Descrizione
Yes: Fragile
Limited Edition – Crystal Clear Vinyl
LP – Gatefold Cover
Label: Atlantic, 1971
Release date: 27.01.2023
While the first three Yes albums come highly recommended, it’s fair to say that FRAGILE is the album that made the band superstars in America. It may or may not be coincidence that it was the band’s first album with Rick Wakeman on keyboards, but it almost certainly has something to do with the fact that FRAGILE contained two songs that would later become among the band’s most iconic: “Roundabout” and “Long Distance Runaround.”
FRAGILE was recorded at Advision Studios in London, England, and was originally intended to be a double album mixing studio and live tracks, but that plan never materialized, nor did the plan to record the album with producer Tom Dowd in Miami. Instead, the band co-produced the LP with Eddy Offord. But you’re probably wondering how Wakeman came to be in the lineup for this LP, so let’s get right to it.
When Yes first began rehearsals for the FRAGILE sessions, their keyboardist was still Tony Kaye, but when he repeatedly resisted going beyond his usual piano and Hammond organ to incorporate Mellotron or Moog sounds, he was shown the door. After his departure, the band invited Wakeman to join the band, and they were lucky he did because, coincidentally, he was also offered another interesting opportunity: a role in David Bowie’s touring band. Wakeman chose to join Yes because it offered him more artistic freedom.
The late Chris Squire told the A.V. Club in 2012, “When Rick Wakeman came into the band, he brought the Moog synthesizer and the Mellotron and everything, so those instruments were part of our arsenal even then, and we used them for quasi-orchestral pieces. That worked very well for us.”
Indeed, given Wakeman’s influential presence and the fact that so many iconic Yes songs are included, it’s no wonder FRAGILE is in the pages of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
