GOING FOR THE ONE

Early in their career, Yes were progressing in terms of writing and arranging with each album, but starting with Tales From Topographic Oceans, they had started to experiment with textures and actual sound, and they hit a peak as far as sound goes with Going For the One, in my opinion, their best sounding album. In a way, I do miss the organic production of Fragile and Close to the Edge on this one, but overall, everything is clearer and more colorful, the synths of Rick Wakeman having gained more variety, and the organ and pianos are brighter. Alan White seems to have developed a more signature approach, and Steve Howe's solos are less harsh and more glowing and beautiful than they ever had been. Chris Squire's bass is just as virtuostic as ever, most notably on "Parallels", and sounds great with the ringing reverb that is applied to the whole band. Jon Anderson also seems to have gained some range with his voice, singing perhaps one of his highest notes in the excellently melodicized refrain for the song "Going For the One," a very original blend of late 70's pop/rock, prog playing, and the sort of modern psych-space production that must have been a big influence on neo-prog. (I really, really like that ending synth and guitar rise.) It's interesting how each of the songs, all having a style of their own, benefit from the then-new production. The beautiful acoustic-prog tale of "Turn of the Century" lights up with Steve Howe's echoey symphonic electric soloing, and the harmonies of "I'm sure we'll know" falling gently into Wakeman's warm synth pads and sparkly piano leads are a very nice and unique world to live in for a while. "Wonderous Stories" has some more great lead work from Howe, and "Awaken" has to be one of Yes' most unusual epics, with so many different styles and sonic landscapes that fit so well together, all culminating in one of their most majestic ending sections, it's no wonder Yes is considered to be one of the most sophisticaed symphonic prog bands out there.