Going for the One

Going for the One is the eighth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 12 July 1977 by Atlantic Records. After taking an extended break in activity in 1975 for each member to record and release a solo album, and completing their subsequent 1976 tour, the band members became tax exiles and relocated to Montreux, Switzerland, to record their next studio album at Mountain Studios. During the early writing and rehearsal stages, keyboardist Patrick Moraz was dismissed from the group following creative and psychological pressures. This marked the return of former keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had left Yes in 1974 to pursue a solo career after differences surrounding the band's ambitious concept double album Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973). The album represents a major shift in the band's musical and aesthetic style. In a departure from the extended or conceptual tracks that dominated their previous four studio albums, Going for the One features shorter, more direct, and accessible songs written primarily by Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, and Chris Squire, with the exception of the fifteen-minute closing track "Awaken". The album was solely produced by the band themselves, marking a formal split from their longtime producer and engineer Eddy Offord alongside the hiring of a new engineering team. It also marked the end of their long-standing collaboration with cover artist Roger Dean, as the band commissioned Hipgnosis to create a stark, geometric design. Musically, the record introduces unique instrumentation, including Howe's use of a vachalia and pedal steel guitar work, Wakeman's use of a Polymoog synthesiser, and a church organ recorded via a telephone line from nearby Vevey. Going for the One received a positive response from music critics, who welcomed the band's energetic return to more melodic simplicity, though the stark design of the Hipgnosis sleeve...