GOING FOR THE ONE

I bought this album in 1977 for several reasons : 1. Yes was one my top three favorite prog band at the time (together with Genesis and the Floyd). 2. Three long years had passed since their last release "Relayer". So, I was quite hungry for a new YesAlbum. 3. I was going to see them live for the very first time in November, 1977 (in Antwerp, Belgium). This was quite an adventure : first getting downtown Brussels with a tram (I was living in the subburbs of the town), then a special bus to the "Sportpaleis" then a fabulous YesConcert. Then back again to Brussels which we reached 'round one A.M. What a great experience !

The tracklist of the "Going For The One Tour" was the following : 1. Firebird Suite 2. Parallels 3. I've Seen All Good People 4. Close To The Edge 4. Wonderous Stories 5. Colours Of The Rainbow/Turn Of The Century 6. Tour Song 7. And You And I 8. Going For The One 9. Flight Jam/Awaken 10. Roundabout 11. Yours Is No Disgrace

As you can see, this tour was pretty good.

At that time, I loved this album an awful lot. Not a single weak track. This is one of the most accessible YesAlbum so far. Full of wonderful melodious passages and great musicianship of course. It is very difficult for me to highlight one song from another in this wonderful album. The most rocking one is the title track. The most emotional one is "Turn Of The century" : wonderful Jon vocals and great accoustic guitar from Steve to close the track. "Parallel" i s another f......g great song : great rocking tempo, fabulous guitar, strong vocals of course (but, hell, when did we get weak vocals in a YesSong ?). This first side is really a damned good prog one.

Side two opens with "Wonderful Stories", which is a very candid and naïve song. Very melodious as well. I like it a lot. Then, "Awaken". A glorious YesTrack. Complex as usual. Melodious as well. Intricated as Crimson could be. It is a gigantic number for YesLovers. It will also be their last epic for a very, very long time : we will have to wait 1996 and the studio part of "Keys To Ascension I" to get another one ("That, That Is Togetherness Crossfire").

One only needs to be awaken to listen to this track. One of the YesClassics in their live sets. Just fabulous. One must admit that in those days, prog music was not at his best (punk and new wave were surging). This album being a marvelous exception.

The remastered version contains some unreleased tracks like : "Montreux's Theme" and "Vevey" : short, average instrumental pieces, (I guess they had a special financial love for the Leman lake, since both Vevey and Montreux are situated on the border of this "Geneva Lake" - Huum, this reminds me some Purple song, but which one) ? "Amazing Grace" is just a filler. The other tracks are rehearsals for : "Going For One", "Parallels" and "Turn Of The Century" : the last two are really worth for the secret side of these songs (the B- version of "Parallel" being superior to the final version, IMO). The early version for what will become "Awaken" is also recorded on the remastered CD. The first chosen title for this one was : "Eastern Number" and was just over 12 minutes. It is of course a good prog moment, but it was still far from the final version and only interesting for YesCompletionists (whom I am).

This album was an absolute masterpiece and since it is the most accessible one of their grand era, I would recommend it as an entry for new YesCurious. So, no wonder, I rate it five stars. At the time of release, no one could imagine of course that this was the very last masterpiece. But that is another YesStory.