GOING FOR THE ONE

Without a doubt the last good album of Yes' classic library, featuring one or two outstanding moments and songs but in general lacking in almost every quality which made their previous work so amazing.

The first thing to acknowledge is the modern, approachable sound these songs have-- they are not nearly as complex or challenging as what's come before... musically or lyrically. The opener is a treble-filled exercise in classic-rock masochism featuring the non-stop chaos of Howe's slide guitar and very shrill, repetitive singing from Anderson-- not to mention the return of Wakeman's cartoonish keyboards (boo!).

This attempt at a grand, powerful start utterly fails, but is redeemed by the classy performance of the aforementioned offenders in the beautifully articulated ballad, Turn of the Century, which in my opinion is one of the band's best soft songs. Parallels is merely OK, sabotaged by the church organ, and Wondrous Stories is inexcusably silly.

Fortunately the mediocrity of the early album is almost forgotten about when Awaken gets going... the final Yes epic. Well composed and passionately performed, this one makes it into the band's highlight reel; it's almost worth the price of the album alone. Howe's soloing shines, as do Anderson's pure vocals, which pass through the song's many dynamic changes beautifully.

Recommended for Yes fans, but certainly among the final purchases of their classic library.

Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 3 Style/Emotion/Replay: 2