YES: Fragile, Side 2 Vinyl Reaction (ii) 

Well that was fun. Simply waiting now for THE GATES OF DELIRIUM.

"This is going to be a part of me now, forever". I had exactly the same feeling the first time I listened to Close to the Edge. Never looked back.

All I can really say about the 70's Yes , that I have and will post about, is well, YES. Thanks for making me remember why I like them and a few others of the time just magic.

YES has had a huge influence on many, many bands that came after. That's is one reason they are celebrated, as well as their stellar compositional ability.

I saw Yes in Fairfax, VA in 1991 (give or take). They had eight members on the tour and some of them sat out certain songs. Jon Anderson said that "Heart of the Sunrise" was the only song that each player insisted on playing... so all eight played it towards the end of the show. It was great!

I’m sure you realize this now, but “Long Distance Runaround” leads directly into “The Fish” with no break. “The Fish” is Squire’s song, which features eight overdubbed bass tracks!

DEFINETLY go on with the full album reactions Jim! Pleeease! It's such a... cosy experience re-listening to them with your first listen 😍

Its part of me for over 40 years! Welcome in the Yes realm - have fun and be touched by their wonderfull music. Don't forget to listen the live albums Yessongs and Yesshows!

Best Album I Have Heard in my life and only heard it this year 2022, Stonking Album That huge Bass, vocals, guitars keyboard drummer This Album is Amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow.

Can you imagine what it was like for us to hear this YES music in real time, when they 1st started sharing it with the world? It was a time when musicians were all pushing each other to experiment and blend together that which they knew with all the new stuff they were hearing. It was indeed an exciting time, musically, and YES was one of the most astonishing outcomes of that period of experimentation. Again, I think the most important key to their "sound" was all the other musicians in the band realizing that they absolutely had to build their sound around Chris Squire's Industrial-Melodic bass inspirations. Then, with Bill Bruford adding his jazz-inspired innovations to Squire's dominant riffs, the result was a magical Rhythm Section never exceeded in Progressive Rock history. Chris said that Bill's drumming inspired him a great deal during their time together and that his bass contributions changed after Bruford decided to walk away from the amazing thing they had accomplished. (My prediction: while Bill's talent playing his instrument throughout his career was always top notch, what he will be remembered for many, many decades from now--if not centuries--is for what he did with Chris Squire during his stint in YES.) Jon Anderson was just the kind of eclectic ingredient they needed in their vocal stylizings, made complete by Squire's higher range (!) harmonizing contributions. Wakeman was, of course, a recognized phenom when he came into the band and was central to the epic sound of their most astonishing creations. And Steve Howe...did you know he was voted by the guitar musician readers of some Guitar magazine as the Best Guitarist in Rock for like 5 straight years, during the early-mid 1970's? So glad fate finally led you to your very happy discovery, Jim!

Hey Jim. Still my favorite reactor! Love it that you are diving into Yes. Amazed that you are British and haven’t really ever been listening to them much before now. But hey, you are a bit younger than I am. Yes was a great influence on me back in my young days of the 1970’s.

Very cool that you caught the connection between YES and The Mars Volta

Keep it coming! I've seen them 5 or 6 times and it's always amazing. So good, I saw them ones in the late 70s and had to travel to hear them again two days later. Oddly enough I was a farm boy Living miles from the nearest town and over an hour from the nearest city.

Chris Squire has said Heart of the Sunrise is the track that sums up what Yes are all about and the one he would recommend to a newcomer to the band.

When love comes to you, you wonder, "How could / did this happen?" It's all you needed... Dream on... Once Heart of the Sunrise gets to you, you never forget it. Beautiful and classic.

Thanks Jim, you will now carry this music with you forever, welcome, so glad for you, x

Fade outs are the best. My favorite is when a new musical theme is developing during a fade out! It's like NO! NO!..wait what was that?....SHIT...The band RUSH has several fantastic fade outs like that!

Fragile is my personal favorite Yes album. I got into them in December. I listened to Rush first and it's incredible how much Yes inspired them. I'm one of those kids born after the '90s, but I don't really heavily listen to computer generated/electronically engineered music. My parents got me into classic rock at a very young age. I don't hate all modern music or anything, I just find the older stuff a lot more intriguing. I really love The Yes Album as well, and I think you'd also enjoy it.

