Fragile

FRAGILE marks the moment when Yes left the planet and took up residence on one of cover artist Roger Dean's far-off lands. While the band managed to capture the popular imagination with its condensed, accessible version of "Roundabout", which they edited down to a single from the lengthier album version, for the most part FRAGILE laid the groundwork for the expansive, complex, keyboard-dominated work that typified the style known as "progressive rock". The record also marks the arrival of Rick Wakeman--a classically trained keyboardist whose vast array of synthesizers and effects was matched only by his prodigious ability. más...

In addition to "Roundabout", the band's best-known song, the lengthy "Heart of the Sunrise" also became a Yes chestnut. Drummer Bill Bruford became the envy of air-drummers across America, and together with Wakeman, guitarist Steve Howe, vocalist Jon Anderson, and bassist Chris Squire created some of the most architecturally ambitious rock of the era. FRAGILE proved to be the band's breakthrough album, and is a cornerstone recording of the genre.

Classic Rock (04/06, p.44)
- Ranked #68 in Classic Rock's "100 Greatest British Rock Albums" - "...excess is this record's undoubted charm..."