Going for the One is perhaps the most overlooked item in the Yes catalog.
It marked Rick Wakeman's return to the band after a three-year absence, and also a return to shorter song forms after the experimentalism of Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans, and Relayer.
In many ways, this disc could be seen as the follow-up to Fragile.
Its five tracks still retain mystical, abstract lyrical images, and the music is grand and melodic, the vocal harmonies perfectly balanced by the stinging guitar work of Steve Howe, Wakeman's keyboards, and the solid rhythms of Alan White and Chris Squire.
The title track features Howe on steel guitar (he's the only prog rocker who bothers with the instrument).
"Turn of the Century" and the album's single, "Wonderous Stories," are lovely ballads the way only Yes can do them.
"Parallels" is the album's big, pompous song, so well done that in later years the band opened concerts with it.
Wakeman's stately church organ, recorded at St.
Martin's Church, Vevey, Switzerland, sets the tone for this "Roundabout"-ish track.
The concluding "Awaken" is the album's nod to the extended suite.
Again, the lyrics are spacy in the extreme, but Jon Anderson and Squire are dead-on vocally, and the addition of Anderson's harp and White's tuned percussion round out this evocative track.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Going For the OneJon Anderson | Yes | Play | 05:36 | 12 MB | 40 MB |
| 2 | Turn of the CenturyJon Anderson, Steve Howe, Alan White | Yes | Play | 07:43 | 17 MB | 45 MB |
| 3 | ParallelsChris Squire | Yes | Play | 06:11 | 14 MB | 42 MB |
| 4 | Wonderous StoriesJon Anderson | Yes | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | AwakenJon Anderson, Steve Howe | Yes | Play | 15:35 | 35 MB | 98 MB |
| 38 mins | 89 MB | |||||
| 38 mins | 253 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Anderson | Composer, Harp, Vocals |
| 2 | Claude | Road Crew |
| 3 | Sean Davis | Cut |
| 4 | Roger Dean | Logo Design |
| 5 | Alex Grablewski | Photography |
| 6 | George Hardie | Graphics |
| 7 | Steve Hoffman | Mastering |
| 8 | Steve Howe | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel), Main Personnel, Pedal Steel Guitar, Vocals |
| 9 | Brian Lane | Executive Producer |
| 10 | Nu Nu | Road Crew |
| 11 | David Richards | Assistant |
| 12 | Snoopy | Road Crew |
| 13 | Chris Squire | Composer, Guitar (Bass), Vocals |
| 14 | Jaques Straessle | Photography |
| 15 | John Luard Timperley | Engineer |
| 16 | Paul Van Der Sonckheyd | Cut |
| 17 | Rick Wakeman | Choir Arrangement, Electric Keyboard, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Polymoog |
| 18 | Alan White | Composer, Drums, Percussion |
| 19 | Richard Williams Singers | Choir/Chorus |
| 20 | Yes | Arranger, Primary Artist, Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |