GOING FOR THE ONE

What can you do after the magical trio of albums Close to the Edge, Tales from Topograhic Oceans and Relayer? Funny, that often the Anderson-Howe- Squire-Wakeman-White quintet is refered as the definitive line up of Yes, but the studio albums released of this line up have a mixed reception especially Tales, but Going for the One is not a winner for all pro fans either. Well, for me it is! With Rick Wakeman back in their line up Yes decided to release a more accesible album, with relatively shorter songs. Its closest relative is Fragile, without the very short solo pieces. Going for the One most of the time does not go further in the experimental, jazzier direction of Relayer, we have here 39 minutes of classic Symphonic Prog. None of the 5 songs dissapoint, the whole album has a very fresh and positive atmoshere. A secial paragraph deserved by the breathtaking beauty of Turn of the Century, with great acoustic guitar work by Steve Howe. But the absolute highlight is the closing Awaken, this shows that Yes while kind of returned to their roots did not quit sounding adventurous. The opening piano playing by Rick Wakeman is fantastic, and so is steve Howe's gutar solo.You don't hear harp too often on classic prog albums, and especially you don't here too often a church organ playing like this on a so-called rock album.