Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe: 25 years old

[JJ88]

Unfortunately that matters little when he uses that horrible synthesised 'snare' sound, which is every bit as dated as Wakeman's mullet!

The drawn-out introduction aside, I think the show as represented on the ABWH Live DVD is quite something. A great set, heavy on Yes' best 1971-2 stuff but they had the confidence to do almost all the new album as well.

[Sputnik]

Teakbois and Quartet aside, I've always liked this album. It isn't without its flaws and I don't really hold it up to the best Yes material of the 70s (except Birthright, which I think is pretty awesome). But it's a lot more "Yes-like" to me than the Yes-West albums, and for me captures some of the spirit of what made the 70s Yes albums so awesome. This and Steve Howe's Turbulence are the only post 1980 Yes-related albums I still own.

Bill

[the winter tree]

Saw this tour twice. The first show near Boston was ragged and disjointed. A few days later in Hartford CT was one of the best shows I have ever seen.
There was magic in the air and the crowd went bananas. Several 5 minute standing ovations. When Rick Wakeman walked onstage I thought the roof was going to blow off the place (Hartford Civic Center).

I still get chills whenever I think of this show (often). This was what music is all about.

The album is good overall but not great.

BIRTHRIGHT, FIST OF FIRE, BROTHER are cool songs.

I recently purchased the live album from this tour with Tony Levin. I highly recommend this over the Jeff Berlin one even though the production on the latter is better.
I'm very impressed with Milton MacDonald's backing guitar and vocals. He came up with some great rhythm parts that compliment songs like CTTE, AYAI, and most the classics without getting in Howe's way.

[Sputnik]

Saw this tour twice. The first show near Boston was ragged and disjointed. A few days later in Hartford CT was one of the best shows I have ever seen.
There was magic in the air and the crowd went bananas. Several 5 minute standing ovations. When Rick Wakeman walked onstage I thought the roof was going to blow off the place (Hartford Civic Center).

I still get chills whenever I think of this show (often). This was what music is all about.

I was at the Hartford show as well, and it was really incredible. Not quite as good as Yes in 1979 for me, but not far off.

Bill

[Vic2012]

Released June 20, 1989, 'Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe' offered a decidedly old-school rebuttal to the progressively more produced sound Yes used throughout the '80s, leaning heavily on the band's prog roots with a nine-song set that included four lengthy suites: 'Themes,' 'Brother of Mine,' and 'Order of the Universe.' With expanded running times aplenty, mystical artwork, and portentous-sounding song titles like 'Birthright' and 'The Meeting,' it gave the appearance of vintage Yes - although the truth turned out to be somewhat different......................................... ...........

.................................................E xciting or not, Howe admitted that Anderson's control eventually left him somewhat out of the loop on the album. "There are a couple of things on it I'm not even part of," he continued. "Jon was ruling the roost on the project. That album was upsetting to me only at the mix stage. I kind of hit the roof at that point thinking 'Oh dear, it got mixed like other albums had during the '80s.' To me, that meant the amazing ability to pull out the feel. I felt 'Hey, we have a band playing here, and that should be reflected in the mix.' But it was cleaned up, digitized and endlessly transferred between different systems. Some of the record is very spiky and hard."

Yeah I bought the album right around the time I was on a huge YES trip and I wanted to get my hands on anything they'd done that had some decent reviews. I never bothered with Union or OYE because I have NEVER, EVER read anything positive about those albums. I found used copies of ABWH and 90120 and bought them on the strength of reviews, and just curiosity as well. Steve Howe's description above sums it up for me how I feel about ABWH. I didn't have it for long and I really didn't give it a chance. I just couldn't stand that 80s, spikey production. I don't remember Big Generator being that "spikey" to be honest. At any rate, 90120, Big Gen, ABWH all got the boot from my collection. I wanted to like those albums but I stopped kidding myself. Yes will always be, to me: TYA, Fragile, CTTE, Relayer, TFTO, you get the picture.

[Adrian]

I just couldn't stand that 80s, spikey production. I don't remember Big Generator being that "spikey" to be honest.

