A Big Thumbs Up To
Fragile
Last year I did a
review of a Yes tribute band called Envision. They released
'A Classic Yes Tribute' and that was a nice CD. Now, in 2000
another band does the same, Fragile from England and
although made out of the same ideals this one is way more
impressive. Fragile transform the music of Yes to their own
capabilities and with a rearranged version of 'Owner Of A
Lonely Heart' they do something extra with the music.
Envision's focus was on the classic Yes and do no '90125'
band songs, Fragile isn't afraid of that period and by
playing 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart' and a piece of 'Hearts'
they realise that that certain period was very important for
Yes. They might expand this and do some songs of 'Big
Generator' and 'ABWH' to my taste. As this is a live
recording there are things going on and over the edge
sometimes but that doesn't bother me much. Singer Steve
Carney has the hardest job in the world, singing Jon
Anderson music isn't easy and in 'I've Seen All Good People'
he has a hard time but manages. The band Fragile is
impessively good at their instruments, guitarist Robert
Illes and keyboardman Gonzalo Carreras are doing more than
fine jobs as 'Steve Howe' and 'Rick Wakeman' and the rhythm
section doesn't sound exactly as Yes, still they offer a
good and solid foundation to the songs. 'Heart Of The
Sunrise' is excellently played and it takes a lot of work in
my opinion to figure that one out, because of all the
changes in the song. Fragile has arranged a Yes medley that
contains fragments of Yes epics like 'Gates Of Delirium',
'Ritual' and 'The Revealing Science Of God' among a few
others. 'Yours Is No Disgrace' is my favourite track of this
album, the energy of that song is universal I think. So a
big thumbs up to Fragile, Yes music isn't easy to play and
when you start a band like this the chances of going flat on
the face are more than thinkable. Somehow Fragile found away
to do it properly and I admire that, I hope to see them in
Club 66 in Verviers Belgium on November 11th.
CD Review