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Rhino Entertainment has just released the Super Deluxe Edition of progressive rock titans Yes' fourth studio album, 1971's Fragile. Now available in an expansive multi-disc box set, Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition (SDE) offers media choices that will satisfy all listeners. The unusual package design features an LP-sized gatefold jacket that matches the band's recent SDE release for The Yes Album. A pocket on the left panel holds a 180 gram LP and an expanded, full-sized multi page booklet that matches the theme of the one included in the original LP release. The new booklet features a plethora of additional photos from the recording sessions, as well as informative new liner notes from journalist Syd Schwartz. 

Die-cut slits in the middle of the LP pocket hold a separate, mini-LP sleeve that holds a Blu-ray disc, while the right side panel features four indented disc holders that house four compact discs. The new outer sleeve for Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition, while visually identical to its predecessor, improves dramatically upon the packaging of the SDE release for The Yes Album. For some unknown reason with that set's packaging, the left-side LP pocket curled stiffly, presenting a potential hazard for long-term storage of the LP, which could easily be warped by the panel's harsh curvature. Thankfully, the new jacket for Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition has remedied the situation perfectly.

Yes, Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition, (1)180 Gram LP, (4) Compact Discs, (1) BluRay Disc, $99.98

Fragile (1971) marked superstar keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman's debut with Yes, which included vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist and vocalist Chris Squire, drummer extraordinaire Bill Bruford, and guitarist and vocalist Steve Howe. Upon Wakeman's arrival in mid-1971, the band convened in London's Advision Studios where they recorded nine new songs for Fragile. Which included classic group numbers like "Long Distance Runaround," "South Side of the Sky," and "Heart of the Sunrise," along with five individual member compositions. The solo spotlights included Rick Wakeman's "Cans and Brahms," Jon Anderson's "We Have Heaven," Bill Bruford's "Five Percent For Nothing," Steve Howe's guitar solo "Mood For A Day," and Chris Squire's classic "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)." Propelled by the success of the blockbuster single "Roundabout," Fragile achieved impressive chart success in the US and the UK, reaching the No. 7 position on the Billboard album charts in the UK, as well as peaking at No. 4 on the US album charts. Fragile generated multi-platinum worldwide sales, and was the first of many Yes albums to feature cover artwork by longtime band artist Roger Dean. It's widely considered by many to be the penultimate Yes album. The new SDE box set offers Fragile in an ultimate fan package; a limited edition set is available from Rhino's webstore that features a signed Roger Dean lithograph.

As with The Yes Album: SDE, the all-analog, 180 gram LP was remastered by Bernie Grundman who also cut the lacquers at BG Mastering; the entire package was manufactured in Germany, and the LP was pressed at Optimal. The four CDs feature the original album mix remastered by Bernie Grundman; Steven Wilson's 2024 remix and instrumental tracks; and a generous selection of alternate takes, rarities, and live tracks that are mostly previously unreleased. The Blu-ray disc features 24-bit/192kHz high-resolution digital files for Bernie Grundman's 2024 remaster; 24/96 high resolution files for Steven Wilson's 2024 album and instrumental remix; 24/48 files for 2024 Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos mix; and 24/96 high-res files for Steven Wilson's 2024 5.1 DTS-HD MA mixes. This release will satisfy fans and completists alike; Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition is available for purchase HERE, and can also be found at multiple online retailers as well as at your local independent record store. Here's a list of the contents of the individual discs:

Compact Disc One: Original Album Remastered

1. "Roundabout"
2. "Cans And Brahms"
3. "We Have Heaven"
4. "South Side Of The Sky"
5. "Five Per Cent For Nothing"
6. "Long Distance Runaround"
7. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
8. "Mood For A Day"
9. "Heart Of The Sunrise"

Compact Disc Two: Remixes & Instrumentals 

2024 Remixes

1. "Roundabout"
2. "Cans And Brahms"
3. "We Have Heaven"
4. "South Side Of The Sky"
5. "Five Per Cent For Nothing"
6. "Long Distance Runaround"
7. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
8. "Mood For A Day"
9. "Heart Of The Sunrise"
10. "We Have Heaven" (Reprise)

2024 Instrumental Mixes

11. "Roundabout"
12. "We Have Heaven"
13. "South Side Of The Sky"
14. "Long Distance Runaround"
15. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
16. "Heart Of The Sunrise"
17. "We Have Heaven" (Reprise)

Compact Disc Three: Rarities

1. "Roundabout" – U.S. Single Edit
2. "Long Distance Runaround" – U.S. Single Edit
3. "All Fighters Past" – Steven Wilson Mix
4. "South Side Of The Sky" – Early Take
5. "Roundabout" – Rehearsal Take/Early Mix
6. "Mood For Another Day"
7. "We Have Heaven" – Full Version (Steven Wilson Mix)
8. "South Side Of The Sky" – Early Version (Steven Wilson Mix)
9. "Long Distance Runaround" (Steven Wilson Edit) * 
10. "Heart Of The Sunrise" (Steven Wilson Edit) *
11. "America"
12. "Roundabout" – Early Rough Mix
13. "We Have Heaven" – Acapella (Steven Wilson Mix)

Compact Disc Four: More Rarities & Live

1. "Five Per Cent For Nothing" – Alternate Version *
2. "Heart Of The Sunrise" – Alternate Version *
3. "Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"- Alternate Version *
4. "The Dean"
5. "America" – Instrumental *

Live at the Academy of Music, NYC (2/19/72)

6. "Long Distance Runaround / The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" *
7. "Perpetual Change" *
8. "Yours Is No Disgrace" *

Blu-ray Disc

2024 Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos Mix

2024 5.1 Mix DTS-HD MA 

2024 Stereo Remix

2024 Stereo Remaster

2024 Instrumental Mix

Tracklist:

