Review Yes- Going For the One- (1977) *** 1/2

album review

Catfish

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Classic Rock Album of the Day- Yes- Going For the One- (1977) *** 1/2

Now an utter rarity.... A Yes LP not garnishing 5 stars. Don't get me wrong, there are parts of this album that are magnificent, but any time the band allows Jon Anderson wrestle main songwriting duties away from the masters, the product just doesn't hit the mark. I know some other Yes audiophiles might have a different take, but I find Anderson's foray into balladry a sad waste of opportunity. If that ruffles a few feathers, so be it. And also Understand that Yes for decades has been in my top 5 list of bands. But, they aren't perfect either.

By 1977, Yes had had an almost a 3 year hiatus, which in the terms of 1970's Rock and Roll was an almost eternity. Back in those days the expectation was at least one annually. And from the perspective, this is one of the weaker efforts from the band, and again after their solo efforts. Was it the absence of playing together? Were they rusty? Even with the weakness, the one reason I wanted to cover this one today, is that the two better cuts are so amazingly and dis-similarily good. The entire album has some of the best musicianship in their career. But that level of wizardry doesn't always translate to great listenable music. A good example I like to use is ELP's Tarkus. In composition, and delivery, they reached excellence never ever seen. But when a band decides to make difficult music without thinking about their listeners? Even the most hard core prog fans can look the other way. I am not totally saying Yes turned their back on the fans, but I think that one un named member's froth efforts were over represented, and it wasn't even his best work. Please do not think that I dislike Anderson. His vocals are essential and integral to the band's sound. Please just take the pen and paper away from him.

Maybe the most endearing and enjoyable aspect of this LP is never ever did the trio of Squire-Wakeman-Howe ever jam so well in sync, at least in the two best songs. OTOH, I feel that Anderson's touch was just a little too evident in the songwriting aspects. Anderson has made great music, but when he singularly focuses on the airy, light balladry? Some Yes fans dig this stuff, but when Jon basically wrestles 60% of artistic control of the album in this mode? That is why I thought that is album is decent, but isn't a classic like about 7 or 8 others that the band made. And one last point that I would like to highlight , is this might be the most prevalent that Wakeman used a large church organ on a Yes LP. On numerous occasions I have mentioned that I think the most beautiful and impressive musical instrument and sound on earth is a Huge Church Organ playing at 100 dB in a Major Chord. And that is so loud that it rattles not only the rafters, but your sternum, and almost every other bone in your body. Those sounds give me chills. Wakeman delivers the goods big time in the 2 epic songs, and in my book are highly overlooked in the annals of Yes Prog Lore. Wish Emerson had dedicated more of ELP's work to this device.

A lot of fans consider this to be the start of the band's dark period. This LP, and subsequent Tormato and Drama definitely gave the band a feeling it was in a slump. I don't consider this a bad LP by any stretch of the imagination, but when sometimes I wonder if the band was just becoming a tad bored, and maybe just meeting record production obligations. Not musicianship quality as it applies to the craft, but the song writing had just a few moments, and not the continuous classics that you expected. I always believed it took the new blood of Trevor Rabin to reinvigorate Yes into their massively creative self again. And by 1983, this band was back with a vengeance, and sealed their legendary status for history.

Fun Fact: Purely anecdotal, but if I can from memory, I remember reading that there was some animosity by "Going For the One" around the level of success each member got during the hiatus for solo projects. Did this impact the product quality? Who knows.

Side 1-
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Going For the One- Talk about a weak title track. Trying to explain what the band was trying to accomplish is difficult. Howe's slide guitar runs just don't give the band a good feel on what I believe was their attempt to do Mainstream, but give an edgy feel. Props to Squire though for (as usual) some great bass work. His work saves the song. Song itself and summation is pointless, and and ill conceived. 3


Turn of the Century- This is Anderson at his irritating balladish worst. I understand his persona, but I just hate it when he channels his inner Barry Manilow. Howe does do some nice Spanish guitar type work. But I just can't get past sappy Yes. Well just as long is there are some prog classics canceling it out. The symphonic like instrumentals at the end are somewhat helpful in saving it. 5

Parallels- First of the two classics. Wakeman starts his church organ like a sledge hammer, and the song continuously has incredibly complex, beautiful, and mindbogglingly innovative instrumental interplay between Wakeman-Squire-Howe. How they are able to run 3 vocal, simultaneously with 3 specific different instrumental melodic patterns is an incredible musical accomplishment. The chaos created is beyond comprehension in its level of complexity. But the chaos is so beyond normal creativity..... Incredible. 2

Side 2-
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Wonderous Stories- (See Turn of the Century) 4

Awaken- One of the most amazing works by the band, and often highly overlooked given the other weaknesses on the LP. This in its entirety, is the essence of a classic rock symphony. Every member is equally contributing into what feels feels is a neo-classical work that is just as complex, beautiful, and moving as much anything made by most of the 18th or 19th century classical masters. The song moves, ebbs, and flows, into movements capturing a musical lesson for all. They move keys and time signatures around like a 500 piece puzzle, with incredible ease and flair. How the song so calibratingly builds upon itself is an exercise of composership that is rare. Wakeman's organ work here is some of the best of his career. Close your eyes and let the song take you on a journey. If you are a Yes fan, and this one isn't on your play list? Hmmmm...... 1


 

dr wu

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3.5 stars for me also....though it garnered 4.06 stars on Prog Archives.
AWaken is a very good track and the best on the lp imho and is one of Wakeman's favorites by Yes.
Even so I rarely play this one because I find the other tracks dull.
 

Catfish

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@dr wu

I was fascinated on how turbulent this era was within Yes' history. I understand that Howe has a temperamental streak, and was taken pretty aback that his solo album got the worst reviews of what the band put out there circa '75.

When you notice that he didn't have any lead writing credit for any of the cuts, you kind of get the idea that his heart might not have been in it 100%. He did have some great work in it,,,, granted.
 

dr wu

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@dr wu

I was fascinated on how turbulent this era was within Yes' history. I understand that Howe has a temperamental streak, and was taken pretty aback that his solo album got the worst reviews of what the band put out there circa '75.

When you notice that he didn't have any lead writing credit for any of the cuts, you kind of get the idea that his heart might not have been in it 100%. He did have some great work in it,,,, granted.
He isnt credited for any of the classic Yes tracks from the lps he's on but he did say that AWaken was his favorite thing he did keyboards on on those early lps.
 

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