GOING FOR THE ONE

A fantastic return to form in an awful year for music in general (1977!). Yes brings back Rick Wakeman on the keyboards for a stunning outing that proves that the band still had it. Recorded in Switzerland I believe, the album can be seen as a sort of 'greatest hits' of Yes' best facets if you will. In other words, we have a guitar rocker, a weird classical rocker (with that church organ!), a couple of beautiful acoustic ballads and lastly, a spiritually-inspired epic - all in all, from the sound of things you would assume that this is quintessential Yes? You're right.

The album kicks off with the aforementioned guitar rocker and title tune, "Going for the One". Whilst almost a short song, clocking in at 5 and a half minutes, the guitar playing and drumming is so tight and the keyboards so tastefully done that it's the perfect opener. Jon Anderson proves that he is just as able to sing a hard rock song as he is of singing a softer mystical ballad. As I said before, Rick Wakeman's keyboards are 'tasteful'. The reason I say this is because some of his keyboard parts in the past have been ever-so-slightly trashy, but here he is suitably restrained, and manages to enhance the song as opposed to saturate it.

The next song is the beautiful ballad "Turn of the Century". This song is gorgeous - some really exquisite acoustic guitar playing and orchestral flourishes backing Jon Anderson's angelic vocals. His voice carries so much emotion, and he sings with such conviction that the song really invokes considerable feeling in the listener (in me at least). Rick Wakeman's piano solo in the middle is also in keeping with the rest of the song - majestic and flowing, it is in my opinion one of his best performances with Yes as once again he keeps it to a tasteful and not excessive level. Being just under 8 minutes long, it's quite long for a ballad, and even though it follows quite a conventional structure (by Yes standards) it will hold your attention for those 8 minutes.

Next, we have "Parallels" - a quirky kind of 'rocker' in a way, which makes great use of a church organ. Apparently this was a throwaway from Chris Squire's solo album, but I cannot understand why as it's simply brilliant. An accessible and fun song with huge classical influences. Certainly, the organ playing, while simple, is strong and vibrant and probably one of the two highlights of the song. The other highlight is Steve Howe's guitar: he switches from background filling-in to soloing with seemless fluidity. So much energy in the song, it really draws your attention and never lets go. Brilliant.

Next we have "Wondrous Stories", the other ballad on the album. I read somewhere that this song was a hit of sorts, and I can see why - it's fairly short (3:50), but is so beautifully sung and with great instrumental parts contributed by the whole band that it's certainly a winner. What really strikes me about the song is its layers - the vocals, the acoustic strumming, the keyboard parts, sudden flourishes of electric guitar... they're all there if one cares to look. It really fascinates me how a band such as Yes can cram so much sonic complexity into such a short song.

The album ends with their spiritually-inspired epic, "Awaken". Both Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson cite this as their favourite Yes piece and Rick Wakeman in particular mentions that he believes it to be the paradigimatic Yes piece. It begins with some truly excellent piano and some angelic Anderson vocals set against an ethereal background, but it won't last...as the song segues into a frantic cacophony of vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass and drums - the whole shebang. What follows is a fantastic Howe solo, and then a strange change of tempo - I must point out that Alan White's drumming here is so tight and refined that he really propels the song along with expert skill. About half way through, the song goes through a nice little "tinkly" phase (I hope I'm not getting too technical), where Rick Wakeman's keyboards get their place to REALLY shine. Electric and church organ, they're both here and so well placed. Jon Anderson's voice returns to guide us through towards the end of the piece, to have it end exactly the way it began - it even has a bit of harp. This piece is quintessential Yes, and any Yes (or Prog) fan who has not heard it is doing themselves a great injustice. I can gush and fawn until the end of time, but your own ears are your best judge.

To conclude, this album is an astonishing return to form - Rick Wakeman returns to the fold for one of his best outings with Yes. As I said before, the album more or less sums up what Yes was capable of achieving, and I genuinely recommend it as a masterpiece of progressive music.

P.S. Low points? Err...it doesn't have a Roger Dean cover ;)