YES - Fragile - SCARCE UK 1971 Plum Orig LOVELY EXAMPLE

	£		113
	$		150

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering the Progressive Classics to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options.

Artist or Band: YES

Album Title: Fragile.

Producer(s): Yes and Eddy Offord.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Roundabout; Cans and Brahms (Extracts from Brahms’ 4th Symphony in E Minor, Third Movement); We Have Heaven; South Side of the Sky.

Side 2: Five Per Cent for Nothing; Long Distance Runaround; The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus); Mood for a Day; Heart of the Sunrise.

Label/Format: Atlantic – original red and maroon (‘Plum’) format (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both near immaculate: ultra clean, fresh and highly attractive with any of the very few spindle marks being light and faint and no wear around the hole area. This is the way the discerning collector wants their classic albums, hardly played and offering supreme sound.

Cat Number: 2401019.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 122 grams. About average for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Scarce as a genuine original. One of the last albums made on the Plum format before being repressed on Kinney on the more familiar orange and green labels. The inside booklet also then becoming a detached insert rather than fixed to the centrefold as per this. The catalogue number also changed. The earliest pressings are also very difficult to find with a decent cover which is massively wear-prone and seldom seen devoid of major rubbing, ringwear and price sticker issues. Indeed this record is so late on the Plum label it’s often seen with ‘transition’ stickers on the back, this one has not got one reitterating it’s one of first ever printed and sold. I sold one of these a few weeks ago on Ebay in sublime pristine condition, the type I don’t think I will ever seen again. This one is in very nice condition and shows far less wear than most. Also, a Plum copy of this that also plays to perfection is a rare and wonderful experience, a fragile album in more than just name, this often crackles and if played on unworthy old equipment from the distant past, the damage caused to the very challenging short track ‘Cans and Brahms’ is irrepairable. This song is incredibly hard to find that will play devoid of surface noise and distortion, many are rife with it. Only the most lightly played copies, or better still, a barely-played copy have any chance to track and reproduce the complex sounds on this Wakeman instrumental to the standard of a new copy. This track should have NO inherent crackle or noise when suffering no abuse or wear – or indeed any inground debris in the grooves – this album plays this challenging track beautifully with practically nothing unwanted – in fact the whole album plays with master-tape quality and it does actually get very close to that aforementioned copy recently sold – and there lies the difference, so many are near unlistenable these days. A late Plum copy that offers wonderful sound, do not underestimate this fact.

Original Year of Release: 1971.

Matrix Nos: 2401019 A // 1 1 1 1 2 and 2401019 B // 1 1 1 9

Musicians: Jon Anderson - vocals; Steve Howe - electric guitar, steel-string acoustic guitar, backing vocals; Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals; Rick Wakeman - Hammond organ, piano, RMI 368 Electric-Piano and Harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog synthesiser; Bill Bruford - drums, percussion.

Brief Info: One of the band’s most cherished albums, their fourth, and first to include the incredible talents of new keyboard player Rick Wakeman who replaced Tony Kaye. Noteworthy also, it was their first album to employ the skills of graphic artist Roger Dean. This was a highly popular album within the progressive rock genre and sold well. Hence finding Plum copies is far from impossible even though it was a very late one prior to the Kinney change. What is harder, as mentioned above, is conditions. Highly gifted musicians and complex music does not tolerate old worn stylus abuse and this includes some very quiet passages and the difficult-to-track ‘Cans and Brahms’, a short instrumental that in most cases crackles and distorts. But it shouldn’t of course. Only user abuse and inground dust and debris is to blame. The cover is massively difficult to find remotely attractive but this one still does even with some light wear – but far less than most. A very nice all-round copy, the record being again exceptional.

Cover Grade and Format: NEAR EXCELLENT: a heavyweight unlaminated gatefold format with matt finish and original 2401019 number. The booklet is glue-fastened to the inside centrefold, later ones were a loose insert. Printed and made in England by MacNeill Press and marketed by Polydor. Includes the polylined inner.

