GOING FOR THE ONE

I saw Steve Howe at a small club in the early/mid 90s doing a solo gig. Just him on a stool with his guitars, no band. After sitting through a few painful Asia numbers delivered with Steve's less than ideal vocal skills (that's being generous), he strummed the first gorgeous moment of "Turn of the Century" and the small crowd just went NUTS. He proceeded to play the whole thing by himself with great care and it was very moving, even with the painful vocals.

I relay that story because "Turn of the Century" is really the highlight of GFTO for me. A lush and beautiful song that is right up there with Yes' very best work, definitely a 5-star track. Unfortunately the rest of GFTO doesn't hold up as well for me although like most Yes albums from the classic era they come with high nostalgia value for me. While I normally like Anderson's voice I just find it strained and grating on the title track as well as on "Parallels", both tracks which find Yes sounding musically lost. "Wondrous Stories" is a rare Yes throwaway albeit a pleasant one.

The other epic track on this album is the 15 minute "Awaken" which features a very nice Wakeman opening and typically high-minded Anderson lyrics. This is a piece that has a bit of the Relayer feel to me musically, the same aggressive drive and mood. This piece almost sounds like it was written in the Topographic/Relayer era.

So with "Turn" and "Awaken" we have one half of a great Yes album. Too bad they couldn't have taken those two tracks along the best ones from Tormato to create another classic. But even as it is GFTO is essential for Yes fans and mildly recommended for all fans of 70s progressive, although it is clearly less important than their previous works. Unfortunately on this album and the next Tormato, they chose to trade Roger Dean's fabulous album covers for two of decidedly lower quality. 3.5 stars. Quite good but no masterpiece.

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