GOING FOR THE ONE

Yes! I always look forward to listening to them and they always have such cool album covers. Wait a minute. There is a naked dude on here. Did I grab a Rush album by mistake? No, unfortunately this is what they intended. A bad sign perhaps? Maybe. The first song, which is the title track, gets things going with a bluesy guitar riff courtesy of Steve Howe. Unusual. Not Yes like at all. A decent rocker, but nothing really special. Perhaps it was a stab at more radio play? Things improve with "Turn of the Century" which starts with Steve Howe playing acoustic guitar. Jon Anderson sings nicely throughout this track. This song sounds more like the Yes I know. Rick Wakeman plays beautifully as well. This song has a really great atmosphere. "Parallels" begins with some very powerful organ playing courtesy of Rick Wakeman and some great bass playing from Chris Squire. This is another great Yes track. This song could easily have been on Fragile. Steve Howe is outstanding on this song too. Excellent all around effort from the band. "Wonderous Stories" is very melodic and gentle in the mode of "And You and I". Again, Rick Wakeman makes his presence felt with some very beautiful keyboard playing. Steve Howe plays some lovely acoustic guitar accompaniment and Jon Anderson sings quite passionately. This album is getting better and better with each song. The true standout is the 15 minute closer, "Awaken", which begins with Rick at the piano. Atmospheric keyboards begin to swirl as Jon starts to sing. The song then kicks into gear with some driving, melodic guitar riffs from Steve Howe. Around the 7:00 minute mark some nice chimes, flutes and recorders begin to play. Rick plays some ambient organ melody as well. This song is really uplifting. Sounding almost spiritual. The spiritual sensation is heightened when some angelic voices begin to sing in the background. My only complaint is that Chris Squire's bass is too buried in the mix. This entire album could use more of his presence. Perhaps a remix of the album is in order? Besides Chris Squire's bass, the only real issues for me are the first song and awful album cover (nothing Roger Dean couldn't fix). Many folks have stated that this is the last great Yes album and I'm inclined to agree. This album is also a bit of a "grower". I didn't like it instantly like I did Fragile or Close to the Edge, but it is an improvement over Relayer. An essential purchase for any proghead.