''Fragile'' is the fourth studio album by the English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

band

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talent ...

, released on 12 November 1971 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

. It was the band's first album to feature keyboardist

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

, who replaced founding member Tony Kaye after the group had finished touring their breakthrough record, '' The Yes Album''. The band entered rehearsals in London in August 1971, but Kaye's reluctance to play electronic keyboards led to his departure from the group. He was quickly replaced by Wakeman, whose experience with the electric piano, organ,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

, and

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first pop ...

synthesiser expanded the band's sound. Due to budget and time constraints, four tracks on the album are group compositions; the remaining five are solo pieces written by each band member. The opening track, "

Roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...

", became a popular and iconic song. The artwork for the album was the band's first to be designed by Roger Dean, who would design many of their future covers and stage sets. ''Fragile'' received a positive reception upon its release, and was a commercial success, reaching No. 4 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' Top LPs chart and No. 7 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. An edited version of "Roundabout" was released as a single in the US in January 1972, which reached No. 13. ''Fragile'' has since been certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

for selling over two million copies in the US. It has been

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ed several times since its release, some remasters containing previously unreleased tracks.

Background

On 31 July 1971, Yes performed the final concert of their 1970–71 tour at

Crystal Palace Park Crystal Palace Park is a Victorian pleasure ground located in the South London suburb of Crystal Palace which surrounds the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building. The Palace had been relocated from Hyde Park, London after the 1 ...

, London in support of their previous album, '' The Yes Album'' (1971). The tour was significant for the band as it included their first set of gigs in the US which helped them gain momentum as ''The Yes Album'' and its single "

Your Move ''Your Move'' is the eleventh studio album by American folk rock duo America, released by Capitol Records on June 3, 1983. History In 1982, America experienced renewed commercial success with the hit album ''View From The Ground''. Two of the ...

" reached the US top 40. The line-up during this time consisted of lead vocalist

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

, bassist

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having r ...

, drummer Bill Bruford, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and guitarist Steve Howe. Following the tour, Yes started work on their next studio album that was originally conceived as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

with a combination of studio and live tracks.Hedges, p. 59 The concept could not be realised due to the increased amount of time required to make it. Ideas to record in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

with producer

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

also never came to fruition. Rehearsals took place in August 1971 in what Squire described as "a little rehearsal studio in Shepherd's Market" in London. As recording began, Kaye was reluctant to expand his sound beyond his

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

and piano and play newer instruments like the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, causing artistic disagreements with his bandmates, particularly Anderson and Squire. Kaye was soon sacked from Yes, and a replacement was quickly found in Rick Wakeman, a classically-trained pianist with experience playing a wide variety of keyboard instruments. Wakeman was a member of the folk rock band

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known f ...

and an in-demand

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

. He was offered a spot with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's touring band on the same day that he was asked to join Yes, and he chose to join Yes due to the opportunity for more artistic freedom. He joined the group as they rehearsed " Heart of the Sunrise". Squire spoke about that first session: "That marked the first real appearance of the Mellotron and the Moog—adding the flavour of those instruments to a piece we'd basically already worked out".Hedges, p. 58 According to Wakeman, the basic structure of "

" was also worked out on the same day.

Production

Recording

Recording for the album began in August 1971 at

Advision Studios Advision Studios was a recording studio in Fitzrovia, central London, England. Origins Founded in the 1960s by Guy Whetstone and Stephen Appleby, Advision originally provided voiceovers and jingles for television advertisements. The studio wa ...

using a 16-track tape machine. Eddy Offord, who served as a recording engineer on ''

Time and a Word ''Time and a Word'' is the second studio album by English rock band Yes, released on 24 July 1970 by Atlantic Records. It was put together several months after the release of the band's 1969 eponymous debut, during which they continued to tour ...

'' (1970), assumed his role while sharing production duties with the band. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' reported that the album cost $30,000 to produce. According to Michael Tait, the band's lighting director, the album's title came from their manager Brian Lane who, while on the phone to "some press guy" asking Lane about the new album, "was looking at some photos from that Crystal Palace gig, saw the monitors at the front of the stage and, like all equipment, they had 'Fragile' stamped on the back". Bruford claimed he in fact suggested the title because he thought the band "was breakable" at the time.Bruford, p. 72 While the band were recording, Wakeman remembered children being brought into the studio to watch them play.

Songs

''Fragile'' contains nine tracks; four are "group arranged and performed" with the remaining five being "the individual ideas, personally arranged and organised" by the five members. Squire reasoned that this approach was necessary in part to save time and reduce studio costs, as money was used to purchase keyboard equipment for Wakeman. According to Bruford: "There was this endless discussion about how the band could be used ... I felt we could use all five musicians differently ... So I said—brightly—'Why don't we do some individual things, whereby we all use the group for our own musical fantasy? I'll be the director, conductor, and maestro for the day, then you do your track, and so on.'" Wakeman commented on the album's structure. "Some critics thought this was just being flash. The thinking behind this was that we realised there would be a lot of new listeners coming to the band. They could find out where each individual player's contribution lay."Welch, p. 117 Side one begins with "

", a song written by Anderson and Howe that has become one of Yes's best-known songs. Howe recalled that the track was originally "a guitar instrumental suite ... I sort of write a song without a song. All the ingredients are there—all that's missing is the song. "Roundabout" was a bit like that; there was a structure, a melody and a few lines."Morse, p. 28 The introduction was made by playing a recorded piano chord backwards.Morse, p. 29 "Cans and Brahms" is Wakeman's adaptation of the third movement of Symphony No. 4 in E minor by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

, with an electric piano used for the string section, grand piano for the woodwinds, organ for the brass, electric harpsichord for reeds, and synthesizer as

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

. Wakeman later described "Cans and Brahms" as "dreadful", as contractual problems with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, with whom he was signed as a solo artist, prevented him from writing a composition of his own. Anderson described "We Have Heaven" as a "rolling idea of voices and things", with its two main sets of chants containing the phrases "Tell the Moon dog, tell the March hare" and "He is here, to look around" (cf.Welch, p. 116). Side one closes with "

South Side of the Sky "South Side of the Sky" is a song by progressive rock band Yes from their album ''Fragile''. Description It opens with the sound of a howling wind, then the song starts after a thunder-strike, bursting into a heavy, riff-dominated rock song. ...

". Side two opens with Bruford's track, " Five per Cent for Nothing". With a running time of thirty-five seconds, it is his "first attempt at composition—but we've all got to start somewhere".Morse, p. 31 According to Tait, its original title was "Suddenly It's Wednesday", but it was changed in reference to Yes paying off their former manager

Roy Flynn Roy Flynn is an English former music manager. He managed The Speakeasy Club in 1960s London, in which capacity he associated with and befriended rock stars of the era like Keith Moon and Jimi Hendrix. He began managing bands, and after one night ...

with the deal of five percent of future royalties. " Long Distance Runaround" segues into Squire's solo track, "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)". Tait recalled that Anderson called him "at ten o'clock one night from Advision and said, 'I want the name of a prehistoric fish in eight syllables. Call me back in half an hour'". Tait subsequently found '' Schindleria praematurus'', a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of marine fish, in a copy of ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing worl ...

''.Hedges, p. 62 Howe performs his solo guitar piece "Mood for a Day" on a Conde flamenco guitar. " Heart of the Sunrise" originated as a love song that Anderson wrote for his then-wife Jennifer which covered the sunrise and the inability for humans to fully understand it, and the "excitement and friction" of London's streets and one man feeling "lost" in it. The track is where Wakeman's classically-trained background came into play; he introduced the band to recapitulation, a musical concept where previous segments in a piece are revisited.Morse, p. 32 Bruford considers it as the group's breakthrough piece in terms of originality: "It had the drama and the poise and the kind of fey, pastoral English-y lyrics at the beginning where the music all gives way to a slightly feminine vocal."

