GOING FOR THE ONE

Here are all of the members of Classic Yes together for the last great album they would make. The odd thing about GOING FOR THE ONE is that none but Yes could make it, and yet most, if not all of what they do here is absolutely new. It's the spacey heart that remains the same, not the sounds themselves. The entirety sounds completely different than the prior works of FRAGILE, CLOSE TO THE EDGE, and TALES. There is a quality of those that is missing. Perhaps a quality that is confined only to the early seventies. Gone are the hyper smooth grooves (in fact there is little "groove" here to speak of.), odd time signature break downs and songs that change their mood numerous times before reaching it's completion (Although there is a flute interlude in Awaken). Here they are all playing more streamlined music. All of their prior components seamlessly blended in smoothly for the entirety of the album. When in the past a musical rythem would have been too odd to house a vocal line, Anderson has found a way to sing over it, so everyone seems to be gratified simultaneusly. His vocals here never go as low as they did in the past, instead they constantly soar and he plays less of the role of a singer and more the roll of a full blown choir, which is also present on the album.Wakeman is tasteful and wonderful. Howe plays with a passion that wouldn't be seen again until perhaps Drama, a must worse album. Alan White is amazing here as always but plays with even more epic drama than normal. Crashes and bangs are all the more heard than Rim Shots and muted bass kicks. Squire here is probably the only one to play as he normally does which probably grounds the rest of them in somthing still resembling the the past. This album is amazing and beautiful. There is no comparsion to it which is typical of this band, but the odd thing about this one is that it's hardly even comperable to the other works they have made. But in a very good way....unlike what was on the horizon in the 80's.