GOING FOR THE ONE

Going For The One is an album that gets better as it goes on. The song "Going For The One" starts off with a sound that is rather unique among all the Yes songs: some Southern rock licks that cue a "What the hell is this?" type remark. Although that is the sound that catches the listener off guard, the band should have stuck with it because the rest of the song is rather pointless. The next track, "Turn Of The Century", has some pretty sections in it, but just feels like it's meandering around. "Parallels" is a stronger tune, still nothing to write home about, but it has better structure and melodies. There are some fun keyboard licks that will keep one's attention better than anything in the earlier tracks. "Wonderous Stories" is just as good. It's a relaxing song that showcases Anderson's vocal talent brilliantly. Still nothing great by Yes standards yet.

So after listening to those four songs, ranging from one star to three star quality, the listener is left with a fifteen-minute song that is either going to make or break the album. And to no one's surprise, I would think, it makes it. "Awaken" has such beautiful and climactic sections in it with the appropriate passages to build up to them. Clearly the best song on the album, it has a unique and strong structure united with layers of strong performances, especially by Wakeman, that makes the song epic. "Awaken" is a must hear song for all progressive rock fans, but sadly Going For The One is an album that just sounds like Yes put it together because they felt they needed to.