That's one of the things that stands out for me today. ABWH, for all its efforts to come off as a rejuvenation of '70s prog, sounds more like an '80s album, in terms of production values, than any of the YesWest material does -- to my ears, anyway. I'm sure Bruford's digital drums and Wakeman's cheesy synths have a lot to do with it, but it just all comes off sounding so ... plastic, as someone else put it.

[Zeuhlmate]

It sounded promising in the shop then, and I was starved since Going For The One, but got rather dissapointed when I got home with the album.
Dont like the massive sound, the drumsound, and there is more production than good ideas.
Though still better than YES in the same period.

[Adrian]

the pay for view that I had to go to someone else's house to buy with Jeff Berlin- too bad Tony was ill, was about the most embarrassing thing minus Jon in New York bring Audrey or whatever her name is on stage, was showing Jon showing off his tee pee where he said he meditated before the shows to my non-YES friend. She already thought YES, Jon and myself were strange enough already. ;-) )

I had my sister buy the PPV and mail me the VHS she recorded it on (I was still living at home and we couldn't order it on our cable system), and when they showed Jon's little meditation teepee backstage, I understood why my sister seemed kind of perplexed about the whole thing. The most she could say when I asked her if she liked the concert was, "It was kind of esoteric."

[Vic2012]

I'm sure Bruford's digital drums and Wakeman's cheesy synths have a lot to do with it, but it just all comes off sounding so ... plastic, as someone else put it.

I played a couple tracks from the album on Youtube a little while ago. I could barely sit through those songs. Good ideas (sort of) but horrible production. I think Wakey's keyboard sounds are worse than the electric drums. Wakey even uses some of those patches on KTA2 (an album that I defend). He sounds like he's playing a toy Casio keyboard or something. Okay, it was the 80s. You weren't gonna hear a Hammond organ on a Yes album in the 80s, but couldn't they have chosen some other synth with a meatier sound back then? I had the same reaction to this album that many here had. Great looking package, artwork, long, multi-subtitled pieces, etc. It screamed PROG. Then you played the album and WTF?

[Dodie]

I've always liked ABWH a lot; a couple of songs perhaps aren't as good as others, and some of the production sounds are dated - but that's also true of anything Yes ever did (apart from The Yes Album, which just doesn't have anything wrong with it at all - neither songs nor production). Actually, the one bit on the album I struggle with now is the relentless 1-4-5-1 chord progression in "Long lost brother of mine" (written with G. Downes, which I'd argue is significant - but I don't want to kick off any quarrels...)

I don't feel the need to belittle anything Yes did in the 80s or 90s with Rabin, as the high points of those albums are often stronger and more coherent than anything they've churned out since (and it's ludicrous to blame the low points on Rabin, as if the other band members weren't responsible). However, I've always felt ABWH has the flashiness, imagination and chops that made the classic 70s stuff so appealing and unlike anything else.
For me, ABWH is clearly Yes's best album of the 80s, without a doubt (and, for me, that does include Drama, which I think is generally over-rated because it is too easy to judge it on the best three best tracks rather than remember how awful the two worst ones are).

Also, I really like the "Evening of Yes Music" live album. Sure, Bruford's electronic drums and Wakeman's use of Korg M-1 do place the performances very much in their time - but the energy and personality of vintage songs like "Heart of the sunrise" are phenomenal. So much more to my liking than any live Yes performances I've heard since. Live at Montreux and Yessymphonic come close, but they don't have Bruford on fire like ABWH live does :-)

As for better prog rock albums of the 80s, I can think of a few by Marillion, It Bites, IQ and Camel. But none of them could come up with the rhythmical intricacy of "Themes", and - appalling though this may seem to some of you - I really like how ABWH let rip on "Order of the universe". Wakeman's keys have real juiciness and bite, in contrast to the beauty and delicacy he brings to the piano/synth parts in "The meeting".

Heresy again now: if the new Yes album pleases me half as much as ABWH did when I first started getting into Yes during the very early 90s, then I'll be delighted. I admit I can hear ABWH's imperfections more clearly now than I did then, but that's because nobody on the internet had told me why I shouldn't like it. Same goes for Union as well, actually. I really liked about 2/3 of it until I started to feel ashamed for my bad taste... ;-)

[prglvr]

The live music from these albums (Evening of Yes Music Plus, Live at the NEC) sounds better than the studio version. The latter has Tony Levin on Bass.

