GOING FOR THE ONE

This is the ONE... For whatever reason, this album has, and continues to so enrapture me... Your actual mileage may vary, Not for use with all Hot Wheels sets, children, please get your parents' permission before calling'... From the opening count in and cadence of Steve's pedal steel guitar opening on the title track to the almost ambient ending of "Awaken", this album blew my mind and heart straight to the weeds... This album hit me like a freight train smashing through a feather pillow at 100 miles per hour... I get tounge-tied when trying to talk about this album. There are albums that are great in and of themselves, and then, there are songs and albums that are awesome due to the memories associated with them. For me, "Going For The One" has all the elements of both... After the not so successful endeavor that was "Tales From Topographic Oceans" (Which incidentally, turned out that I was the one person that actually loved and was seriously influenced by), to the overly bombastic, maybe overly pretentious "Relayer" (Which I also desperately love), came this absolutely gorgeous, wonderful, ecstatically BEAUTIFUL album. I will TRY to do a reasonable song by song review... Going For The One: From the opening count in, where you can almost hear the anticipatory joy in Jon's voice, comes Steve with a most unexpected figure on the pedal steel, which just grows into this freakin', joyful MONSTER of celebration! Silly? Yes. Pretentious? Yes. Overblown schlockiness? YES!!! Okay, I'll grant you all of that... But it remains such supremely awesome, joyful FUN!!! This is, after all, YES; Jon writes "Tone Poems", it is not necessarily supposed to make sense!!! Chris Squire's background vocals are just so engaging and perfect in this song... I just cannot help but feel hopeful, enthused and connected with life after hearing this song...

Turn of the Century: NOTHING other than the falsely attributed "Adagio for Organ and Strings" by Tomaso Albinoni, has EVER hit me like this song did in 1977... Still, to this day, this song puts such a frog in my throat. The story is an overly-romanticized tale of a love that can make the inanimate come to life... Exceedingly silly perhaps, but overwhelmingly GORGEOUS. Every last note of this song hits me like a mule kick to the forehead... Hearing (and learning how to play) this song was such a defining event in my life... For me; it was an eargasm and a half... Yes, Steve's runs up and down major scales may be overly simplistic; but it still remains SO moving and effective... And here again, Chris Squire's background vocals, Rick's keyboards, and the understated (but critical in importance) percussion of Alan White are just so incredibly effective in propelling this song into the stratosphere of greatness (in my opinion, at least). This remains to this day my favorite song of all time. Okay, I'll admit, there are technically better, more complicated, more demanding, more sophisticated pieces of music; but this song really touched my heart, and it remains as such an overwhelming influence on my playing... Parallels: A really great vehicle to showcase the playing and burgeoning compositional skills of Chris Squire. Not the greatest song of all times, but a thoroughly enjoyable rockin' romp!!! Wonderous Stories: Don't even start with me on how "awful, vapid, inane, insipid" and "bad" this song is. Because, you're absolutely, entirely WRONG. If you think this sucks, then you have entirely missed the point of this delicate, spiritual showcase. This is a wonderful ode of the human spirit longing for the touch of God in one's life. Sweet, somewhat melancholy, and yet imminently hopeful, but not to the point of being sappy. Certainly this is not "Close to the Edge", but it remains a plaintive, honest call of the longing of the human heart to find (and connect with) something beyond (and larger than) oneself. Awaken: YeeGolly, where do I begin?!?!?!? From the opening figures of Rick's playing all the way through this song... What an adventure... THIS (like King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King") is in my opinion, EXACTLY what progressive is all about: Adventurous, groundbreaking, fulfilling... And yet, it leaves you wanting MORE!!! This song is like a comfortable reclining chair to me... I am harboring no illusions; I know that my words could never convey to you the love that I have for this album. My hope is that perhaps through my words, you will be convinced to take the time to check this album out for yourself and maybe just allow yourself the opportunity to fall in love with it like I have... SWorry about the hideous formatting, but this my second review ever...