July 15, 1977 - Going For The One

8 days since my last release and over two and a half years since their last album "Relayer", Yes finally released their eighth album "Going For The One" on July 15, 1977. Yes took an extended break so each member could record a solo album and reconvened in 1976 to start work on their next album. Early during recording, keyboardist Patrick Moraz (who played excellent on their last album "Relayer") was fired from the band. The other members didn't think he was really into it and let him go. I'm a little sad to see him go, but the blow is softened by his replacement, their old keyboardist Rick Wakeman! Wakeman rejoins the band in a move I certainly applaud as he felt everyone had matured since their tensions about "Topographic". Yes also decided to shift their focus away from longer, progressive songs and wrote simpler, more listenable music. This choice I am unsure of, but having Wakeman back is awesome. Let's see what this new/old Yes sounds like!

The title track "Going For The One" starts it off as we hear an almost Zeppelin-like guitar that leads the riff. Jon Anderson's voice sounds as high as usual but it's a different feel musically for sure though. It's a solid riff still, just not what I would think of as a Yes riff. Chris Squire plays some nice bass and we hear Wakeman's keyboards in the background but it's Steve Howe's guitar that leads the way and sounds good doing it. He gets a chance to solo as well, but it's nothing special as Wakeman spices up the end of the solo with some cool keyboards. Afterwards they continue to jam out the main riff for several more minutes: Anderson keeps singing along and Howe and Wakeman take turns showing off a little bit, but it gets pretty stale by the end I think. It was a cool song but I felt it just kept going on and on and there wasn't enough greatness to elevate it out of the main riff. Track 2 is "Turn Of The Century" and some slow epic guitar by Howe starts it off as Anderson sings lightly along. Wakeman plays some epic backing synths and Squire joins in on bass but it's the Howe/Anderson show for most of this song. Anderson has an epic voice all the time, but it seems almost too grand for this soft, almost sad guitar playing. After nearly four minutes of sappiness, Wakeman plays a nice piano solo that sounds pretty good. I find this much better than the first half of the song as he weaves slow and fast keyboards together nicely. They return to the verse again but Howe plays some much better guitar this time around as he speeds things up a bit. Things slow down for the end as Howe returns to the epic opening guitar riff and plays out the song by himself as he started it. This eight minute song was a little too slow for the most part for me and I think if you're gonna write an eight minute song, Yes have shown they can do much better than this. The side is ending already with "Parallels" as Wakeman kicks it off with some epic organ and Squire and Howe are both playing some cool stuff as well while Alan White continues to play some rather simple drums. Squire carries the beat with some solid bass while Howe and Wakeman both play their own stuff overtop. Despite being two distinct riffs they mix together pretty well and this is more like it I think! The organ sounds very forceful and Howe delivers a pretty sweet guitar solo! Anderson sings a short bridge and then it's Wakeman's turn to solo. He does a pretty good job as well before they return for the verse. We hear lots of layered vocals in typical Yes fashion and Howe plays another cool guitar solo to finish it off. This was easily the best song on this side, which is a little disappointing honestly.

The second side starts with the first single off the album, "Wonderous Stories" and has Howe playing another soft guitar riff as Anderson lightly sings along. Wakeman adds some interesting keyboards to the mix that sound pretty epic but it's another example of a more laid-back Yes that don't seem interested in blowing my mind anymore. It's not a bad song by any means, but it's severely lacking on awesomeness, which these guys were brimming with as recently as their last album. Howe plays some better guitar towards the end of the song and I can see why this made it as a single but it always irks me when a band becomes more focused on adding new fans than pleasing the fans that have stood by them through the years. The album finishes with "Awaken" which is over 15 minutes long, their only real progressive song on this record. Wakeman kicks it off with a nice piano solo that sounds great before he switches to some drone-y epic synths. Anderson sings overtop this dreamy riff pretty well and once Howe, Squire and White join in we have a pretty cool main riff with great contributions from everyone. Howe breaks off from the pack and plays a pretty damn good guitar solo! He's really shredding it in this part and this sounds so much better than the soft, pop-y stuff on the rest of this record! Wakeman plays some cool keyboards as well and after another verse it's his turn in the spotlight. He plays some sweet stuff as well and they move into a different verse that also sounds good. Even the main backing riff is just so much more involved on this track than the slower stuff from earlier. Around the 6:30 mark things get very quiet as White plays some chimes and Wakeman plays some cool, interesting keyboards. It sounds like there might be some Mellotron as well as organ and synthesizer as he mixes the keyboards together very nicely in this trippy interlude. The church organ sounds pretty epic as Wakeman plays lots of grand stuff. Howe plays a nice little solo overtop of the organ and things move nicely into a new Anderson-led verse. His singing fits the epic mood very well and Howe continues the great guitar. Wakeman goes off for an awesome organ flourish, then it's Howe's turn again to rip off some nice guitar. This awesome bit finally comes to an end as things quiet down once again. They return to the epic backing synths as Anderson sings nicely overtop for the last couple minutes to close out this grand epic. I thought it was easily the best song on the album as Yes are at their best when they're doing lengthy progressive rock.

That is the end of "Going For The One" and overall I thought it was a decent, but not great album. "Awaken" contained the best parts of Yes and "Parallels" was also pretty good but the other three songs are quite tame and don't showcase the talents that these guys have. It's still a worthy addition to the library, but how does it compare to their previous albums? I had previously thought their worst album was "Tales From Topographic Oceans" but I think that even with all of it's excess it still embodies the prog-rock genre with its 4 lengthy songs. I found this new offering to be a little disappointing and it occupies the bottom rung on my ladder of Yes albums. This would be the beginning of a bad turn (in my opinion) by Yes away from the music that made them so amazing, which is very sad to hear. There's something in the air in the late '70s that makes great bands try to be more mainstream and Yes have fallen victim as well...