1. "Roundabout"
2. "Cans And Brahms"
3. "We Have Heaven"
4. "South Side Of The Sky"
5. "Five Per Cent For Nothing"
6. "Long Distance Runaround"
7. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
8. "Mood For A Day"
9. "Heart Of The Sunrise"
10. "We Have Heaven" (Reprise)
11. "America"

Fragile 180 Gram LP

Side One

1. "Roundabout"
2. "Cans And Brahms"
3. "We Have Heaven"
4. "South Side Of The Sky"

Side Two

1. "Five Per Cent For Nothing"
2. "Long Distance Runaround"
3. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
4. "Mood For A Day"
5. "Heart Of The Sunrise"

* previously unreleased

Listening Results

By clicking my name in the header above, you can see the individual components that occupy the two systems I use for evaluation of music from both digital and analog sources. I used the all-analog system to listen to the 180 gram LP from Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition. It features a pair of Vanguard Scout standmount compact monitor loudspeakers that run in tandem with a Caldera 10 subwoofer. The setup also includes the excellent PS Audio Stellar phono preamp, and everything is powered by my PrimaLuna EVO 300 tube integrated amplifier. Which has been upgraded with a matched quad of Sovtek 6550 power tubes and a matched pair of vintage NOS Brimar 12AU7 input tubes. LP playback was handled by my ProJect Classic EVO turntable that's mounted with an Ortofon Quintet Bronze MC cartridge, which offers nothing less than superb analog sound.

Optimal's LP surfaces were flawless, exceptionally glossy, and free of any visible defects, and the pressing was perfectly centered. The LP arrived encased in a rice paper-lined inner sleeve, which helps protect it from paper dust, scratching, and static buildup; it's a perfectionist touch an album like this requires. Bernie Grundman's new remaster of Fragile was generally superb, and the 180 gram LP was among the quietest I've recently encountered, and has been in constant rotation since arriving. In comparison to my Atlantic label original, as well as several other reissue LPs I had on hand, the new SDE LP was easily the best sounding of the bunch, and the tonal balance of Bernie's new remaster was very close to that of my original LP. In other words, I think he matched the original intent of the band and producer Eddie Offord perfectly in terms of the new LP's sound. That said, Bernie's remaster had a bit more low-level noise and hiss present than any of the other pressings I had available, but the new remaster displayed the kind of impressive clarity that my original pressing and several LP reissues couldn't match. The track where the hiss and noise is most obvious on the LP is "Cans and Brahms," where I didn't feel the other LPs in my collection were as noisy on this particular track.

As is my usual practice, I ripped the CDs and Blu-ray disc from Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition to my digital music server, where they were all converted to uncompressed FLACs. The digital files were all played in combination with streaming equipment from Euphony Audio, along with a Gustard X26 Pro DAC and C18 external oven-controlled clock, with my PS Audio preamplifier sending the signal to a Naiu Labs Ella amplifier. A pair of Magneplanar LRS loudspeakers and dual Vanguard Caldera 10 subs provided the sound transmission, which ranged from very good to beyond superb! Both CD-quality and 24-bit/192kHz high resolution files were available for Bernie Grundman's 2024 remaster of Fragile, both of which displayed a more noticeable level of noise than I heard on the accompanying LP. Nothing in the notes included with Fragile:SDE reference the source tapes for the new remaster; I've heard for years that the original tapes are no longer available, and if that's the case, that would explain the additional level of hiss and other noise heard in Bernie's remaster. It's disappointing, but not terribly so; good digital sources tend to always be more revealing of noise such as hiss during playback than analog sources, anyway. That said, the noise was consistently more noticeable on the digital files than with the LP.

The great news is that the CDs and Blu-ray also contain Steven Wilson's 2024 stereo remixes for Fragile. As well as his new instrumental remixes, all in CD-quality and 24/96 high res, which are even better than his 2016 remixes. I thought the 2016 remixes were astonishingly good, but Wilson has definitely found a way here to improve upon perfection. The extensive collection of bonus materials vary from quite good to studio quality—with some of them even mixed or mastered by Steven Wilson—and collectors and completists will find everything in this excellent set essential. Wilson also did the new 5.1 DTS HD MA remixes; he made comments on the SDE website that his remixing of surround content has gotten significantly better since he originally remixed the Yes catalog in the mid-2010s. His new 5.1 mixes are more discrete, more seamless, and more enjoyable. I'm not set up for playback of Dolby Atmos, so that content wasn't evaluated here, but those with Atmos compatibility will rejoice at its inclusion here. 

Final Thoughts

Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition is a superb, if not completely flawless reissue package. While Bernie Grundman's new remaster is a touch imperfect, it also has an incredible level of midrange clarity when compared to any other version in my collection, and any of its shortcomings are much less evident during LP playback, and again, are most excessive on the track "Cans and Brahms." Whereas Bernie's remaster of The Yes Album: Super Deluxe Edition is far and away the finest version of that album I've ever heard—bar none, and equally true for both the high-res digital and the LP—unfortunately, Bernie's Fragile remaster doesn't reach the same lofty level of goodness.

In contrast, the Steven Wilson remixes are miraculous, and alone are worth the price of admission here. The extensive selection of remastered album tracks, rarities¹, alternate takes, and live tracks will prove invaluable to collectors. Overall, Fragile: Super Deluxe Edition makes for a very compelling package, and comes highly recommended!

Rhino Entertainment

rhino.com

All images courtesy of Rhino Entertainment and the author

¹ On the fourth CD, More Rarities & Live, there's an unusual track, "The Dean," which isn't referenced in the accompanying booklet or any of the album notes; I'm not even actually certain that the track features Yes playing. It's definitely a rarity, and even more of a curiosity!

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