[Sean]

I found it somewhat disappointing initially. It's like most Yes since 90125, but a tad more backward looking. This should have been so much more than it was. The tour was fantastic though.

[tom unbound]

ABWH - sorry, never liked them. Way too pop.

[Paulrus]

The tour was better than the album, which has its moments ("Birthright", especially). I remember wanting to like "Brother of Mine" so much, but was ultimately disappointed -- sort of like Asia. It did get a ton or radio play. "Order of Universe" some as well.

But I can remember at the show I saw, there was so much pent up demand for classic 70s Yes music that by the time they launched into "Close to the Edge" every hard core Yes fan in the place just went absolutely freaking NUTS. Me included.

Oh, and if you want a good cringe, check out the documentary video "In the Big Dream". There's one segment around "Quartet" that is the most twee bit of airy-fairy crap ever conceived.

[happytheman]

I remember wanting to like "Brother of Mine" so much, but was ultimately disappointed -- sort of like Asia.

Wasn't the story that song was written during Steve's tenure with Asia.. I believe part of it at least was written by Downes..

[Neoman]

Gonna listen to the Philly show, 8/3/89 from The Spectrum now in fact.

I was at that show, It was fantastic!

[iguana]

Oh, and if you want a good cringe, check out the documentary video "In the Big Dream". There's one segment around "Quartet" that is the most twee bit of airy-fairy crap ever conceived.

crawling babies · floating handshakes · 747s with flapping bird wings · anderson’s perm · bruford hitting the downbeat on a single snare · captain howe’s mandolin · wakeman hugging a synth < take yer pick!

[3RDegree_Robert]

Get past the 80's production, Wakeman's selection of sounds, Bruford's selection of sounds (although I'm not against electronic percussion per se) and it was a great album with an even greater tour. Yes "Teakbois" is weird and "The Meeting" and "Quartet" are a bit corny at times (is that the same as "twee"?) as is the final section when they finally sing "Long lost brother of mine" but as an album it was really what the doctor ordered for the late 80's and such a shame that it's followup was folded into Union with the other guys. It just sounds like money and other concerns always gets in Yes's way of making good music for music's sake.

I'll never forget the massive goosebumps I got as Jon walked in singing "Time & A Word" and then set two with CTTE. Wow!

[grego]

The only thing I liked on this album is Bruford's break at the beginning.

[revporl]

Awful album, great tour. I can barely hear Steve Howe on this record, I prefer their bits of Union to this.

[JJ88]

The only thing I liked on this album is Bruford's break at the beginning.

Wow, really? That bit makes me recoil in horror every time- was there really a time when *that* could ever be deemed to have sounded good??

(It's not so much the percussion stuff that bothers me with those electronic drums, it's the snare sound.)

[Facelift]

This was the first time I ever got excited by a new album from Yes. YesWest was in full swing when I discovered the band and news of a re-formation of most of the classic lineup had me elated. Then I actually heard the music, and was sorely disappointed. My opinion of it has improved slightly over the years, but apart from two or three tracks, I don't think it's very good. It's still a lot better than Onion, though!

[Akustika]

... Actually, the one bit on the album I struggle with now is the relentless 1-4-5-1 chord progression in "Long lost brother of mine" (written with G. Downes, which I'd argue is significant - but I don't want to kick off any quarrels...) ...

Wasn't the story that song was written during Steve's tenure with Asia.. I believe part of it at least was written by Downes..

There's a Wetton/Downes demo called (?) "Lost in America". This is where the germ of LLBoM supposedly came from. Not sure if Wetton should've been given a songwriting credit as well?

[JJ88]

I love much of 'Brother Of Mine', but the 'Long Lost...' bit is certainly an acquired taste. It puts me in mind of Christian Rock.

[Scott Bails]

First off, I consider this to be just as much a Yes album as any other Yes album. Come on, Yes have made several albums without Jon Anderson, without Rick Wakeman, without Bill Bruford and without Steve Howe. How is an album with all of those but without Chris any less Yes?

