GOING FOR THE ONE

After some daring albums, Yes returned to simplicity with Going for the One. It reminds me of Fragile with a good deal of songs to listen to but not giving up song-writing or musicianship. Rick Wakeman is back on keyboards since TFTO and he does make a considerable impact. The album starts with a great title track and may not be full on prog, it is a great song to listen to and does start the album off in a powerful way and is one of my favorites off this album. Next is Turn of the Century which does slow the album down and showcases Jon in his best way, a soft song. It has a great atmosphere with Steve's acoustic, Rick's keyboards, Chris's bass and small percussion from Alan. Next song is Parallels which start with Rick on Pipe organ which kicks off the band into a excellent jam. Jon then kicks in the vocals and drowns out the organ for a spectacular performance. Wonderous Stories is next which is a nice soft single. It was pretty successful for the time and is a good track but does feel a little thrown in for mar-key value. Finally we have Awaken, Best Yes Epic since Close to the Edge. It always puts a smile on my face and transports me to a great place and really is fantastic and is worth getting the whole album. Overall, a great album that was the last "excellent" Yes album, at least for a while. 4 stars. Highlights: Going for the One, Parallels, and Awaken.