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**Yes - Going For The One**
★★★★☆

By 1977, Yes were teetering on the precipice of their own grandiose ambitions. The prog titans had spent the early-to-mid seventies constructing increasingly elaborate musical cathedrals – *Close to the Edge*, *Tales from Topographic Oceans*, *Relayer* – each more architecturally complex than the last. But like many of their progressive contemporaries, they found themselves facing a changing musical landscape where punk's three-chord manifestos were making twenty-minute epics seem positively antediluvian.

The return of Rick Wakeman to the fold, replacing the departing Patrick Moraz, signaled both a homecoming and a subtle course correction. Wakeman's ivory-tickling theatrics had been sorely missed during the *Relayer* period, and his reintegration with the classic Yes lineup of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White promised a return to the band's imperial phase form. Yet *Going For The One* reveals a group caught between worlds – still capable of cosmic flights of fancy, but increasingly aware that the prog party might be winding down.

The album opens with "Going For The One," a surprisingly direct rocker that finds Yes flirting with something approaching conventional song structure. Anderson's ethereal vocals soar over Howe's muscular guitar work, while Wakeman's keyboards provide colorful flourishes rather than dominating the proceedings. It's Yes streamlined, though hardly dumbed down – a tactical retreat that feels more like strategic repositioning than artistic compromise.

But old habits die hard, and "Turn of the Century" quickly reminds listeners that this is still very much a Yes album. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes, it's a gorgeous pastoral meditation that showcases the band's softer side. Anderson's lyrics paint impressionistic landscapes while Howe's acoustic guitar work demonstrates why he remains one of prog's most underrated six-string poets. The song builds with characteristic Yes patience, allowing each musical idea to breathe and develop organically.

The album's centerpiece, "Parallels," splits the difference between accessibility and complexity. Its infectious groove and memorable chorus make it perhaps the most radio-friendly track Yes had recorded since "Roundabout," yet the song's structure remains satisfyingly intricate. Wakeman's synthesizer work here is particularly inspired, weaving melodic lines that complement rather than compete with Howe's guitar heroics.

Then comes "Wonderous Stories," and suddenly Yes sound like they're auditioning for *Top of the Pops*. At just over three minutes, it's practically a haiku by Yes standards, built around a simple but effective acoustic guitar figure and Anderson's most earthbound vocal performance in years. Some purists cried foul, but the song's gentle charm and surprising commercial success (it reached number 7 in the UK) proved that Yes could scale down without selling out.

The album closes with "Awaken," a fifteen-minute opus that serves as both vindication and valediction for the classic Yes approach. Here, all pretense of radio-friendliness evaporates as the band constructs one of their most ambitious and successful extended pieces. The song unfolds like a musical novel, complete with distinct chapters, recurring themes, and a climactic resolution featuring church organ and orchestral arrangements. It's Yes firing on all cylinders, reminding critics and fans alike why they'd become progressive rock's most successful practitioners.

Sonically, *Going For The One* benefits from crisp production that gives each instrument room to breathe while maintaining the band's signature wall-of-sound approach. The album feels less cluttered than some of their earlier epics, with arrangements that serve the songs rather than showcasing individual virtuosity for its own sake.

In the context of Yes's catalog, *Going For The One* represents both a creative peak and a cultural watershed. It would be the last album to feature the classic lineup firing on all cylinders before the seismic shifts of the eighties fractured the band's unity. The subsequent *Tormato* felt like a creative hangover, while the decade ahead would bring lineup changes, stylistic experiments, and varying degrees of commercial and artistic success.

Today, *Going For The One* stands as perhaps Yes's most balanced achievement – ambitious enough to satisfy longtime devotees, accessible enough to welcome newcomers, and crafted with sufficient skill to transcend the often-dismissive prog backlash that followed. It's the sound of masters working at the height of their powers,