Going for the One

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Going for the One
Going for the One cover
Studio album by Yes
Released July 22, 1977
Recorded Late 1976 - Spring 1977
Mountain Studios
Montreux, Switzerland
Genre Progressive rock
Length 38:49
Label Atlantic Records
Producer(s) Yes
Professional reviews
Yes chronology
Yesterdays
(1975)
Going for the One
(1977)
Tormato
(1978)


Going for the One is the eighth studio album by British progressive rock band Yes. It was released in 1977 after an extended break for solo activity, and is especially notable for marking the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had departed in 1974 in the aftermath of the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour. His re-entry was facilitated by the departure of Patrick Moraz, after having only played on Relayer, although Moraz is thanked in the credits.

After their extended break, the band regrouped in Switzerland, refreshed and ready to record in late 1976. After constructing epic tracks for the last few years, Yes felt inspired to scale things back a bit and recorded some of their most direct and concise material since Fragile. Wakeman also varied his sound by largely forsaking his mellotron and experimenting with church organ to pleasing effect on "Parallels" and the sole extended track, "Awaken".

After many successive album covers with Roger Dean, Yes (who also produced the album entirely by themselves) commissioned Hipgnosis to create the artwork for Going for the One instead.

Yes's return at the height of the punk movement was an unexpectedly successful one, with Going for the One reaching the pinnacle of the UK charts and even having a Top 10 hit single with "Wonderous Stories" - something that would have been considered impossible during the days of Tales from Topographic Oceans. The album was another U.S. Top 10 charting album for the band reaching #8 on the Billboard album chart in 1977.

With its confident and natural qualities, Going for the One is still generally regarded by most critics as one of Yes's finest, and many times, most underrated albums. In addition, the song "Awaken" is considered by many fans to be Yes' finest work, and Jon Anderson has said "We had a hit record! I loved listening to 'Awaken', at last we had created a Masterwork" 1 and has indicated in some interviews that he considers it to be Yes' most complete composition. 2

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Going for the One" (Jon Anderson) – 5:32
  2. "Turn of the Century" (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Alan White) – 7:56
  3. "Parallels" (Chris Squire) – 5:53
  4. "Wondrous Stories" (Jon Anderson) – 3:49
  5. "Awaken" (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe) – 15:31

Going for the One (Atlantic K 50379) reached #1 in the UK. It also reached #8 in the US during a chart stay of 21 weeks.

Going for the One was remastered and reissued by Rhino in 2003 with several bonus tracks:

  • "Montreux's Theme" (Steve Howe/Chris Squire/Jon Anderson/Alan White) – 2:38
  • "Vevey (Revisited)" (Jon Anderson/Rick Wakeman) – 4:46
  • "Amazing Grace" (Trad. Arr. Chris Squire) – 2:36
  • "Going for the One" (Rehearsal) (Jon Anderson) – 5:10
  • "Parallels" (Rehearsal) (Chris Squire) – 6:21
  • "Turn of the Century" (Rehearsal) (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Alan White) – 6:58
  • "Eastern Number" (Early version of "Awaken") (Jon Anderson/Steve Howe) – 12:16

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Reissues

1988 - Atlantic - CD
1994 - Atlantic - CD (Remastered)
2003 - Rhino - CD (Remastered with Bonus Tracks)

[edit] Trivia

The song Wonderous Stories is used in a commercial for the Cadillac DTS 3.

[edit] Sources

  • Going for the One, CD booklet essay, Tim Jones, c.2003
  • AllMusicGuide.com
  • "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c.2002
Yes
Jon Anderson | Chris Squire | Steve Howe | Rick Wakeman | Alan White
Peter Banks | Tony Kaye | Bill Bruford | Patrick Moraz | Geoff Downes | Trevor Horn | Trevor Rabin | Billy Sherwood | Igor Khoroshev
Discography
Studio albums: Yes | Time and a Word | The Yes Album | Fragile | Close to the Edge | Tales from Topographic Oceans | Relayer | Going for the One | Tormato | Drama | 90125 | Big Generator | Union | Talk | Open Your Eyes | The Ladder | Magnification
Live albums: Yessongs | Yesshows | 9012Live: The Solos | Keys to Ascension | Keys to Ascension 2 | House of Yes: Live from House of Blues
Compilations: Yesterdays | Classic Yes | Yesstory | The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection
Remix albums: Yes Remixes
Video releases: Yes: Live - 1975 at Q.P.R.
Box sets: Yesyears | In a Word: Yes (1969 - ) | The Word is Live | Essentially Yes
Related Articles
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe