We Have Heaven: Rhino Reissues, Expands Yes’ “Fragile” with New Mixes

May 15, 2024 By Joe Marchese — 1 Comment
Yes Fragile Super Deluxe Edition
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Rhino is following last year’s Super Deluxe Edition of 1971’s The Yes Album with a similar set for the prog legends’ fourth album. Fragile arrived later that same year, introducing Rick Wakeman as keyboardist and kicking off a new era of Yes history. The upcoming box set, due on June 28, follows the same 4CD/1LP/1BD format as The Yes Album, featuring Steven Wilson’s newly remastered and remixed audio, rare and previously unreleased live and studio tracks, and a Dolby Atmos mix.

Fragile was recorded on the heels of the band’s expansive 1970-1971 international tour – one which took them to the U.S. for the first time, performing in such cities as Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans, Orlando, Detroit, Asbury Park, and New York City. They returned home to the U.K. for one final concert in London on July 31, and began rehearsing in August for a new LP. Before long, though, creative tensions bubbled over with founding keyboardist Tony Kaye, and he was dismissed from the band. Plans also fell through for a return to the U.S. to record with producer Tom Dowd in Miami. Strawbs’ Rick Wakeman was invited to join the group; he reportedly had a concurrent invitation to join David Bowie’s touring band. Wakeman opted for the relative freedom of Yes; the story goes that both “Roundabout” and “Heart of the Sunrise” were already in progress by the end of his first, fruitful day with bandmates Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Bill Bruford, and Steve Howe.

Recording began in earnest in August at Advision Studios, and the band took full advantage of the facility’s 16-track machine.  Eddy Offord, who had engineered 1970’s Time and a Word for Yes, returned in that capacity as well as serving as co-producer with the band. The bandmates all contributed material except for Wakeman, who was under contract to A&M and couldn’t supply any original compositions for Yes at this point; instead, he arranged a Brahms composition as “Cans and Brahms.” His stamp was felt all over Fragile, however, including on the epic “Roundabout,” soon to become a signature song for the band. With intricate, shifting melodies, classical overtones, jazz-worthy improvisations, and oft-cryptic lyrics, Fragile epitomized Yes’ progressive sound and extraordinary musicianship. A soon-to-be-famous cover by Roger Dean – his first work for the group – topped off the package. Fragile reached the Top 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the Top 10 of the U.K. Albums Chart, and has since been certified platinum in the U.K. and double platinum in the U.S., as well.

Fragile has been reissued numerous times in various formats with bonus tracks, including the band’s rendition of Paul Simon’s “America” and a rough mix of “Roundabout.” Steven Wilson previously revisited Fragile in both stereo and 5.1 surround for an expanded 2015 reissue, and has done so again for this new set, additionally offering a new Dolby Atmos take on the album as well as new instrumental mixes of vocal tracks, allowing for a full “music-only” version of the album. The prime material from previous reissues is included, plus the U.S. single versions of “Roundabout” and “Long Distance Runaround” that reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Nine previously unreleased tracks will be included, including alternate studio versions, an instrumental version of “America” and three tracks recorded at the Academy of Music in New York City in the winter of 1972. All of Wilson’s mixes will feature on a Blu-ray Disc, and the original remastered album will be newly pressed on vinyl.

The super deluxe Fragile is available June 28. Pre-order it below from Amazon – as an affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases at those links – or on Rhino’s official store, which will include a limited lithograph of the album art signed by Roger Dean.

Fragile (Super Deluxe Edition) (Atlantic/Rhino, 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino Store (with signed lithograph))

CD 1: Original album remastered (released as Atlantic 2401 019 (U.K.), 1971/SD 7211 (U.S.), 1972)

  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

CD 2: 2024 Mixes (previously unreleased)

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

CD 3: Rarities (* previously unreleased)

  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)

Tracks 1-2 released as Atlantic single 45-2854 (U.S.), 1972
Tracks 3-8 and 13 released on Fragile (Definitive Edition) – Panegyric GYRBD50009 (U.K.), 2015
Track 11 released on The New Age of Atlantic – Atlantic K 20024 (U.K.), 1972
Track 12 released on Fragile (Expanded Edition) – Elektra/Rhino R2 73789, 2003

CD 4: More Rarities and Live (* previously unreleased)

  1. Five Percent 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) *
  6. Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) (Live @ The Academy of Music, New York, NY – 2/19/1972) *
  7. Perpetual Change (Live @ The Academy of Music, New York, NY – 2/19/1972) *
  8. Yours is No Disgrace (Live @ The Academy of Music, New York, NY – 2/19/1972) *

Blu-ray: Steven Wilson Mixes (2024)

Original album in

  • Dolby Atmos
  • 5.1 surround DTS-HD MA
  • Stereo remaster
  • Stereo remix
  • Instrumental remix

LP: Original album remastered

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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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1 thought on “We Have Heaven: Rhino Reissues, Expands Yes’ “Fragile” with New Mixes”

  1. Pete Crisp

    Looks good yet another reissue, there have been 5 Yes reissues since 2015 & including Fragile in 2015 as well. It’s a tough choice as i think the only difference to the 2015 issue is you don’t of course have the vinyl & it’s included in the forthcoming box set.

    Reply

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