GOING FOR THE ONE

Going For The One marked the return of Rick Wakeman to Yes and a mixture of the prog- rock and pop that prevailed on albums like Fragile. There was a different mindset at work here since the previous release Relayer. The open-ended fusion of pop meets prog-rock was the direction they decided to travel along with a totally out of character album cover. It seemed to mark the modernized sound and image of the band.

While the album originally had only five tracks, this release sports six bonus tracks. The run times were typical of Yes compositions regardless of what direction the music was taking. "Wonderous Stories" was a top-ten hit and "Awaken" came in at a stunning 15:38 making it another classic Yes tour de force.

The bonus tracks are a different matter entirely. I was very disappointed in them. With the exception of "Eastern Numbers (Early Version of 'Awaken')," they certainly all fit the bill of rehearsals and I suppose that needs to be taken into account. The three previous remastered albums offered superlative previously unissued cuts and a wide variety of the studio run through tracks, which spoiled me. Well I guess you cannot have your cake and eat it to all the time. Nevertheless, this is yet another remastered Yes classic worth adding to your collection. After all, what album was not?