Jim

50 yrs old and still transcends time and swings

Love this side of the album…it’s a journey of the mind ❤

Loving your vids Jim, such a human reaction and I love your expressions - great channel! Binging it nightly at the moment!

Probably my favorite song ever!!!

Heart of the Sunrise was pretty much put together on Rick's first day with YES. As many times as I have seen it performed live, it just gets better every time. Incredible song!

You need to watch Rick Beato’s interview with Jon Anderson. He talks about how these songs were assembled from physical tape segments. Then for live concerts they were able to recreate this magic.

The more you listen Jim, hopefully you will get to understand why YES fans are so passionate about them and their music. This is the second time of hearing this but didn't leave a comment. Excellent Jim

If someone is born beautiful....well......they’re beautiful.....if someone creates something beautiful.....they’ve ACHIEVED beauty.....this thought comes to mind as I listen to the beautiful music of Yes .....

We want you to, Jim! Loved this.

I don't think I have mentioned it in a previous comment, but in 2002 I was at the Classic Yes Tour in Mountainview, California wherein the line-up of Anderson, Howe, Wakeman, Squire and White performed all material from the 1970s, and I was really surprised that a very large number of attendees were in the 18-25 year old range (I had fully expected to see a homogeneous collection of fellow semi-geezers there). It was nice to see that so many young people were interested in Yes.

once it grabs you , it wont let go...nothing quite compares... try the whole of "the Yes album " every song a masterpiece

Please do the whole album format Jim. it is brilliant to watch and listen to Yes this way and how it was meant to be. Love these reactions. Thank you for the effort in doing this it is very much appreciated.

I'm sorry you never heard YES before, but your loss is our gain, for now we got to watch you enjoy this amazing music and it's just like listening to it for the first time for us, seeing the joy on your face. Glad splitting it up fixed the problem. Enjoy the journey. I only just recently, finally, listened to all of their music. It took a while, but now I've finally heard all of it and I was mostly pleased.

Glad you enjoyed Fragile, Heart of the Sunrise is my favourite Yes song, the musicianship is out of this world, I've said it before but 70s Yes we're awesome.

I can list quite a few songs that have me in literal tears when I listen to them. And You and I, Give Love Each Day, In the Presence of, The Ancient Giants Under the Sky, etc. I keep my tissue near by for Yes. The music of the angels. A gift from God.

Heart of the Sunrise is great. Bill Bruford is fenomenal. You should check out some of Bills later work: UK + his 3 albums with his band Bruford.

Steve on acoustic doing mood for a day. Chris did Fish just before (end part 1) and fish was Chris's nickname. Like many others I also say get a copy of the 3 LP set YesSongs 1973 recorded live during the Close to the Edge tour. It will amaze you how Yes really took these songs to the next level on stage. Well worth the ride. For me I like both studio and live so much. You mentioned how Yes have inspired others, Geddy Lee of Rush said that without Yes there would have been no Rush as we know it. Chris Squire's bass was amazing because he did a few tweaks to his Rickenbacker. He rewired the pick-up and sent the highs and lows to separate amplifiers. Bass amp for the lows and a normal guitar amp for the highs. Something like that, so he ended up with that sound. Yes were amazing at crafting massive soundscapes, their music with so many layers, transitions and time signatures a real delight to the ears and mind. So glad you did this review and have found classic Yes.

Jim instead of jumping around get all their albums and do them in order. You'll love early Yes like "Then" "Astral Traveler".🗽🙂🎼

año 1970-71...yes Steve Howe guitarrista , erudito , virtuoso , nadie hacia una cancion asi comercial , pero era la puerta abierta del la musica progresiva ...virtuosos musicales ....y vaya que marcaron el siglo , maravillosos YES::....¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

I think Bruford, Howe and Squire have all commented on how the opening of Heart of the Sunrise was greatly influenced by King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man (specifically the Mirrors section). Of course, Yes expanded upon the concept and made it something else.

Thanks. Hesrt of the sunrise..impressive and beatiful

Jim, please do all their albums! And a side at a time is perfect. They designed their music that way.

DAMIT man! I had things too do. Like cleaning my dogs poop from the backyard grass for my barbeque party this afternoon. Ahh the hell with my guests, I like my 2 dogs and listening too the mighty Yes much better.

Heart of the Sunrise is so mature and tasteful at every level. Virtuosity!

2:44 , just beautiful, spending an afternoon under a tree, total peace.

Imagine how you’d feel Front Row for this song! Such a journey-you Feel it! I’ve been in front of both Chris and Steve and many concerts! Incredible memories!❤️ Sometimes when you listen to Yes -depending on your musical maturity..And Mood…Different instruments stand out to u-one time it’s Chris’s amazing Bass, another Jon’s Voice or the under rated skills of Bill Brufords or Alan Whites percussion ..and on and on… Difference experiences depending on where I am at the moment! That’s Why Yes is So moving.

The only studio albums worth reacting to in full, given your reluctance to do the whole catalogue, should be The Yes Album, Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Going For The One. And if I could only watch you listen to one of these, it would be Tales.

I love your style of doing this, with the vinyl, and doing a whole album, etc. Since you love Squires bass, try his solo album Fish Out Of Water, he sings lead on it. A really beautiful unusual album is Andersons first solo record Olias Of Sunhillow.

Loved YES since they came out. Very underrated band of their time. Superbly talented, great musicians. Heart of the Sunrise one of my favorites, could listen to it over and over.

The structure of Fragile is the key to understanding the album. Each musician had a track highlighting their instrumen\talent, and 4 Yes songs.

What a brilliant album. Great review Jim. You mentioned you also had relayer,can't wait for your review of that.

Fragile was a brilliantly mixed album; very innovative.

Wonderful, just wonderful. I have a very big ask, not only do the first 5 or so studio albums, but also, do Yessongs. Side by side is a great format.

JD BLACKFOOT pulled off of U TUBE SONG OF CRAZY AND THE ULTIMATE PROPHECY album version, but does have his live performance of SONG OF CRAZY HORSE on U TUBE.

Glad you liked the album Jim. It’s been a staple since I first got into Yes in the 70’s. Do yourself a favour and get yourself a copy of YesSongs - their triple live album from the Close to the Edge tour. The band were at the peak of their powers, and the performances have a great raw energy to go along with the complexity of the music.

So far ahead of their time. Talent and skill beyond reason.

Regarding "Heart Of The Sunrise": Here, too, the reference to the "Yessongs". But that is a matter of taste. On the Yessongs the song sounds a bit "more pompous" (I think that's good)

Glorious

I don't think Steve Howe has ever played a bad note. Love all of them, of course, and you're right that it's easy to lose him in the brilliance of his bandmates, but it's worth following his guitar lines to hear just how gorgeous they are.

I love your reactions to music I was weened on. Thank you so much for all you're doing. There is a group that I think you may really love as well, that writes masterpieces. That's Kansas. The original pre-80's band. Very well composed and beautiful music.

Relayer will grab you just like Close to the Edge.

Yes was the sound track to my teens. The songs still play in my head triggered by no more than a whisper of wind or the song of a bird. This is a good time for a roundabout. Go look around.

Great review! Very introspective of you!

Mood For A Day was written by Steve Howe when his son was born! They were very busy, in many ways, LOL. Lucky ladies 😁

"Smoking groove!". Was there ever a more talented pairing for a rhythm section? I don't think so. Bruford's playing is just so freaking tasteful. And Squire is just amazing, what else can I say?

"ahahaha, YES !"

Glad it all worked out... On to the next LP 👍

Heart of the Sunrise - what a phenomenal, emotional track. IMHO Jon's voice got even better 2 or 3 years after that and into the 90s and early 2000s as it matured I think live versions of this surpassed the studio version (while obviously missing Bruford's drumming). Hearing epics like this live when the band were at their peak was spiritual. BTW - you mention Steve Howe's guitar playing - wait until you hear the live double Yes Songs - he is on fire on that album

This period of Yes ELP Tull Floyd Crimson VDGG Renaissance Gentle Giant Genesis and many many others may go down as the most creative and innovative ever (apologies classical fans} Glad your enjoying and moved by it all Jim

Yes music is not ironing music is the best way to describe it. Unfortunately people nowadays don’t have attention span to listen

Oh, I really, really want you to do them as full album listens, for what it's worth. A million times better than picking out individual songs. Like you said yourself, it's the way it was intended to be listened to. 😉👍

You're doing great, Jim. Very enjoyable.

