Hackett Howe.. who's holding up the best..

[bondegezou]

Steve Howe is definitely more versatile than Steve Hackett. Howe plays/played pedal steel, balalaika, etc. I guess the topic is 'who do prefer right now/currently', but i don't think that even Hackett would argue at the inventiveness, dexterity, speed, natural/technical ability, and versatility of Howe in the 1970s (& early 80s). Hackett is more like Fripp and Manzanera in that he is a *textural* player who often holds notes and takes a less-is-more approach. Comparing him with Howe who is a very different player (especially when he was younger) is an *apples to oranges* thing imo.

They are very different players, but with similarities too. Both continue to create new music in a range of styles, while selling more with nostalgia. I love them both, but have long been more of a Howe fan; the thing that struck me when I saw a solo Hackett show a few years ago was how much Hackett is influenced by (early) Fripp.

I enjoyed the Squackett album, Out of the Tunnel's Mouth and Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, but personally preferred Time and the Steve Howe Trio releases (although as N_Singh says, the Trio is great as much or more because of Dylan Howe* and Ross Stanley). I've seen the Trio live thrice, all great shows. There is to me a bit more variety in Howe's work, although Hackett is more consistent.

Henry

* When it gets a general release, buy Dylan Howe's Subterranean: New Designs on Bowie's Berlin, with Stanley and, on one track, Steve. Just a fantastic album. Stravinksy - The Rite of Spring Part 1 by Dylan and Will Butterworth is brilliant too.

[the winter tree]

I love them both. Howe went through a period in the late 90's to early 2000's where is tone suffered from sounding way too clean with little sustain, but that seems to be remedied somewhat lately. His sound has improved and I've witnessed him really bringing it live on many occasions since 2008.

I do have to say, the sluggish tempos really annoy me.

Hackett seems to get better and better with age.

They are both great and I have the utmost respect for them.

[Rufus]

Nothing to debate!!!
Two excellent & versatile players who we should all feel blessed for their God given talent!

Now Metheny is way, way overated. One style only guy who & his acoustic playing is ameuratish at best!!!

[Jacob Holm-Lupo]

Now Metheny is way, way overated. One style only guy who & his acoustic playing is ameuratish at best!!!

???!!!???

[Rufus]

???!!!???

Seriously, Methany is a one trick pony. He can plod along in a jazzy fusion fashion like tons of others but has no adaptability outside his comfort zone!!!

[Kcrimso]

Seriously, Methany is a one trick pony. He can plod along in a jazzy fusion fashion like tons of others but has no adaptability outside his comfort zone!!!

Well... he has played with Steve Reich and David Bowie...

[Scott Bails]

...and the nonsense continues.

[Casey]

What an album Howe, Hackett, & Gilmour could make….

One can always dream.

[arturs]

I also gotta stick up for Howe on this one. I'm surprised how many of you all view his recent playing negatively. I admit he hasn't exactly been an innovator in recent years like he once was, but when I saw him at Yestival last summer he totally delivered the goods.

[Stevie B]

Last time I saw Hackett was 1979, so I've no idea how well he's holding up, but any time I've seen Yes recently - which is about four or five times in the last ten years or so - Howe has been on fire and basically run the show. So I would say he's holding up pretty well...

[JKL2000]

as far as their overall contributions, I've always favored Hackett, but I was just listening to And You And I and realizing how much it sounds like Steve Rothery is influenced by Howe. Especially recently, he uses that watery tone which I can hear Howe using on AYAI. I always though of Rothery as more Gilmour/Clapton influenced (and Hackett), but I think I can hear the Howe in there too.

[Scott Bails]

Rothery to me was always a conglomeration of Hackett/Gilmour/Latimer.

[JKL2000]

^ I was forgetting Latimer. I don't know how Howe gets that watery sound on AYAI, but if you listen to it you might see what I mean RE Rothery - maybe Rothery is just using some effect that Howe also used.

[dregsfan]

I think the tone is acheived by playing through a Leslie.

[Mister Triscuits]

Seriously, Methany is a one trick pony. He can plod along in a jazzy fusion fashion like tons of others but has no adaptability outside his comfort zone!!!

Yep. Bright Size Life, Zero Tolerance for Silence, The Way Up...they all sound exactly the same.

[wideopenears]

Yep. Bright Size Life, Zero Tolerance for Silence, The Way Up...they all sound exactly the same.

