GOING FOR THE ONE

Already Yes's 8th studio effort, Going For The One was the last record in the row which is generally apreciated by it's fans. This is the edge of their progressive succes as Tomatoes became a commercial flop.

-Side 1- The title track makes use of heavy slide guitar, which creates an bluesrock sound. But Yes gave this bluesrock approach a progressive sauce and this worked out quiet nice: an energetic and original song: four stars.

The Turn of the Centuries - the second- song is qua sound the opposite of the opening track. The use of spanish guitar, piano and soft vocals makes this a song perfectly usefull for meditation. Uh, what am I talking about? A meditation song on a progressive record? Well I thought about this song as a bit too spacey, while never getting psychedelic. Not my favourite track: 2,75 stars.

Parallels opens with some nice organ-rock by Rick Wakeman. This was necessary after the somewhat boring Turn of the Centuries. Steve Howe shows his speed guitarpicking: not so functional but good anyway. The organs and vocals fit really good together. 3,5 stars for this song.

-Side 2- Wonderous Stories is a progressive ballad. This is in my opinion the weakest track of the record. Maybe because I never became fond of the vocals of Jon Anderson and the vocals seems to be the biggest element in this song. Two stars for this song. Luckely this song doesn't last too long.

Awaken is the last track and also the longest track. This song has some great guitar melodies, but also lot's of unfunctional guitarpieces. By unfunctional I mean that it's like picking just random notes and only showing your guitar techniques while not getting catchy melodies or creating great atmospheres. I guess this song's strength is also on the keyboardplaying of Rick Wakeman - sometimes combined by the vocals of Jon Anderson. 4 stars for this song. Some atmospheres created in this song are really gerat.

I also thought it was a disadvantage that the artwork changed from fantasy landscapes to a man looking at skycrapers. All with all this record is a 3 star record. This record will be appreciated by it's fans like me, but I will never advise people who never have heard Yes to start with this record.