Yes - Going For The One (1977)

Going for the One is the eighth studio album by British progressive rock band Yes. It was released in 1977 after an extended break for solo activity, and is especially notable for marking the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had departed in 1974 in the aftermath of the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour. His re-entry was facilitated by the departure of Patrick Moraz, after having only played on Relayer, although Moraz is thanked in the credits.

After their extended break, the band regrouped in Switzerland, refreshed and ready to record in late 1976. The album was recorded at Mountain Studios by recording engineers John Timperley and David Richards. After constructing epic tracks for the last few years, Yes felt inspired to scale things back a bit and recorded some of their most direct and concise material since Fragile. Wakeman also varied his sound by largely forsaking his mellotron and experimenting with church organ to pleasing effect on "Parallels" and the sole extended track, "Awaken".

After many successive album covers with Roger Dean, Yes (who also produced the album entirely by themselves) commissioned Hipgnosis (Who were better known for designing album covers for Pink Floyd) to create the artwork for Going for the One instead. The album cover features the Century Plaza Towers in Los Angeles, also known locally as the Twin Towers.

Yes's return at the height of the punk movement was an unexpectedly successful one, with Going for the One reaching the pinnacle of the UK charts and even having a Top 10 hit single with "Wonderous Stories" - something that would have been considered impossible during the days of Tales from Topographic Oceans. The album was another U.S. Top 10 charting album for the band reaching #8 on the Billboard album chart in 1977.

With its confident and natural qualities, Going for the One is still generally regarded by most critics as one of Yes's finest, and many times, most underrated albums. In addition, the song "Awaken" is considered by many fans to be Yes' finest work, and Jon Anderson has said "We had a hit record! I loved listening to 'Awaken', at last we had created a Masterwork" and has indicated in some interviews that he considers it to be Yes' most complete composition. ~ Wikipedia


The last great Yes album, with one of prog rock's best songs ever in 'Awaken' which makes the album 5 star worthy on its own, even if the rest of the album was not good, but rest assured it's terrific stuff. The return of Rick Wakeman returned the group to a more traditional Yes sound after the incredible experimentation on 'Relayer'.

'Going For The One' is a jaunty beginner, with some exceptional work from Steve Howe right from the beginning, and Rick Wakeman makes his presence felt with some typically flash solos and runs. Jon Anderson is great as ever, and is one of few singers from this era whose voice seems to have survived almost completely intact. 'Turn Of The Century' is another powerful ballad, with some very nice acoustic work from Howe and lovely piano flourishes throughout from Wakeman. One of their best acoustic numbers. 'Parallels' is a rockier number, as the whole band are firing on all cylinders, with some wonderfully melodic bass runs from Chris Squire, some great drumming from Alan White, brilliant solos from Steve Howe, terrific church organ work from Wakeman and commanding vocals by Jon Anderson. Great stuff. 'Wonderous Stories' tends to come in for some flak, but I like it a lot, it being a nice whimsical number, with some lovely acoustic guitar, beautiful vocals and charming keyboard runs from Rick Wakeman. 'Awaken' is truly a masterpiece and probably the last throw of the dice where truly outstanding epics were concerned in my opinion. Most since have tended to be regurgitations of Genesis or Yes material. The song starts with some very fast and majestic piano flourishes, which then flows into Jon Anderson's heavenly vocals over a synthesizer backing, then all hell breaks loose from there, as the band take off into an Eastern style melody (probably the intention as it was at demo stage called 'Eastern Number') with ridiculously complex solos from Howe along the way. The harp enters the fray and plays a few gentle notes as Wakeman plays some brilliant stuff on the church organ, until the next section begins, with some gorgeous backing vocals and solos from Howe. The climax returns to the opening vocal phrase, ending a truly sensational masterpiece of a song and album. ~ Review by James Jefferey @ Prog Archives





Tracklisting:
1. Going For The One (5:31)
2. Turn Of The Century (7:36)
3. Parallels (6:11)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:49)
5. Awaken (15:26)

Total Time: 38:33

Line-Up:
- Jon Anderson / vocals, guitar (6,10,12), harp (7)
- Chris Squire / bass and vocals
- Rick Wakeman / keyboards
- Alan White / drums
- Steve Howe / guitars