I know, huh? Just.....strummin'. Lots of strummin'.

[Scott Bails]

I think the tone is acheived by playing through a Leslie.

Or a flanger?

[JKL2000]

I think the tone is acheived by playing through a Leslie.

Or a flanger?

Or a Twinkie.

I kid, I kid! I love Rothers.

[Obscured]

Hackett/Gilmour/Latimer.

I felt Latimer came directly from Gilmour.

Oh, and Howe for me.

[Scott Bails]

I felt Latimer came directly from Gilmour.

I meant that Rothery was influenced by all three.

[Digital_Man]

Imo, Hackett has had a much more successful and interesting solo career. Howe is equally as talented over all but I think being in a band has made him not focus as much on his solo career the way Hackett has.

[Stickleback]

Now Metheny is way, way overated. One style only guy who & his acoustic playing is ameuratish at best!!!

Metheny should have gotten together with Phil Collins. Imagine the mediocrity.

[yesstiles]

I can't think of a single memorable melody from Howe.

Have you never heard "To Be Over" or "Close to the Edge" or "The Revealing Science Of God?"

Those three songs have some of the most brilliant, exhilarating, beautiful and memorable guitar melodies of all time.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Heard 'em all. The guitar bits all sound like noodling to me.

[jkelman]

Now Metheny is way, way overated. One style only guy who & his acoustic playing is ameuratish at best!!!

Wow. I'd love to hear you play as well as he does. As for one style? Let's look at his discography (just a few of his records):

• Bright Size Life: Trio with Jaco Pastorius & Bob Moses, tunes he wrote are still being performed today - and not just by him, some have entered the pantheon of standards;
• Pat Metheny Group ("the White Album"): introduces a whole new way of blending acoustic and electric instruments that transcends typical "fusion" trappings. considered by many to be a classic
• 80/81: another classic (critical and popular); Midwestern folk blends with free bop and more.
• Travels: One of the most revered live albums of the past 30 years; Midwestern Americana blends with complex cinematic compositional constructs....and to play through them ain't easy at all. Also, along with the previous studio album, Offramp, Metheny begins to broaden his textural palette with guitar synth
• Song X: With Ornette Coleman, Metheny delves into free jazz with one of its progenitors, for an album acclaimed as a classic.
• Still Life (Talking): Pat Metheny Group explores Brazilian music in its own inimitable fashion. Metheny continues to expand his palette with introduction of synclavier.
• Secret Story: an epic solo album of cinematic proportions. Writing for choir, orchestra, small ensembles and more, with Metheny's own palette continuing to broaden
• We Live Here: his "groove and loop" record. It may sound easy and smooth, but dig beneath the surface, and tell me you can navigate some of the complex structures found underneath
• Imaginary Day & The Way Up - Two of his best latter period PMG albums, with more textures, more stylistic stretching ("The Roots of Coincidence" won "best rock instrumental" - form a jazzer?!?!)
• Unity Band and Unity Group's Kin - Unity Group takes Metheny's return to saxophone-based music and more open-ended improvisational constructs of Unity Band, and meshes with PMG's cinematic writing. Add the Orchestrion, which expands his palette even further, and Kin, the new album, is a potential classic in his discography.
• Tap - shows he can take someone else's music (John Zorn in this case) and adapt his musical world view to create something that would not have been possible strictly from his pen, but that Zorn could never have envisaged when he handed the usually skimpy compositions of the Masada songbook to him and said "go!"

Tell me how he is a one-style guy, just with the examples provided. Either you're living on a different planet than I am or you need to use those Q-tips in your ears a lot more regularly

Seriously, I am not suggesting that everyone likes Metheny or should like Metheny (my wife doesn't, but for reasons that are a whole lot more reasoned than yours, and she still respects him and appreciates why he is one of the most influential guitarists of his generation), or that they should like everything he puts out. But to dismiss, as you have, a musician who has probably covered more musical ground than any other jazz musician of name, changed the world of jazz as he has, and continued to explore new avenues year after year - not always successfully, but that's fine....better to risk and fail than to not risk at all - it says to me that you've either not heard much of his music or you don't like him, and mistake what you like for what is good and what you don't for what is bad.

Most reasonable folks who realize they are no more than arbiters of their taste, not what is good or bad, respect Metheny, even if he does nothing for them. He's a rarity, and if nothing else, the absolute antithesis of the one-trick pony you accuse him of being.