Absolutely. Every bit as much "Yes" as anything else they've done, good or bad, IMO.

Themes seemed like the perfect future Yes, a mixture of the guitar-heavy Yes of Drama

Exactly - this, and the couple ABWH songs on Union might be the last time Howe had any kind of "bite" or "edge" in his tone. Man, I miss that.

Brother of Mine had me a little befuddled, however. The instrumental sections sounded great to me, but some of Anderson's melodic writing seemed very twee and almost childish - and just too damned happy. That turned out to be the case for most of the rest of the album as well. I've come to tolerate it more. It's a good, song-based Yes epic. The proggy parts are not just good, but excellent - love Howe's playing here.

The problem with "Brother of Mine," IMO, is that the transitions between the different sections are very sloppily put-together. They're lazy.

Birthright is just plain great. The symphonic sections with Wakeman and Howe are excellent - the way those two play off each other is an underused asset in Yes. The lyrics are a bit too topical and Sting-syndrome-y for me, but at least Anderson was championing a worthy cause.

Agree with others that this is the best on the album - and I like the lyrics.

Quartet is a tune I really like. It was a long time since we had heard an acoustic guitar-led Yes piece. It's no Turn of the Century, but it's a very pretty piece of writing, and excellently played by both Howe and Wakeman (love his little counterpoints against the vocal melody) and the understated work in the rhythm section. There is something Renaissance-ey about this - I can hear Annie Haslam singing it.

Excellent points. Howe's work on this one is stellar. And I even like the "I'm Alive" single, with all of its pomposity and grandeur.

Teakbois. Just plain wrong. I skip it every time.

Never minded this one as much as most, though I understand the criticisms of it. I just always thought it was a fun little tune.

Order of the Universe. Now, I love me some good AOR, it's a huge part of my listening repertoire. Which is why I have a very high tolerance for 90125 and Big Generator. So I see where they are coming from with this. But the writing is just too simplistic. The chorus tries too hard to be anthemic to be quite believable and the verses are just bland, with that faux rock'n'roll thing going. Some good playing, though, and it was a lot more credible live. But Rabin was always the one who managed to pull off AOR Yes. Anderson not so much.

Always loved this one, though I also don't share the disdain of AOR that many here have. Listening to it now, the trumpet fanfares are a little cheesy, and the earnest chorus is a little over-the-top, but I still like it. It was amazing live.

As for the production, it is what it is. Like most I am not a huge fan of Bruford's electronic drums or Wakeman's harsh, digital sounds. But the album is undoubtedly well-produced, with a lean, focused and (at the time) modern sound that is also quite unique. In the best songs, like Themes, the relatively hard and bright nature of a lot of the sounds really works to the song's advantage, giving it a futuristic, slightly martial aura.

Then there was the tour. I saw them, they blew my mind. The classic stuff was performed with such excellence, vigour and enthusiasm. To this day it is still one of the 2-3 best concerts I have ever seen. After the encore of Starship Trooper I felt positively post-coital.

Agree with all of this, too. Again, as others have said, some of the sound choices and production issues are off-putting now, but at the time, that's where things were. And their live show was amazing.

And then I remember Steve Howe saying on some of the songs, they mixed out some of his guitar playing. Great, you bring the guy into the studio, presumably to do what he does better than anyone else in the world, and then you 86 his contribution! What kind of a Kenny G fan was at steering this ship?!

This always bothered me, once I knew about it. This is when my disdain for Anderson's behind-the-scenes shenanigans began to form.


I probably enjoyed this one more than most here, but if you put yourself back at that time, it was glorious to just imagine these four guys doing anything together. Like many, I got into Yes during 90125 and worked my way back, and read the stuff Howe said about YesWest, and knew that Bruford had pretty much moved on from anything Yes-related, so the idea of seeing them all in the same band again was just unfathomable. So, no, it's not the best output in the Yes canon, but at the time, it was a very pleasant surprise and scratched the itch of hearing more "Yes-y" type of epics with multiple parts, etc.