ABWH REVIEW

http://www.jerrylucky.com/

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe – Live at the NEC 1989 (2012 Gonzo Multimedia) The fascinating history of YES never ceases to amaze fans musically. None so much as when Messer’s. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe broke off and attempted to create music that they felt was closer to YES’ original prime directive. A tour, live disc and live DVD resulted but that wasn’t enough. We now have this special three-disc set featuring the band’s entire live show at the NEC recorded on October 24^th, 1989. The first two discs handle all the audio content, including member solos and encores, while disc three is devoted to a short 30-minute film of home movies shot by support keyboardist Julian Colbeck. The video shows the band behind the scenes in the dressing room, doing the sound check and performing on stage, all shot from the sidelines with Colbeck’s hand-held video camera. It’s a kind-of fly-on-the-wall look at the band. The sound of the live discs in this deluxe set is superb, first rate for the era and provides a nice sound capsule of the times. This set is only available through: www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk

Live At The NEC 2CD - £11.99

Live at the NEC Deluxe Edition (3 Disc) 2CD1DVD - £19.99

Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe 2CD - £11.99

An Evening of Yes  CD - £7.99

An Evening of Yes  DVD - £9.99

ABWH German review translated

http://rocktimes.de/gesamt/a/anderson_bruford_wakeman_howe/live_at_the_nec.html

"An Evening of Yes Music Plus ..." was the motto of the 1989 UK tour of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe . Today we would use the term 'supergroup', but at the time was this word not yet so familiar.You wanted (but could not) the crowd-pulling names Yes use, although this line-up would have been probably more right to do so, as the Yes -formation about the same time by Chris Squire was led by the U.S.. 

Over the four protagonists need probably lose no more words. Whose artistic focus and many classics created things have a profound impact in music history. Viewed from the reputation they had quietly Tony Levin can integrate into the signature - but it was limited to the Yes -members.

"Live At The NEC" on 24 October 1989 recorded during the said UK tour by the BBC. The deluxe set offers both CDs are a bonus DVD, which, however, is hardly worth mentioning. Additional keyboardistJulian Beck Cole is for the black and white amateur footage responsible, showing the band (completely free commentary) in the backstage area and the sound check and some live clips. After the gig you can Jon Anderson in blowing out the 45 candles watching his birthday cake, the only halfway spectacular moment of just over 26 minutes playing DVD.

The evening begins purely acoustic caused in the first twenty minutes once a deep frown. "Time And A Word", "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" and "Teakbois" are cobbled together more bad than good to a medley - 'fit' does little here. Then get Steve Howe with two acoustic numbers from his Yes'between early stage, "Clap" and "Mood For A Day", but an enchanting solo performance, but as with the following "Wakeman Solo", one misses a common act of the band initially painful . It seems that would be considered here three exceptional musicians playing side by side ... With an OF Yes -popular song, "Long Distance Rounaround" seem Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe to reflect on their common concern, this hope is, however, already after just over three minutes by an - admittedly brilliant - Bruford 'sches drum solo once nullified . 

But one finds yet another - and how! With "Birthright", the first common Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe Number of eponymous album, the first highlight is celebrated. And after two monumental works from the same end a monolith "Close To The Edge" (1972), "And You And I" and the title track, one after the botched launch reconciled only once halfway.

On the second CD of live pimped to a septet of four then pulls out all the stops of his skills and makes use of mainly the songs of more than three months before released "Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe". The very catchy and melodic "Themes" is crowned by a giant bass drum duel.Bruford and Levin draw here the very large, artistic cutlery! 'Fit' at an advanced stage of a concert including those just solo deposits better than at the beginning. 

With "Brother Of Mine" one uses much more convincing modern elements than at the "90,125" times.The quiet ballad "The Meeting" is more of an interlude before one with "Heart Of The Sunrise" again a moody Yes classics (from the 1971 "Fragile") intake of material. The four-part "Order Of The Universe" - a new number - impressed with feather-light melodies with powerful keyboard with fanfare. Is there any prog fan who "Roundabout", the opening track of "Fragile" is not revered, deeply?This nearly fourteen-minute epic ends the regular set befitting. The rousing encore "Starship Trooper" agrees a strange launched, but perfectly enhancing live set.

The question of whether the bonus DVD of the deluxe edition of "Live At The NEC" really needs and the double CD is not quite enough, is quite justified and needs to the interested reader to answer for themselves. 

Despite remarkable weaknesses at the beginning, this Triple-pane but taken as a whole a rather pleasing historical document of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe , the half a year later, and 74 shows around the world were already history.