Sleeve design

''Fragile'' marks the start of the band's long association with English artist Roger Dean, who would design many of their future album covers, their logo, and live stage sets. In 1971 Dean submitted a portfolio to Phil Carson, then European General Manager of

, who said would contact Dean for work when one of his bands needed a cover artist, which became Yes. Prior to starting on the album's cover, Dean had came up with a

creation myth A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develo ...

narrative about a child who dreamt they were living on a planet that started breaking up, so they built a "space ark" to find another planet to live on while towing the broken pieces with them. Dean was aware that the album's title described "the psyche" of the group at the time, which influenced his "very literal" design of a fragile

Bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of '' penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produc ...

world that was going to break up.Welch, p. 119 The band had wished for an image of a fractured piece of

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

, but Dean ended up breaking the planet into two pieces as a compromise. Dean produced three versions of the cover with the planet in green, red, and blue, in an attempt to "get the right look." Bruford thought Dean "brilliantly parlayed that idea ne of ''Fragile''up to the prescient image of the fragile planet earth, with implications of a delicate and breakable eco-system." Dean continued the narrative in his artwork for Yes's first live album, '' Yessongs'' (1973), but his style had evolved by this time and the planet no longer looked like the ''Fragile'' original. The LP's accompanying booklet contains two additional Dean paintings; the front cover depicts five creatures huddled under a

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

system, and the back depicts a person climbing up a rock formation. The inside features several photographs of the band with a page dedicated to each member, with smaller illustrations and photographs of their wives and children. Anderson's page contains a short poem, and Wakeman's includes a list of acknowledgements, including

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

, The White Bear pub in

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

, and Brentford F.C.

Release

''Fragile'' was released on 12 November 1971 in the UK. It was originally set for release a month prior, but the US division of Atlantic Records were concerned of

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made a ...

ged copies arriving early in the US and delayed its release. In addition ''The Yes Album'' and the single "

" had started to gain momentum on the US charts, and Atlantic were not keen to put out a new release so soon. By December 1971, an estimated 10,000 copies of ''Fragile'' had made its way to the US. ''Fragile'' was released in the US on 7 January 1972. It peaked at number 4 on the U.S. ''

'' Top LPs chart and number 7 in the UK. "Roundabout" was released as a single in the US with a duration of 3:27, with "Long Distance Runaround" on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. It peaked at No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart in April 1972. In April 1972, ''Fragile'' was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album is certified double Platinum by the RIAA for over 2 million copies sold. The album has been certified Silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

Reception

''Fragile'' received a mostly positive reception upon its release. ''Billboard'' magazine selected the album in its "Billboard Pick" feature, describing it as "vibrant, soothing, tumultuous, placid and instrumentally brilliant" and Anderson's vocals "deliciously ingratiating". In his review for ''Rolling Stone'', Richard Cromelin pointed out the album's "gorgeous melodies, intelligent, carefully crafted, constantly surprising arrangements, concise and energetic performances" and "cryptic but evocative lyrics", but pointed out that Yes "tend to succumb to the show-off syndrome. Their music (notably "We Have Heaven") often seems designed only to impress and tries too hard to call attention to itself". Kurt White reviewed the album in '' The Daily Reporter'', calling Wakeman a "very talented organist". He named "Roundabout" the album's finest cut, "an eight-minute masterpiece incorporating unusual rhythm and music". He notes that despite its "limitations and faults", ''Fragile'' remains "interesting and enjoyable". ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' gave a mixed review on 20 November 1971. It opened with: "'Fragile' does not seem to go anywhere or have any theme except displaying Yes' technical ability ... It's not until 'Heart of the Sunrise' that they get there. It's all a little too much like exercises, clever and beautifully played". The review praised "Roundabout" for Howe's guitar work and compared its style to "Yours is No Disgrace" from ''The Yes Album''. In the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primar ...

