Saturday 22 September 2012

ANDERSON, BRUFORD, WAKEMAN AND HOWE: Something Else


A new three-disc CD/DVD set celebrates that strange period in which a band not called Yes, including most of the individuals credited with the Yes sound, put together an album and tour that sounded just like … well, Yes. Only, for contractual reasons, they ended up calling themselves Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe. It was a bit like having a car and renaming it “Steering Wheel, Transmission, Radials and Chassis.”
Live at the NEC, October 24, 1989, a newly released three-disc ABWH set availableexclusively through Gonzo MultiMedia, makes easy work of establishing that this is, in all but name only, Yes playing Yes music for Yes fans.
The song list largely mimics the original 1993 concert film An Evening of Yes Music Plus,beginning with a series of solo features — including a medley of songs from Anderson in “Time and a Word,” “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “Teakbois”; solo turns by Howe (“Clap,” “Mood for a Day”) and Wakeman; and then a drum feature for Bruford after the band’s take on “Long Distance Runaround.”
Also repeated are ABWH renditions of legacy Yes items like “And You and I,” “Close to the Edge” (interesting, of course, because Bill Bruford left before the tour in support of that album commenced) and “Roundabout”; as well as the tracks “Birthright,” “Themes,” “Brother of Mine,” “The Meeting” and “Order of the Universe” from Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe’s underrated self-titled 1989 release.
New on Live at the NEC, October 24, 1989, however, is their explosive take on “I’ve Seen All Good People” on the first disc, and an intriguing redo of “Starship Trooper” on the second disc.

Read on...
and check out the ABWH artist page at Gonzo

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