Howe is the kind of artist that shines in an ensemble setting and needs band collaborators. As a solo artist, he's sorely lacking, although his guitar playing is always great.
Howe is the kind of artist that shines in an ensemble setting and needs band collaborators. As a solo artist, he's sorely lacking, although his guitar playing is always great.
Really enjoy the Trio stuff. Got me to explore Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. There is an excellent show on Dime from 2013 called "Friday the 13th at the Cellars". Looking forward to the new one.
So I've got The Grand Scheme Of Things on right now. The instrumentals are great, of course, and ya know what? I'm not really being bothered by the vocals that much here. I had the first Homebrew on last night, and I felt the same about the vocals there, they really weren't that bad.
Yeah, I can believe it. I mean, it's been a long long time since I've listened to Beginnings, and at the moment, I can't find my CD copy, so that's preempting me from putting it on now, but I remember listening to that and thinking his singing was terrible.
But there was something I listened to much later, maybe it was The Grand Scheme Of Things, or it might have one of the live things or whatever, but I do remember at some point feeling his singing had definitely improved. So maybe that had something to do with it.
But even some of the demos from the 1980's that are on Homebrew are like that, so maybe he took the singing lessons at some point in the 80's, who knows?
To be honest, I didn't really notice West's presence that much, but then, he's mostly singing vocal harmony, I think. Howe's singing most or all the lead vocals.As I mentioned above, I think Keith West's presence is helpful in the vocal dept. on GSoT.
I remember Mike Rutherford once explaining why he doesn't sing lead vocals with Mike & The Mechanics, by saying that "Every great song deserves a great voice, and I am not that voice". I don't think Howe has a "great voice" either, but really, neither does Jon Anderson, if you ask me. But I think Howe has managed to improve his singing to the point where it is reasonably palatable.
With Anderson it isn't technique but tone, he has a very haunting and unique tone. Steve has learned breath control since his first record enough to carry a lead vocal. He was always tolerable as a harmony vocalist IMHO, but only because the blend with Squire and Anderson's voices worked so well.
Mike was always very hard on his voice- he isn't great but he could at least carry a tune...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e7WtYn0ieG8
I listened to Beginnings last night. There were definitely a few moments where I truly cringed and honestly couldn't believe he left some vocal passages there. I simply can't believe he couldn't have gotten a better pass on those passages, because at times he is actually quite in tune. I'm not saying his voice is particularly great, but at least he demonstrates that he can hit the notes at times. There's even a multi-voice a capella section that amazingly is one of the best vocal performances on the album!
He doesn't have a great voice and never will, but I think if he took a bit more care and cleaned up a few things, Beginnings' vocals wouldn't have the reputation they do (it wouldn't be great, but it wouldn't be as horrible). I also still think the mix is wonky and lacks high end. I have the original Japanese pressing of the CD, which pretty much conforms to my memory of the vinyl. I know it was remastered, but I'm never ditching this CD, so I never bothered. But in addition to the lack of treble, I think Howe's voice doesn't sit very well in this mix, and some of the acoustic guitars have the same problem.
All that aside, though, I largely enjoyed hearing this album again after a long time. Yeah, it has its flaws, but if you can get used to it, it has its charms too and I'm glad I own it. I encourage you to give it fresh spin with low expectations, and it wouldn't surprise me if you wind up liking it more than you'd anticipated.
Bill
Yeah, that's why it was so surprising to me when I heard him sing lead, I thought he always sounded great doing the harmonies with Squire and Anderson.
Well, yes, but he does sort of have a point. If you compare his voice to that of Paul Young or Paul Carrack, there is a very distinct difference in quality. One wonders if something like Living Years would have been a hit if Mike had sung it, instead of Paul Carrack.
Mike was always very hard on his voice- he isn't great but he could at least carry a tune...
Oh, Mike absolutely made the correct choice to hire two pro singers for the Mechanics. I do think the personal nature of the lyrics (and the novelty of the school chorale arrangement) probably would have allowed "Living Years" to make a major chart impact even if Mike had sung it, but it certainly would have diminished the record's emotional impact!
Sleeping at home is killing the hotel business!
He has two others with Sutin, and I think they're both credited to Sutin/Howe. All in a similar, new-agey vein. Nice background music.
These are interesting, but they're not "listening albums," for me. There's a lot of good stuff here, but they're kind of scattered.
As others have said, the instrumentals are pretty good, and this probably has his best vocals (though, they're still not that great).
I really like this one. I'd been waiting for him to do one like it for years, and for me, this one doesn't disappoint.
"Surface Tension" is absolutely gorgeous. Back when I played, I tried and tried to learn this one, but just could never get it right. Just a beautiful piece of music.
"All's a Chord" is a really nice song that would have been more successful with a more competent vocalist. Someone like Annie Haslam could have really made this one shine.
As mentioned, check out Natural Timbre.
Agreed. I like that one, too.
Absolutely! Love 'em. When is the new one coming out?
All that said, I think Turbulence is far and away his best solo work. Great arrangements, no vocals, just a consistently great album.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Lots to love in Howe's solo catalogue. His earliest albums are diverse in style, but in recent years, he's very much believed in each album having a clear theme. Time, the "classical" album, is great. I also love Natural Timbre. It's not been mentioned, but I also enjoy Portraits of Bob Dylan. Anthology is a good sampler, and Anthology 2, focusing on band work, is a great sampler, with about one third being otherwise unreleased. The Steve Howe Trio is fantastic: new album, New Frontier, is due late Sep... with input from Bill Bruford!
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
I have no problem with the dozen or so solo albums I have as long as he doesn't sing. I'd still like to catch either a solo/band or project show with him though which is more than I can say for Yes at this point.
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