Between 1974’s Relayer and this album, Yes’ members went their separate ways. In fine 1970s fashion, everyone made solo albums (in order of merit: Chris Squire’s Fish Out Of Water, Patrick Moraz’s The Story Of I, Jon Anderson’s Olias Of Sunhillow, Steve Howe’s Beginnings, Alan White’s Ramshackled). When they got back together and began recording, Moraz no longer seemed interested in what the band was doing, so he was fired, and Rick Wakeman — who’d left in 1974, after the Tales From Topographic Oceans tour — was brought back.

Musically, Going For The One is Yes’ most stripped-down album since their debut. There’s no concept or unifying theme — it’s just a collection of five songs, only one of them more than 10 minutes long (the 15:38 album closer, “Awaken”). The riff that launches the album, played by Howe on a pedal steel guitar, recalls Led Zeppelin’s “Royal Orleans” in a weird way, but as the track goes on, it gets even weirder; Howe is actually making that Looney Tunes zinging noise in the background for much of it. It actually rocks, and starts things off very well. Unfortunately, the next song, “Turn Of The Century,” is a stately, beautiful ballad that runs eight minutes and makes you feel every second of it. “Parallels,” the third track, feels like the band saying, “You want old-school Yes? Here you go!” It begins with a blast of church organ from Wakeman, and is soon rocking along, with Anderson singing at the top of his range and both Wakeman and Howe soloing with extravagance and power. Interestingly, this song sounds more like the early-’80s Yes of 90125 than the early-’70s Yes of Fragile and Close To The Edge. It’s a super-modern, hard-driving rock track that should be better known than it is. “Wonderous Stories” [sic] just kind of shimmers in place for four minutes; it’s very beautiful, but there’s not much more to it than that. “Awaken,” though, is something special. A highly complex track, it builds and builds for its entire 15-minute-plus running time, with Wakeman on church organ again and Anderson (who’s a serious multi-instrumentalist, by the way) sitting down behind a harp at around the six-minute mark.

From its cover art (skyscrapers and a human being, instead of fish and fantasy landscapes) to its gleaming, modern sound, Going For The One was Yes’ attempt at re-engaging with the world. And it’s a damn successful one, with its high points (“Parallels,” “Awaken,” the title track) on a par with anything they’ve ever done.