----------------------------------------------------- JUNE 15, 1977 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Los Angeles Times Yes Album Getting Back to Basics By Steve Pond "Going for the One," the first Yes album in more than two years, succeeds because the English rock band has lowered rather than raised its sights. By going back to basics rather than trying to top its previous ''extravaganzas,'' Yes has produced its most appealing collection since ''Close to the Edge'' in 72. Early Yes records set the tone for an emerging musical style. The group's classical leanings and multilayered, flashy instrumental work helped pioneer "progressive rock." But the band's unrelenting seriousness -- which culminated in the four-sided, ponderous ''Tales of Topographic Oceans'' in '74 -- began to obscure the fact that rock energy had been as important as spaciness in making its early rock songs so influential. "Going for One" (Atlantic SD 18106) is a looser, more relaxed effort that recaptures some of the pop-oriented energy of those early works, notably ''Fragile.'' The album follows a string of solo efforts by group members and a change in personnel that finds keyboardist Rick Wakeman rejoining the unit that made him famous. Still a ''progressive'' band, Yes has become a more commercial one. Four of the album's five songs are less than eight minutes long, the shortest Yes recordings since '71. The LP's straightforward rock feel is typified by Steve Howe's uncharacteristic, rockabilly steel guitar intro on the title track. Yes was originally envisioned as a harmony group and its three-part harmonies make ''Parallels'' and especially ''Wonderous Stories'' its least forbidding, most accessible songs in years. The former selection also stands with the title track as an infectious exercise in hard-edged rock that retains the band's familiar instrumental density while showcasing a rhythm-dominated, energetic rock approach. But Yes has not abandoned all its elaborateness or its pretension. ''Turn of the Century'' is a long composition featuring Wakeman's sensitive work on the acoustic piano, while ''Awaken'' is this album's bid for another Yes opus. This 15-minute suite -- on which Wakeman plays the pipe organ in a Swiss cathedral -- is highlighted by the album's lushest, most fully developed instrumental textures. Despite its refreshing energy, the album is not free from the problems that have always beset Yes. The band still favors the kitchen-sink approach to song-writing, throwing everything into a composition but sometimes failing to smoothly integrate the disparate elements. And its Iyrics have never been outstanding; on this album they suffer from the usual share of obtuse metaphysics and confused, muddled poetics. But the style and vigor of this album does much to reassert position of leadership in its chosen genre. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com