Cover Front: Until that last unbelievable one I last offered, I would have said this front was one of the best I had seen. It has minimal traces of any rubbing and any marks are few and light – a few fine hairlines/small pressmarks and a tiny, ultra faint scuff near the top. Tiny traces of edge rubbing only just are seen in the odd place or two. Barely any creasing and dark, rich colour is retained and still very clean too. A highly intolerant cover being so dark, this front looks very nice indeed.

Cover Back: Very similar again, a few less minor marks but there is a near moderate crease near the top left corner area. No ringwear, that is unusual and overall, this too retains very fine looks.

Cover Inner Gatefold & Booklet: Both the inside front and back covers are in superb condition with practically nothing to fault. The 8-booklet is still very firmly attached and as solid as when first applied, it is practically unworn or creased. Just one tiny scuff on the front on the top left corner (but look extra hard), this is near nit-picking small. The two staples untarnished and rock solid with no stressing or loosening at all. Super artwork of the band and spectacular graphics too.

Top Edges: Some light, patchy rubbing to the front, nearer moderate near the right corner, the back has barely any.

Bottom Edges: Very little wear on these except near the right corner of the back which has moderately rubbed.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, still quite sharp with little wear and guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, quite thick, straight with minimal compression. This has been folded slightly off-square, hence the back right corner drops a few millimeters (thus the rubbing on the proud edges). Of course, a manufacture blemish I have no control over, it’s not too much anyway but the perfectionists would notice. Importantly, all text is perfect and unworn and there is hardly any rubbing to the blue surface at all, unusually, the folds even retain virtual full ink cover, any rubbing of note on the top corner.

Corners: Light to moderate tip rubs in respect of their appropriate edge. Fine to very fine shape is largely retained.

Cover Summary: A strong example of the ultra fragile (no pun intended) cover. Comparing it to the almost one-in-a-million one I sold recently is almost unfair. This one is still above average and many collectors will be happy to own it. Not for the perfectionist this time, but still a nice looker.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(-): the Polydor-style inner has only lightly aged with modest discolouration. The top two corners are creased, many did this to hold the record more safely inside and is far from unusual. The window circles are very crisp and neat and the lining clear. All edges secure too with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a fantastic looking record, clearly hardly played any surface marks tiny, few and ultra faint, look hard critically under light to see any. Very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy hardly run-in in vinyl terms and visually a lovely record that should please most-all collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes – and what a pleasure it was to do so. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This prog-rock classic, plays even above it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is of audiophile standard with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. A high fidelity masterwork with complex music from virtuoso musicians. The incredible detail and clarity has to be heard. So cleanly pressed and practically devoid of surface sounds with no pops or clicks noted, this can be enjoyed on the mega systems I know some of my regular buyers own. Few copies will even match let alone outperform this early pressing I feel sure – check out all those 1’s on the matrixes seen above. All the intricate sounds, vocals and instruments fully focused and sharp and, even on ‘Cans and Brahm’, near crackle-free. A quality record that practically matches that incredible once-played copy I offered a few weeks ago. Truly a journey into the recording studio with mastertape audio quality. The tiny details stand out, can your system detect that small high-pitched cymbal from the left channel near the beginning of ‘The Fish’? That ultra difficult Wakeman solo ‘Cans and Brahms’ has NO distortion or reverb, clipping or loss of focus and barely any crackle at all – few will even get close to this. Those stunning rich bass-lines from Squire’s guitar twang from the speakers and are beautifully prevalent in the mix. Also the gorgeous acoustic ‘Mood For a Day’, the guitar was simply in the room with me and plays blemish-free. The final test: that door reopening with preceeding silence – no crackle or clicks – so often seen marked by premature lifting of the arm when owner’s thought the album had ended. A near reference standard original record, no-one could ask for more, so good, I had to stop typing my next piece until it had finished playing. The record clearly carefully looked after, well hardly played being more accurate and hardly even touched on the available evidence. The cover has light wear, yes, few won’t have, but the record has little to fault. Nothing whatsoever spoilt my immense pleasure when play-grading this wonderful piece. The rare tingle factor was achieved several times on this one, only the cleanest, best recordings ever achieve this. This record should please most collectors and is strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.