of an, erm…eight-minute pop song in ‘Roundabout,’ with subtlety and grace in an invigorating ‘Long Distance Runaround,’ and with absolutely indescribable punch and teeth-grating power in ‘Heart of the Sunrise.’ Though the recent remastered version is the only that is readily available, a vinyl copy is (actually) recommended for full listening pleasure—something was, sadly, lost along the way. Either way, this is music that will move you when you don’t want to be moved: class and climax every step of the way.

—Published November 28, 2001