'', reviewer Jon Weisman deemed it "in a word, extraordinary" with Wakeman's addition to the band the key to them achieving an "ethereal, clear sound" they had been aiming for. His main criticism was the band's tendency to be too esoteric in their style and "other-worldly". Ed Keheller for ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

'' magazine summarised his review of the album with "''Fragile'' is unquestionably their most cohesive and mettlesome undertaking". In the same issue, Squire responded to the criticism regarding the album's solo tracks, "in a way you've got to appreciate the circumstances. We had to get another album out quickly from a purely financial point of view. We have a lot of mouths to feed. Rick ... had to buy a vast amount of new equipment when he joined, and it all costs much more money than people seem to imagine." In 2005, ''Fragile'' was included in the musical reference publication ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, Bruce Eder gave the album five stars out of five. He writes: "''Fragile'' was Yes' breakthrough album, propelling them in a matter of weeks from a cult act to an international phenomenon; not coincidentally, it also marked the point where all of the elements of the music (and more) that would define their success for more than a decade fell into place fully formed. The science-fiction and fantasy elements that had driven the more successful songs on ... ''The Yes Album'', were pushed much harder here, and not just in the music but in the packaging of the album: the Roger Dean-designed cover was itself a fascinating creation that seemed to relate to the music and drew the purchaser's attention in a manner that few records since the heyday of the psychedelic era could match." In 2014, readers of ''

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

'' voted it the sixth greatest drumming album in the history of progressive rock.

Reissues

''Fragile'' was first reissued on CD in the United States and Europe in 1990. A remastered edition for CD and cassette by

Joe Gastwirt Joe Gastwirt is an American audio engineer, known for digitally remastering hundreds of CDs and LPs for famous artists, including the Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Helen Reddy, Electric Light Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Blue ...

followed in 1994, which includes a reprise of "We Have Heaven" after "Heart of the Sunrise" for a track running time of 11:32. In 2002, Rhino and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

released ''Fragile'' in stereo and

5.1 surround sound 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolb ...

mixes for the

DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The st ...

format. The band's cover of "America" is included, along with other supplemental features. 2003 saw Rhino and Elektra put out a new remastered CD conducted by Dan Hersch, with "America" and an early rough mix of "Roundabout" as bonus tracks. In 2006, two new "

audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

" remasters were released.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi) is a record label specializing in the production of audiophile issues. The company produces reissued vinyl LP records, compact discs, and Super Audio CDs and other formats. History Recording engineer Br ...

put out a "24 KT Gold" edition for CD headed by Shawn Britton, and a 200-gram LP from Analogue Productions by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman.

Warner Japan Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

released ''Fragile'' in 2011 in a hybrid stereo/multi-channel edition for the

Super Audio CD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple a ...

format as part of their Warner Premium Sound series. The 2003 reissue was included in the album box set ''The Studio Albums, 1969–1987'', released in 2013. ''Fragile'' was released in a new stereo and

mix on CD, DVD-Audio, and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...

, on 30 October 2015. The Blu-ray disc features six previously unreleased tracks.

Track listing

Details are taken from the 1971 US Atlantic album (UK release does not list running times); other releases may show different information.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Yes *

– lead & backing vocals, acoustic guitar on “We Have Heaven” * Steve Howe – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals *

– bass guitars, backing vocals, additional electric guitar *

–

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

RMI 368 Electra-Piano and Harpsichord Rocky Mount Instruments (RMI) was a subsidiary of the Allen Organ Company, based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, active from 1966 to 1982. The company was formed to produce portable musical instruments, and manufactured several electronic pian ...

synthesiser * Bill Bruford – drums, percussion Production *Yes – production * Eddy Offord – engineer, production *Gary Martin – assistant engineer * Roger Dean – artwork, photography *David Wright – colour photo of Bruford on drums * Brian Lane – bank loan arrangement

Chart performance

Certifications

Notes and references

Notes References Sources * * * * *

External links

* Official Yes website a
YesWorld
{{Authority control Yes (band) albums Albums with cover art by Roger Dean (artist) 1971 albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Eddy Offord Albums produced by Jon Anderson Albums produced by Bill Bruford Albums produced by Steve Howe (musician) Albums produced by Chris Squire Albums produced by Rick Wakeman