1977’s Going For The One found the reformed Anderson/Howe/Squire/Wakeman/White lineup of Yes capture lightning in a bottle. This hastily-created follow-up proves that you won’t necessarily do it twice. This album relies totally on shorter songs that move through several different moods and vibes, with varying degrees of quality. A few of these songs are totally badass - “Release, Release”, “On The Silent Wings Of Freedom”, and “Arriving UFO” are all fiery little masterpieces. However there are others like “Don’t Kill The Whale” which, while well-intended, sounds like it was written by a 12 year old, and the trite “Circus Of Heaven” which is possibly the worst song in the entire Yes catalogue. “Madrigal” is one that floats right by but Squire’s “Onward” is one of the cheesiest yet most beautiful love songs ever written.
Legend has it that Rick Wakeman threw a tomato at the cover photo when he first saw it. Whether that is true or not, this does boast one of the worst album covers in of all rock & roll history.
While the album is much better than the sleeve it is still a bit of a mess and can be considered the first true mis-step in the band’s development.
Unfortunately it would all go downhill from here, as this band would splinter while in the midst of recording what was shaping up to be a most terrible album. And then bounce back in the Yessiest of fashions.…
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