YES: FRAGILE/PEERLESS COPY/RED PLUM/STAPLED BOOKLET/EX+

	£		50
	$		66

YES - FRAGILE

Their greatest work!

THIS IS THE REAL DEAL!! ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT-AFTER ALBUMS EVER MADE IN A CONDITION WHICH YOU JUST WOULD NOT BELIEVE POSSIBLE, GIVEN THE DELICATE NATURE OF THE INSERT. IT'S HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THERE IS ANOTHER COPY OF THIS ALBUM IN SUCH GREAT CONDITION.

Labels: Atlantic, Red/Plum, Mint. Very few spindle marks only visible under a bright light magnifier

Mode: Stereo

Rarity: Impossible to get with this degree of quality! 

Original Year of Release: 1971

Catalogue Number: 2401 019 

Outer Sleeve: What can I say about this album and its condition? Firstly, I bought it on the day of release in Ainley's Record Shop in Leicester - the vinyl has the First Pressing marks of A1, B1, and it went into a Double PVC Sleeve straight away. It cannot have stayed in the sleeve as it has very minor rub-wear to the top and bottom edges and very slightly rounded corners to the spine. But that doesn't detract in the slightest from the overall superb quality; the spine is still square and rigid with highly legible text and there is no feathering to the open edges. The colouring to Roger Dean's ground-breaking artwork is as fresh as it should be with little fading and no damage. 

Centrefold: Grey textured card which does not wear well normally. Here it is just like new!

Inner: White poly-lined

Insert:  Now to the insert, an 8-page full colour 8.5" x 12" stapled booklet, front and rear plus random doodlings by Roger Dean and containing biogs and pics of the band. For a miraculous start, it's all still firmly stapled to the sleeve, just as it was on the day I walked proudly out of the shop with it! This, frankly, is unheard of; even if you were able to get a superb quality outer cover like this one has, the odds are that the inserted booklet would be split into its disparate parts, some of which would be torn or have gone missing over the years!

Matrices:  A//1 11 4, B//1 12 1

Vinyl Weight:   110gms

Vinyl Condition & Grading: I have just played it. Normally with an album of this value I'd be detailing everything on a track-by-track basis. I'm not doing that in this case BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TO!!

One comment covers everything: NEAR MINT!!

I have really taken care of this album; there's an absolute minimum of surface noise, pops, clicks or ticks. Nothing at all to detract from the listening pleasure. This is unheard of! The chances of you ever coming across this level of quality on one of the greatest progrock albums ever made is pretty close to ZERO!!

Why is it so good? 'Cos in the early 70s I started off in the brand new Hi-Fi trade, firstly as a salesman, then moving on until by the mid 80s I had my own shop. This meant that I always had the best equipment. This record has been played, over the years, on a Pioneer PL12AC. Thorens TD160, B&O Beogram 4002, Rega Planar and now the Linn. And, of course, the cartrdiges have been of commensurate quality.

All in all - a great album in great condition and with a great history.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. (Equipment: Linn Sondek LP12, Linn Ekos arm, Linn K9 moving coil cartridge, tracking at 2 grams into a Cambridge Audio Azur 340A amp and out to a pair of Bose speakers with a Super Woofer)

Album Tracklisting

1 Roundabout
2 Cans and Brahms [Extracts from Brahm's 4TH Symphony in E Minor Thir]
3 We Have Heaven
4 South Side of the Sky
5 Five Per Cent for Nothing
6 Long Distance Runaround
7 Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)
8 Mood for a Day
9 Heart of the Sunrise

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 their preceding record, 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. Having thrown original keyboard player Tony Kaye overboard early in the sessions -- principally over his refusal to accept the need for the Moog synthesizer in lieu of his preferred Hammond organ -- the band welcomed Rick Wakeman into its ranks. His use of the Moog, among other instruments, coupled with an overall bolder and more aggressive style of playing, opened the way for a harder, hotter sound by the group as a whole; bassist Chris Squire sounds like he's got his amp turned up to "12," and Steve Howe's electric guitars are not far behind, although the group also displayed subtlety where it was needed. The opening minute of "Roundabout," the album opener -- and the basis for the edited single that would reach number 13 on the Billboard charts and get the group onto AM radio in a way that most other prog rock outfits could only look upon with envy -- was dominated by Howe's acoustic guitar and Bill Bruford‘s drums, and only in the middle section did the band show some of what they could do with serious amperage. Elsewhere on the record, as on "South Side of the Sky," they would sound as though they were ready to leave the ground (and the planet), between the volume and intensity of their playing. "Long Distance Runaround," which also served as the B-side of the single, was probably the most accessible track here apart from "Roundabout," but they were both ambitious enough to carry most listeners on to the heavier sides at the core of this long player. The solo tracks by the members were actually a necessity: they needed to get Fragile out in a hurry to cover the cost of the keyboards that Wakeman had added to the group's sonic arsenal. But they ended up being more than filler. Each member, in effect, took a "bow" in mostly fairly serious settings, and Squire's "The Fish" and Howe's "Mood For a Day" pointed directly to future, more substantial projects as well as taking on a life of their own on-stage. If not exactly their peak, Fragile was as perfect a record as the group would ever make, and just as flawless in its timing as its content.

Complete with PVC cover

Post & Packing: This is a valuable item which will be shipped with insured trackability as follows:

UK: £7.00 (Special Delivery)

Europe: £12.00 (International Signed For with Extra Compensation)

ROW: £15.00 (International Signed For with Extra Compensation)

Check out my other items!

Sign up for PayPal; the fast, easy, and secure way to pay online.