Shining, Flying,
Purple Wolfhounds
Fragile are a tribute
band from London. Now you all know the tribute scene some
of these bands are remarkable musicians who have managed to
duplicate their heroes' music to a high degree of accuracy.
Fragile, however, are something different altogether -
they are one of only two bands we know of in the World who
have taken on the, frankly, hugely daunting task of
covering the music of Yes. So, this quality live CD will
only be of interest you if you're a) a Yes fan or b) if you
appreciate bravery on a major level - some of you can leave
now. Either way, you need to appreciate what a challenge
Fragile have set themselves - not just a matter of
strumming your way through "second verse/same as the first"
Oasis covers, Fragile have aimed high and decided to
attempt to reproduce Yes' multi-time-signature,
never-the-same-key-twice, tight-as-a-snaredrum,
mushroom-lyric, downright-bloody-difficult-to-play virtuoso
seventies' musicianship : and, with this CD and with their
live set, they have to a surprising extent succeeded
!
They've got to do Jon
Anderson's all-the-way-up-there hippy abstract lyric
singing - the singer, Steve Carney, has a fine
higher-than-most voice and pulls the task off well, somehow
incorporating some of Accrington Jon's mannerisms and
persona into his performance too. They've got to do
Wakeman, and new keys man Gonzalo Carreras is easily
technically up to the job. They 've got to be able to
produce Chris Squire's growling, ringing-like-a-bell Ricky
bass lines - Jon Bastable throws himself into his playing
and captures most of the Doctor's technique and sound.
They've got to have a drummer able to hold the time changes
together like White and be off-beat and jazzy like Bruford,
and Mitch Harwood rises to the challenge with skill and
accuracy. And they've got to be able to do the wildly
differing Steve Howe, Peter Banks AND Trevor Rabin, and they
achieve it by employing two guitarists - the frankly
astounding Robert Illes almost note-perfect on Howe and
Banks, and, to get a studio sound live, the solid and
reliable Tom Dawe on live overdubs, and lead and support
playing.
On the CD, what do
you get ? You get an accurate "Roundabout" and a tight
"I've Seen All Good People" ; they impress taking on and
almost nailing the evil and difficult "Heart Of The
Sunrise", followed by a re-arranged, slower and still Yessy
"Owner Of A Lonely Heart" ; they acknowledge the longer Yes
material with an epic 30 minute Yes medley comprising "Long
Distance Runaround", "The Fish", excerpts from "The Gates
of Delirium", "Soon", "Arthur" and "Six Wives", "Hearts",
"The Revealing Science of God", "Ritual" , and a tremendous,
complete "Yours Is No Disgrace" to wind it up ; and the
show ends with a fine "Starship Trooper" too. And even the
CD cover is sort of Roger Deany as well.
And how do they rate
? Pretty damn close, actually. You Yes-heads out there
can relax, because it's not perfect and was never going to
be - how could it ? I play some of this stuff myself, and
it's very tough to master : so what if, very rarely, the odd
bass-line, vocal melody or drum part are simplified or
reworked, the odd guitar part is fluffed and infrequently
the chords aren't quite right ? That's not the point at
all. Yes Live themselves aren't exactly the same as the
lps and sometimes cock it up too, don't they? No, the whole
point of this recording is in the spirit of it (warning !
Hippy Bit Alert !) - more evidence that we're all part of a
bigger world full of Yes followers, that someone else is
obviously getting so much out of Yes' glorious,
incomprehensible, interwoven, complex and joyous music that
they wanted to perform it themselves to other people, that
someone else remembers the time when airplay, beats per
minute and playlists meant nothing, it was just the sound,
the flexibility, the musicianship and the fun of doing it
that counted.
If you've read this
far, and you still agree, then what can I say ? Go and see
the amazing Fragile (point your browsers at yestribute.com)
and be in the same room with dozens of others singing
un-selfconsciously about "shining, flying, purple
wolfhounds". And buy the CD - you'll like it !
CD Review