GOING FOR THE ONE

"Going for the One" is the eighth studio album coming from the prog titan Yes, released in 1977 on the Atlantic label. The album sees the return of the much beloved keyboardist Rick Wakeman and the departure of Patrick Moraz who played the keyboard on the previous album, "Relayer", in 1974.

While I would not rank the album among the band's very best efforts such as "Close to the Edge", "Fragile" and "The Yes Album", I still consider this an essential piece of Yes's discography. Honestly, it is pretty difficult for me to rank the album on a five-star scale, and giving it four stars feels a bit weird, but let's just say that it is a strong four-star rating. I will continue on this later in the review.

While "Relayer" released two and a half years earlier had prominent elements of jazz fusion, "Going for the One" sees a return of the band's symphonic sound, this time with Rick Wakeman's keyboards and organ taking up a lot of space. Apart from the final song (which I am really looking forward to talking about), the songs are way more straightforward than on, say, "The Yes Album", and sacrifice elaborate, complex song structures in favor of more symphonic, dynamic soundscapes. The album has both moments of floaty, atmospheric arrangements and energetic, kick-ass ones. I have already mentioned Wakeman's work, but Steve Howe's guitar also contributes heavily to the atmospheric sound, and I should also mention Jon Anderson's vocal performances; some of his best work can be found on this album. Chris Squire's bass playing does not disappoint either, although his bass is not as prominent as on earlier albums. While Alan White's drumming gets left out in many places, he conveniently fills out the space with pitched percussion in some spots.

The opening track which shares the title with the album (5:32) perfectly demonstrates the approach to more direct songs. It opens with a Chuck Berry-ish riff, the band then launches itself into an energetic, symphonic frenzy, like a rocket shooting itself off into space fueled by Rick's delightful keyboards and heavy acoustic piano and Jon's sky-reaching vocals, not to mention Steve's epic shredding in the middle and at the end of the song. Overall, I would say this song has a more "jammy" feel than most of Yes's songs. An amazing opener to the album nevertheless.

"Turn of the Century" (7:55) takes a wild turn from the opener, going into more spacey territories. The song is incredibly soothing and atmospheric. The song is mostly built upon - surprise surprise - Rick's keyboards, as well as Jon's vocals. You could honestly remove all the other instruments and keep only Rick and Jon, and the song would not lose too much of its character. Steve's guitar work plays a big role nevertheless, with an acoustic in the first half and an electric in the second. The drums take up almost no space, being reduced to only cymbals in the second half of the song, and some pitched percussion. You do not hear songs like this from Yes very often, but they did a good job at pulling this one off.

"Parallels" (5:53) settles for a similar approach as the opening track in some ways. It is another tune characterized by the energetic, chaotic feel and sounding improvised in some parts. My complaint about this song is how it is mixed. I feel like Rick's organ takes up way too much space at the cost of all the other instruments, especially Alan's drums. I am not as bothered by it now as I was before, but my rating would still move closer to five stars if it was not for this issue. A decent song nevertheless.

"Wonderous Stories" (3:49) is another floaty tune. This one almost feels ritualistic or pagan in a way, with the drums having a more prominent role than in "Turn of the Century" albeit still keeping themselves in the background, and Rick imitating a flute with his keyboard. Steve plays a very important role too, creating a foundation with an acoustic guitar. The song manages to be atmospheric and in my opinion does a better job at keeping a good balance between all instruments than "Turn of the Century".

"Awaken" (15:31) is one of the best prog tracks of all time and the very best song Yes has ever made. I could honestly just say that and finish off the review. To be honest, this track is the reason it feels weird to give the album any less than five stars. I could really go on for an eternity about how great this song is, and for the sake of my sanity, I will keep my breakdown of this song fairly brief. Let's begin with the piano intro, which is among my favorite piano intros in prog also including "Can You Understand" by Renaissance and "Firth Of Fifth" by Genesis. The next part launches you straight into heaven with Steve going absolutely crazy on his guitar and amazing drum work from Alan, not to mention, once again, Rick's work. Rick takes one step further in the next part, where he goes berserk on the church organ. This part feels like you are on a pirate ship on a stormy sea. Then comes the dreamy part, which makes you feel like you are floating around in space. The pitched percussion does God's work for this part. I have not mentioned Jon yet, but his vocals are fantastic throughout the entire song, but that is nothing unique about this song.

While not all fans of Yes like this record, I feel like it keeps a lot of its key Yes characteristics while also being its own thing entirely. Whatever you think of the other tracks, "Awaken" alone makes the whole thing worth listening to.