Artist: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe Title: “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” Label: Voiceprint Music Release Date: 4/16/2007 Genre: Progressive Rock Rating: 4/5
The reunion of four former members of Yes would be nothing short of historic for fans of the legendary Progressive Rock titans and when Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe and Bill Bruford formed Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe the output generated would be pure magic. The concert presented on this CD was originally a televised pay per view event and back in 1989 this was not as common as we find it being today which makes its existence all the more special. The band couldn’t call themselves Yes based on the bands bassist Chris Squire owning the rights to the name but with the membership in this little enterprise being who it was the world would know the score simply by listening. This was as close to pure Yes as it would come and not only would the guys do some of their classics for the screaming audience but they would also offer up some interpretations on other material and include some new compositions as well. Way back when this first aired I remembered the anticipation I had for the reunion and plunked down the necessary monies to have this brought to life in my parents living room, but having seen the DVD I must say that unless you are an absolute diehard fan that there is no real reason to own the CD. Continue reading “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” by Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe→
Artist: Asia Title: “Fantasia Live In Tokyo” Label: Eagle Vision Release Date: 10/2/2007 Genre: Progressive Rock Rating: 3.5/5
Even though the history books will note this as fact I still refuse to believe that it has been twenty five years since I first purchased my original vinyl copy of the debut by Asia – the blockbuster album that was simply entitled “Asia”. Twenty five years old and this album when played today still sounds as fresh and exciting as it used to and reminds me of the Progressive Rock promise that it held for all the fans of the individual players who made up the group. For those who might be too young to remember this album and group let me bring you up to speed a little; Asia was essentially a super group when such a term was not as commonly used and that included members that were true legends from their genres. In Asia we found John Wetton (King Crimson), Steve Howe (Yes), Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) and Geoff Downes (The Buggles) all working together to create a masterpiece of Melodic Progressive Rock. Their efforts were a resounding success and yes it was geared more for a wider audience than some of the more stoic Progressive Rock fans would have liked but in the end it worked out like gangbusters with Asia achieving a #1 position on the Billboard album charts and offering up six charting singles. Not bad for an album that only had nine songs to begin with. Continue reading “Fantasia Live In Tokyo” [DVD] by Asia→
Artist: Asia Title: “Fantasia – Live In Tokyo” Label: Eagle Records Release Date: 6/26/2007 Genre: Progressive Rock Rating: 3.5/5
Twenty five years ago four Progressive Rock luminaries released an album that was nothing less than incredible. The bands name was Asia and their debut recording would use the same name and as soon as you heard it you realized that it didn’t need any sort of fancy title whatsoever based on what was in its grooves. “Heat Of The Moment” was the recordings signature track and it would find more airplay than any of the other songs these musicians had ever recorded before and the album as a whole was loaded with Arena Rock classics that all still stand strong in today’s music environment. Classy in it’s day, and classic now without a doubt. The core personnel of John Wetton, Geoffrey Downes, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer proved that the musicianship involved was nothing short of exemplary and what would you expect from former members of Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and The Buggles. The bands original lineup would not pass their second recording “Alpha” but the name would still continue on with a rotating cast of musicians for decades. Fast forward to 2006 where the original lineup decided to once again perform together and celebrate the amazing music that they created while members of Asia. This CD brings the listener to one of the reunion shows that were held in Japan and as far as concert recordings go you will find that this is a very good one. It’s clean in sound and has a pretty tight production and as far as the band interaction during the show it seems as though no real time has passed when in fact it has been some twenty years if not more. Continue reading “Fantasia – Live In Tokyo” by Asia→
Artist: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe Title: “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” Label: Music Video Distributors Release Date: 8/28/2007 Genre: Progressive Rock Rating: 4/5
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe is a band that makes up four fifths of the legendary Progressive Rock group Yes and in 1989 these musicians recorded an album that bore the same name and would support it with an extensive tour. This tour would feature many of the originals from this debut album along with a strong compliment of Yes classics and so special was the occasion of the live recording that it would be available to any cable television subscriber who wanted to order it via something that was called “Pay Per View”. Since this was 1989, the term was still quite new but in today’s world it’s much more commonplace and is done very often for concerts and special sporting events. I still remember begging my parents to let me order the program and swore I would pay them back. These PPV Specials were great as you would be able to invite friends over for a live concert that was happening right in your living rooms. The concert for ABWH begins with some orchestral flourishing and instead of seeing the entire group onstage from the get go, we instead find singer Jon Anderson walking out among the crowd as he makes his way to the stage. Singing and touching the outstretched hands of the audience in attendance while he walks, Anderson does his vocal lines with the help of a rhythm guitarist onstage. When he is finished we find Steve Howe doing the same thing and performing solo to the audience and then Rick Wakeman does the same. It was definitely an interesting way to start out as one normally expects the full group to perform at the onset of a concert like this. Leave it to the Progressive innovators to change things up once again. It’s not until the beginning of “Long Distance Runaround” that we find drummer Bill Bruford onstage accompanying them on a tambourine before he jumps behind his tremendous kit of Simmons electronic drums. As a drummer, Bruford was one of the biggest advocates of these types of percussion implements and he led the charge into their being accepted by more performers. Continue reading “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus” (DVD) by Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe→
Artist: Asia Title: “Gold” Label: Universal Music Release Date: 6/14/2005 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4/5
The idea of taking members of Yes, ELP and The Buggles might strike you as potentially bringing about the greatest Progressive Rock outfit of all time but the end result would be a far different project and the media splash that would surround it become nothing less than historic. That was pretty much the end result when Carl Palmer, Steve Howe, John Wetton and Geoff Downes formed this group with the assistance of Brian Lane (manager of Yes). The players and their legendary bands all had the support of the die hard Progressive fans but the music of Asia was so far from Prog and instead more a borderline commercial Rock outfit. In 1982 being “commercial” was not necessarily a bad thing and just guaranteed the group a more consistent level of radio play. At the time Rock radio ruled the airwaves and you would continually hear ELP, Yes and Triumph along with Zeppelin, Who and Stones. Disco had moved from a full movement to a scattering of supporters and Rock music was again on the rise. Soon “Hair Metal” and “Thrash Metal” would rise but now we find ourselves in ’82 (sorry I could not resist). To call the self-titled debut of Asia a blockbuster would be an understatement and the first single from the album “Heat Of The Moment” would be a chart-topping phenomena. The main reason for this occurrence would be the wide spread appeal that their music offered to the listener. Instead of long-winded displays of musical precision there were tasty hooks and catchy lyrics that just brought a wider audience into the bands camp. The other interesting thing would be the sizable female audience that this band won over for at the time Progressive styling was hardly something that the gender found much interest in. No less than half of the first album made it to regular rotation on stations and the album itself sold millions of copies giving the members the highest chart positions as Asia than they ever received in their other bands. Continue reading “Gold” by Asia→
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