YES - Fragile - SCARCE UK 1971 Plum Orig LOVELY EXAMPLE

	£		55
	$		73

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

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 very clean, fresh and highly attractive, spindle marks are light to less than moderate. Only showing with angled light viewing and few will better these significantly. I will quickly add, this stunning record offers pristine sound of audiophile standard, and so few of these ever do. This was a totally delight from beginning to end.

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: 130 grams. A good weight for this record.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Scarce on the original Plum label and even more so with the record playing to nigh-on perfection. 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. Also, a Plum copy of this that also plays to reference standard 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. I have been told on numerous occasions by collectors and fans, they have duplicate copies of this album that fail to play this track (and others) to the standard they require, awaiting the ‘perfect’ sounding copy. Well they are very hard, but this one plays beautifully with practically nothing unwanted. Only lightly played, or very carefully played copies on worthy equipment 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 nothing unwanted – in fact the whole album plays with master-tape quality – and there lies the difference. Discerning, audiophile sound purists, please apply.

Original Year of Release: 1971.

Matrix Nos: 2401019 A // 1 1 1 4 and 2401019 B // 1 1 1 4

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, groovewear and inground dust and debris is to blame. The cover is immensely difficult to find attractive, this one has little more than edge rubbin, something even better looked-after ones seem to get. Overall, an impressive copy and for sound, it will never be beaten easily.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: in real terms, worthy of a higher grade, but edge rubbing dictates an excellent grading. The main four faces, spine and the inside book graded alone would have been graded 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 lose insert. Printed and made in England by MacNeill Press and marketed by Polydor. Includes polylined inner.

Cover Front: Very attractive indeed and lacking the usual rubbing, sticker marks and creasing. One that does near maximum justice to the splendid Roger Dean artwork. Most of any faint rub traces are seen near on the corners. This retains an unusual freshness with very rich colour.

Cover Back: Only a tiny whisker behind with any rub traces very few and faint. The lack of ringwear is highly significant as few avoid it, again a little rubbing on the corners with marks or creases again ultra fine, few and faint.

Cover Inner Gatefold & Booklet: The two main inside faces are superb with practically nothing to fault. The 8-booklet is still firmly attached and as solid as when first applied, slight and small pull marks on the back page which is almost the normal, just opening this booklet to full extent will cause this, here very minor indeed. The two staples untarnished and rock solid with no stressing or loosening at all. All pages super clean with no tears, grubbiness or ageing. The merest hint of the odd faint thumb crease on a couple of pages, this being ultra critical. Splend artwork of the band with friends and relations.

Top Edges: Light patchy rubbing, more on the right corners.

Bottom Edges: Mainly light and patchy on the front edge, nearer moderate on the back.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Both still sharp with little wear, no feathering, burring or trimming. Record enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: Very solid, thick, straight with mimimal compression or tilt. Folded square so the edges are parallel which makes a significant difference to attractiveness. I have seen this cover folded off-square several times which does spoil things, but not an issue here. Delighted to state, all text is perfect and unworn and the folds and surface is practically up to the ends. Possible tiny chip tip-ins, if so, very well done and barely showing.

Corners: The corners have moderate rubbing, a little less on the spine pair. Fine to very fine shape is retained and how many examples of this cover will avoid tip rubbing?

Cover Summary: Another one of rock’s most difficult and (dare I say) fragile covers. Taking all into consideration, this one is almost exceptional. Okay, it has top and bottom edge rubs, only near miracle examples avoid it. But with the rest of the cover looking so neat, clean and attractive, it more than compensates. Not for the perfectionist, but I feel most realistic collectors will enjoy it.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: this a Polydor-style lined inner that is date coded 1071 which corresponds to the printing time of an album that was issued on November 1971. Also in super condition with only some glue browning on the edges which most Polydor inners seem to get over time. The window circles are very neat and the polylining ultra clear and firmly attached with barely any crinkle at all. One small window circle split that I neatly repaired myself. All edges are unsplit and barely creasing, only very minor crinkle.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: there are a few superficial surface marks, mostly on side one, but these have NO SOUND whatsoever, and the excellent grading does not do this record justice, but is correct for visual. A lovely visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy with fairly modest plays on all the evidence. Visually a super record that should please many collectors again.

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 wonderful record plays nigh-on a full grade above it’s still impressive looks. 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 devoid of surface sounds, pops or clicks, 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 very 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 crackle-free, for top audio quality, this is a dream-piece of a copy that will never need upgrading. 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’ is a sheer delight to NO distortion or reverb, clipping or loss of focus and certainly NO crackle – 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 scratched by premature lifting of the arm when owner’s thought the album had ended. As stated above, this does have a few marks, but are all non-penetrating, hence they are ignored. A pure reference standard original record, few could ask for more, so good, I had to stop typing my next piece until it had finished playing. 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. I have to reitterate, this record is so easily ruined, the sound and content highly intolerant of heavy-tracking old equipment and remember, just one play with a worn stylus and the sound is destroyed. This record will prove as close to impossible to find better for total sound perfection as any I have ever heard and merits my highest possible recommendation – never underestimate the difficultly of this prog classic in all departments.

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. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

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 prompt 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 stiffeners 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 now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied. If you cannot pay, DO NOT BID.

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 [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an 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’.