I'm getting a whispering Bob Harris vibe from you Jim and I like it very much. OGWT was must watch viewing in the 70s, I'm with the full album gang, playing a Yes song out of context rarely rewards as the Beyond and Before are so crucial to each piece. But I do understand that the long vids are heavy uploads bro.

Rush, Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree have all been pretty open about their love of Yes. The Flower Kings are another obvious one (Roine Stolt has made at least one album with Jon Anderson). Bands like Opeth, Anathema and even Tool you can hear bits and pieces, also. Their main influence was getting people to push their boundaries, I think.

In case you want to hear something "completely different" from Yes (an absolutely underrated song to my taste) "That That Is" from the Keystudio album.

Nice! You got it to pass whatever arbitrary rule was blocking it before! I can't wait to see your reaction and analysis.

My top guitarists: Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Howe, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons

One thing that's cool about your playing whole sides is that where Yes is concerned,we see that there are no throwaway "album tracks," but collections of focused masterpieces, so purchasers of Yes albums have always gotten their money's worth.

You mentioned Steve Wilson. He has remixed 5 Yes albums to rave reviews.

What a bloody tune....Bruford just bloody brilliant....Just pure music..Anderson at his best, so where the band.....Fragile or Close to the Edge..? Good question...

Influences are interesting. Geddy Lee was greatly influenced by Chris Squire, and many who may not have heard Yes were influenced by Geddy. Just like many guitarists were influenced be Clapton and Page, but may not have gone back to the Robert Johnsons and Muddy Waters.

Now you've done Close to the Edge and Fragile you have the Yes Album (pre Fragile and Wakeman), Relayer (the most "progressive" album, Going for the One (possibly Yes at their peak), and Tales from Topographic Oceans (the biggest challenge, consisting of four 20 minute songs based on Jon's hippie space cadet impressions of Hindu Shastric scriptures). These represent the "core" of Yesology. You've got a ticket to ride, so sit back and enjoy. Maybe smoke a hit or two first. It's how they were meant to be enjoyed.

In light of the allusion you made to heavier music, when you get around to YESSONGS, you will probably instantly appreciate the more visceral, driving, Live Renditions, in this Grand Triple Live Compilation. Please take my recommendation to listen to "Yours Is No Disgrace" from Yessongs. "Perpetual Change" ends with a Bill Bruford Drum Solo! "Starship Trooper" from Yessongs features the Greatest Outro ever captured Live!

Heart of the Sunrise is one of my favourite Yes tracks. I don't know if you've done The Yes Album yet, but you should. I also can't wait til you get to Relayer, Tales and Going For the One.

Well done for getting around the block.

Steve Howe was in the middle of his run as winner of the Guitar Player magazine poll, soon to go into their hall of fame and no longer eligible...

Awaken, please.

Hi Jim, I have subscribed - I love your Yes reactions. Please react to The Yes Album (their 3rd album) - it was their breakthrough record and one of their best!

Welcome to me at about age 14 (1971). It's when I learned that there was more than just the Beatles, Stones, and the Who. Got exposed to Yes, LZ, and Pink Floyd all at the same time. Talk about being spoiled.

For me, a fade-out gives the feeling that the song is just passing by and after we've heard part of it, it will just keep on going forever off into the distance. This can be incredibly effective as in The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" or Genesis' "Los Endos" (studio version) in which the fade-out is an indispensable part of the song.

This band on mushrooms go together like peanut butter and chocolate

Yes got funky from time to time, but not as much as Gentle Giant. Have you done Crim, Starless in particular?

About "Heart of the Sunrise". I'm not familiar with Steven Wilson, but I'm sure that song was influenced by King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man".

There is songs, that absolutely need a fade-out to left you into the right state of mind. Usually fade-outs are most useful in the last song of a record. But that being said, fade-out shouldn't be used more than as an effect.

Ode to Abbey Road at the end there...

Man, it's sure convenient you were discussing fade outs when you ended up having to fade out

Amigo mio , aqui aparece uno de los grandes genios ...base para la musica de hoy y mañana ...Rick Wakeman con sus melotrones , pianos , moogs , y teclados varios .....

Close to edge? Or Fragile ? ... One tough decision !

Hi Jim! You were talking about the fade out effects on the end of songs when you faded out!

I'd like to see today's artists try to make music like this. No way. Do Relayer next.

"Home invasion vibe" lol