Yes - Going For The One (1977) [2013 SACD]

Going for the One is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, originally released in July 1977 by Atlantic Records. Going for the One received a mostly positive response from music critics who welcomed the band's return to more accessible music. It was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart for two weeks and No. 8 on the US Billboard 200. "Wonderous Stories" and "Going for the One" were released as singles; the former went to No. 7 in the UK and remains the band's highest-charting single in the country. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America within a month for selling 500000 copies.

Going for the One is perhaps the most overlooked item in the Yes catalog. It marked Rick Wakeman's return to the band after a three-year absence, and also a return to shorter song forms after the experimentalism of Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans, and Relayer. In many ways, this disc could be seen as the follow-up to Fragile. Its five tracks still retain mystical, abstract lyrical images, and the music is grand and melodic, the vocal harmonies perfectly balanced by the stinging guitar work of Steve Howe, Wakeman's keyboards, and the solid rhythms of Alan White and Chris Squire. The title track features Howe on steel guitar (he's the only prog rocker who bothers with the instrument). "Turn of the Century" and the album's single, "Wonderous Stories," are lovely ballads the way only Yes can do them. "Parallels" is the album's big, pompous song, so well done that in later years the band opened concerts with it. Wakeman's stately church organ, recorded at St. Martin's Church, Vevey, Switzerland, sets the tone for this "Roundabout"-ish track. The concluding "Awaken" is the album's nod to the extended suite. Again, the lyrics are spacy in the extreme, but Jon Anderson and Squire are dead-on vocally, and the addition of Anderson's harp and White's tuned percussion round out this evocative track.


Tracks:

01. Going for the One 05:32
02. Turn of the Century 07:54
03. Parallels 05:59
04. Wonderous Stories 03:50
05. Awaken 15:28

Personnel:

Bass, Vocals – Chris Squire
Drums, Percussion – Alan White
Guitar, Vocals – Steve Howe
Harp, Vocals – Jon Anderson
Keyboards – Rick Wakeman