Yes - Going For The One (1977)

If you look at the years 1975 and 1976, they weren't very good for prog. Most of the 1st generation of prog bands had taken breaks or had broken up by this time. King Crimson broke up after 1974's Red, Genesis lost Peter Gabriel and while they continued with progressive music, it never reached the heights of the Gabriel era. Emerson, Lake & Palmer released the mammoth bloated live album Welcome Back My Friends which was pretty much a death knell for prog. It was poorly performed, full of show and no substance and turned people off of prog who were already getting tired of it. With the rise of punk (a.k.a. shit) music, it seemed prog was dead. Then in 1977 out of the ashes, like the phoenix that they are, Yes released Going For The One. While it contained shorter (for them) and punchier songs, like the title track, which has some unexpectedly bluesy slide guitar and Parallels, which actually successfully combines rock and roll 4/4 with church organ. Yes, of course Rick Wakeman made the church organ rock the fuck out. Also is the majestic beauty of Turn of The Century and Wonderous Stories, which was actually a Top 10 hit. Of course most of the attention goes to the last track Awaken. As I said, most of the songs on this album are short, but that's only short compared to other Yes albums. The shortest song is 3:49, while most of the songs don't dip under 5 minutes Awaken is 15:31. And while that may not seem short, look at Tales From Topographic Oceans where each song was over 15 minutes themselves. That makes Awaken look like a 2 minute AM radio single, don't it? Awaken manages to capture some of their glory of Close To The Edge, resembling some sections of it. You would think Yes was rejuvenated and that they would go on to make more great, creative prog, but then Tormato happened and...well...it's better to just not discuss that.

Personal Favorites: The whole albums is pretty brilliant from beginning to end, but the sheer beauty and grandeur of Turn of The Century is a particular highlight.