Line-up:

Jon Anderson (vocals) 

Bill Bruford (drums), 

Rick Wakeman (keyboards), 

Steve Howe (guitar), Tony Levin (bass) Julian Beck Cole (keyboards) Milton MacDonald (guitar) 

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

Live At The NEC 2CD - £11.99

Live at the NEC Deluxe Edition (3 Disc) 2CD1DVD - £19.99

Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe 2CD - £11.99

An Evening of Yes  CD - £7.99

An Evening of Yes  DVD - £9.99

YES-CLOSE TO THE EDGE 40TH ANNIVERSARY 11-26

http://www.inthestudio.net/previews/yes-close-edge-40th-anniversary-11-26/

One of the legendary YES line-ups reconvenes with Rick Wakeman, Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, and Jon Andersonall In the Studio to get really Close to the Edge, one of the pinnacles of progressive rock and the #1 seller, on its 40th anniversary the week of November 26. 

Redbeard

ABWH IN PROG ROCK MAG

http://www.progrockmag.com/news/anderson-bruford-wakeman-howe-release-live-album/

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe Release Live Album

Comments0

Martin Kielty at 10:02am September 17 2012

A celebrated 1989 concert by Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe has been released as a 2CD/DVD box set.

The show took place at Birmingham’s NEC and is presented in full in the deluxe package.

ABWH formed in 1988 with the intention of returning to a classic Yes sound. Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe performed a series of shows the following year under the title An Evening of Yes Music Plus.

The box set also includes a short documentary film called Off The Wall. It’s available online from Gonzo Multimedia and will not be distributed to shops.

ABWH: Live At the NEC track list

Disc 1: 1. Time and a Word/Owner of a Lonely Heart/Teakbois; 2. Clap; 3. Mood for a Day; 4. Wakeman Solo; 5. Long Distance Runaround/Drum solo; 6. Birthright; 7. And You and I; 8. All Good People; 9. Close to the Edge. Disc 2: 1. Themes/Bruford-Levin Duet; 2. Brother of Mine; 3. The Meeting; 4. Heart of the Sunrise; 5. Order of the Universe; 6. Roundabout; 7. Starship Trooper. ABWH: Off the Wall – A Short Film by Julian Colbeck.

LINK: Interesting German review of ABWH

http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_12897.html

Reviews

By: Nik Brückner @ (Review 1 of 2 )

During the tour of Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe Tony Levin was sick (hepatitis A) and missed some concerts. For these performances, he was replaced by Jeff Berlin, who quickly got two and a half hours of material and abliefete a bravura performance that is at "An Evening of Yes Music Plus" documented.

For twenty years it was the only live document of the band and some fans felt Tony Levin, the actual tour bassist would, done by injustice. Gonzo, successors of Voiceprint corrected this now. The word "correct" in this company has a very unique Bedeuteung. The credits on the box were a dice, also got messed up both the order of the songs on the second CD, as well as the printed order.So you went from "Order of the Universe" unnecessarily (and accidentally?) With a bonus track (in fact, the song "Roundabout" played), its own track made from an announcement and printed also a completely wrong song order on the cover. Gonzo just. Anyway: Above the actual song order the CD is shown.

But they lead the next great idea, they had some time ago had with the Yes-Release "Union Live": The box contains a small-scale reproduction of the former Tour Books. Cheers arias, sure, but for the collector and certainly not uninteresting. Not a bad idea for the furnishing of live albums

Now what is it? Well, the set list is like that of "An Evening Of Yes Music Plus ..." And here it is the same thing that was already for that concert: The idea to put the solos in the beginning, is still brave, great, and a great match to the atmosphere of the concert. The combination of the classics (especially, as always, when Wakeman is out of Fragile-/Close-to-the-Edge-Zeit) works fantastically with the new ABWH songs, the band is relaxed and easy as they are rarely has experienced. Complements the set list is now through the schnuckelige "The Meeting", which could be heard only on the video version of that album, and the duet between Bruford and Levin, which was at the concerts with Berlin not played naturally. Both give everything and engage in duels like there's no tomorrow. Unfortunately, the coordination between the two is not perfect (the show was one of the first after recovering Levin) and the remainder of the curious listener gewesene back a bit unsatisfied.

What interested in this release, most of all, of course, is the comparison between Tony Levin and Jeff Berlin. And Levin cuts do surprisingly weak, but above all is the sound of "Live at the NEC."For he is audibly weaker than that of "An Evening of Yes Music Plus." "Live at the NEC", after all, a recording of BBC Radio I will be plagued by constant noise and the fact that momentum is abundant pale. At the beginning of CD I hear even some brief glitches. You often hear Levin not even in the mix. When you see him but listen, it sounds familiar soft and restrained. Berlin as he takes very stylistically back and plays almost continuously after the originals by Chris Squire, from the jazzy walking bass intro of "Close to the Edge" to the idiosyncratic melodies of "Long Distance Runaround". Even the sounds are different in two almost identical. Berlin is more present in the overall sound of his album, which is due to the better sound quality, but also plays audible rougher and more muscular than Levin, surprisingly. Wherein more on jazz-oriented bassist On the other hand, Levin plays to "Heart of the Sunrise" a richly funky bass, unusually, is not likely to please everyone.

Nice, some small additions: So Anderson sings a few bars of "Soon" at the end of "Disillusion", sometime play Wakeman and Bruford just a bit nimble jazz and even the 25-minute film by Julian Colbeck, the and the band before shows during the concert on 25 October, is a nice addition.

Finally, a dose of trivia: Bill Bruford had left the band just two weeks before the start of the "Close to the Edge" tour. Consequently, the concert, which was held on "Live at the NEC", one of the first in which he played the songs "And You and I" and "Close to the Edge" ever live! Maybe some interest to keep the listening in mind.

"Live at the NEC" is all in all a nice addition ABWH the catalog, but that it should now be content. Seven publications (I'm counting on Jon Anderson's "Watching the Flags That Fly" which included the demos for the second-ABWH ALbum "Dialogue") are truly enough for a band that only one studio album presented.

LINK: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe CFZ Review

http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/reviewABWH.htm

RATINGS:  A = must own   B = buy it   C= average   D = yawn   F = puke

ABWH – Live at the NEC Deluxe Edition
Gonzo Multimediahttp://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk
Rating: B Gonzo Multimedia are a UK company doing some fine work digging about and coming up with concerts and videos from great bands. This release features Yes when they were not called Yes! In 1988 Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford and Howe (AWBH) formed, released an album and went on the road performing what they called “An Evening of Yes Music Plus.”

On October 24, 1989, the band pulled into Birmingham, England for a concert at NEC and the tapes were rolling. Joining Yes –errrr—AWBH on this evening was bass player Tony Levin, who missed several shows due to illness. This is the first recording released with the talented bassist performing with the band.

The release, only available online, features two CDs of music and a fun, behind the scenes look at the band on the road DVD titled “Off the Wall.” The DVD is a bonus because the real treat here is the music. Together, a total of 16 songs are performed, and, as expected, they are performed flawlessly.

The track list includes many Yes classics including “Time and Word” which then goes into a great acoustic version of “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

“The Clap” and “Mood for a Day” allow guitarist Steve Howe to show off early in the set. Not to be outdone, Rick Wakeman plays a great solo, shortly afterwards. The rest of the show keeps going with classics including “Long Distance Runaround,” “And You and I,” “All Good People,” “Close to the Edge,” “Heart of the Sunrise,” “Roundabout” and “Starship Trooper.”

This may not be a Yes concert but with Wakeman and Anderson joining Howe, it is much closer than the Yes lineup of today!

This is a great show and a ‘Must Own’ for Yes fans. By Jeb Wright

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

LINK: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe review

http://dmme.net/reviews/reviews52.html#abwhnec

No chamber feeling or pocket symphonies this time around: the YES-men rock the Brummieland at their most beautifully lax. That was a strange situation when the forefront melodic part of the quintessential prog ensemble found themselves outside the fold, yet, fortunately, by then Rick Wakeman, Jon Anderson and Steve Howe were masters of their own show and, together, could cover all bases. To flesh out their rhythmic rear, the three called for another YES alumnus, Bill Bruford who, with jazzy inclinations for a secret agenda, brought in his KING CRIMSON partner Tony Levin. In such circumstances, the name of their game became "looseness", and if previous live releases from ABWH oozed regular grandiloquence, this one blows the topographic oceans away.

The change is never more obvious than in "Heart Of The Sunrise" that is the public is teased with before it's actually unleashed to trade its usual tight rebound for a fusion sprawl, and, of course, in the opening solo workouts from those tuneful three. Of them, only the singer evokes, over his own acoustic strum, a freshly flavored tune, "Teakbois", having set the contextual scene with "Time And A Word" and cutting short this long-distance glance with "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" (there's a sound glitch on there yet it came from the stage not the recording). And it's together that the band deliver most of their only studio album interspersing it with past classics which, save for Howe's standard showcase for "Clap" and expanded "Mood For A Day", crisp as ever, are given a very vibrant treatment here. In his turn, Wakeman enhances the mood with his own classical swirl with a hint of "Six Wives" and adds gentle touch to "Soon" (pitched in the heart of "Starship Trooper") that he originally didn't play on, while Levin and Bruford engage into a percussive duet within "Themes", and it's interesting to see how the full line-up change gears midway through "Long Distance Runaround" or come unhinge in "Order Of The Universe".

