| Going for the One | ||||
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| Studio album by Yes | ||||
| Released | 22 July 1977 | |||
| Recorded | Late 1976–Spring 1977 at Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 38:49 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Yes | |||
| Yes chronology | ||||
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Going for the One is the eighth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released in 1977 on Atlantic Records. It was produced after an extended break for solo activity from the group, and marks the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had departed in 1974 after the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour. His return was facilitated by the departure of Patrick Moraz, after having only played on Relayer, although Moraz is thanked in the credits.
Allmusic's Ross Boissoneau has described this album as "perhaps the most overlooked item in the Yes catalog".[1] Jon Anderson has said of the song "Awaken". "We had a hit record! I loved listening to 'Awaken', at last we had created a Masterwork"[2] and has indicated in some interviews that he considers it to be Yes's most complete composition.[3]
This album is a return to shorter, catchier songs after the symphonic poem-like leanings of Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer.
Contents |
After their extended break, the band regrouped in Switzerland in late 1976. The album was recorded at Mountain Studios by recording engineers John Timperley and David Richards. 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 using the new polyphonic synthesizer out from Moog at the time - the Polymoog (largely forsaking Mellotron and RMI Electra Piano) - and using church pipe organ on "Parallels" and the extended track, "Awaken" (forsaking the Hammond organ that was a major part of both Yes's and Wakeman's sound).
A bootleg video of the Going for the One sessions exists and has surfaced on websites such as www.dimeadozen.org, Demonoid and YouTube. Clips from this video appeared on the 1991 rockumentary YesYears. The video features jams and rehearsals of songs from the album. It also shows Steve Howe and Chris Squire covering the Bob Dylan song "Positively 4th Street".
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. Going for the One (Atlantic K 50379) reached #1 in the UK[4], remaining for 21 weeks in the Top 40, and #8 on the US Billboard Top 200 (Atlantic SD 19106) during a chart stay of 21 weeks.
After many successive album covers with Roger Dean, Yes (who also produced the album entirely by themselves) instead commissioned Hipgnosis (known for designing album covers for Pink Floyd) to create the artwork for Going for the One. However, Dean's Yes logo was retained. The album cover features the Century Plaza Towers in Los Angeles, also known locally as the Twin Towers.
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | link |
| Robert Christgau | (C) link |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.5/10) link |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable) link |
Going for the One was remastered and reissued by Rhino in 2003 with several bonus tracks:
1988 - Atlantic - CD
1994 - Atlantic - CD (Remastered)
2003 - Rhino - CD (Remastered with Bonus Tracks)
| Preceded by The Johnny Mathis Collection by Johnny Mathis |
UK Albums Chart number one album 13 August 1977 - 20 August 1977 |
Succeeded by 20 All Time Greats by Connie Francis |
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