Yet tight but loose is "Birthright" where all the individual threads weave the wholesome seriousness of heavenly Rio, and that's where additional players, guitarist Milton McDonald and keyboardist Julian Colbeck (whose short film enhances the package, together with a replica of tour program, on DVD) come in handy. The result of the collective effort is paradoxically effortless and, for all its complexity, lightweight. Which, for so called dinosaurs, is a phenomenal feat.

****1/3

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

LINK: Album Review - Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe – Live at the NEC

There’s an old joke – admittedly not a rip-roaringly hilarious one – about band names sounding like law firms:Crosby, Stills, Nash and (sometimes)Young was the first to be the butt of comments about too many egos for one band (or band name). The tortuously convoluted history ofYes resulted in a late 80s aggregation with an even more unwieldy moniker: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. “It’s a mouthful…and how,” went one of the jokes. (Tip your server and try the veal.)

Because estranged bassist Chris Squire somehow ended up with they keys to the logo and brand, four members of arguably the most-revered lineup of Yes enlisted the talents of Tony Levin, bassist extraordinaire of King Crimson and veteran of more than 500 sessions. They didn’t give him top billing, but he didn’t seem to mind: “I don’t care about the billing at all,” he told me in September 2011. “My mind was occupied on that tour by trying to fill the shoes of Chris Squire, without sounding like a guy who’s just copying Chris Squire.” An additional keyboardist (Julian Colbeck) and guitarist (Milton McDonald) were added to the lineup for the inevitable world tour.

Read on...

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

ABWH Portuguese Review

http://vianocturna2000.blogspot.pt/2012/09/review-live-at-nec-abwh.html

Review: Live At The NEC (ABWH)

Live At The NEC (Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe)

(2012, Gonzo Multimedia)

Does indisputable claim that progressive rock would never be what it is today if they had not existed the seminal British band The Yes born in June 1968 following the departure of Pete Banks of Toy Shop and until 1988 had eight different compositions. Throughout his career, many musicians have passed through the Yes notably the quartet who signs this work, albeit only between August 1971 and July 1972 have been the four simultaneously. In 1988 the quartet that is only known by the nicknames of musicians (Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe) recorded his first studio work would be published a year later which was followed by a world tour named as An Evening Of YES Music Plus. Now, over twenty years after the fans have access to the show that the band gave the mythical N. E. C. in Birmingham with this deluxe edition of the British Gonzo Multimedia offers. There are two audio CDs, more than two hours of progressive rock music at its best, from the quieter moments and acoustic (about half of the first cd) to themes rockers. Why not here also lack the usual demonstrations of skill Wakeman on keys of Bruford on drums and Tony Levin on bass musician who accompanied the ABWH this tour. Added is a DVD that includes some footage from backstage and soundcheck, recordings made by Julian Colbeck, another guest musician (keyboardist) to monitor the project. The true fans of progressive rock in general and in particular Yes, certainly rejoice with this news, but it is information that this pack is not available in stores or on online sites. Those interested should contact the publisher directly Gonzo Multimedia.

Tracklist:

CD 1:

One. Time And A Word / Owner Of A Lonely Heart / Teakbois

2nd. Clap

3rd. Mood For A Day

4th. Wakeman Solo

5th. Long Distance Runaround / Drum Solo

6th. Birthright

7th. And You And I

Eight. All Good People

9th. Close To The Edge

CD 2:

One. Themes / Bruford-Levin Duet

2nd. Brother Of Mine

3rd. The Meeting

4th. Heart Of The Sunrise

5th. Order Of The Universe

6th. Roundabout

7th. Starship Trooper

Line-up:

Jon Anderson - vocals

Bill Bruford - drums

Steve Howe - guitars

Rick Wakeman - keyboards

Julian Colbeck - keyboards

Tony Levin - bass

Milton MaDonald - guitars

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

ABWH: Review

http://www.electronicmusicmall.com/Html/reviews100.htm 

September 2012
Progressive rock archive concert.
Yes men Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe reunited back in 1989 following a series of band departures, line-up changes, side projects and solo projects. With a vibrant collection of new material that revisited a more 'traditional' Yes sound, the four released a self-titled album and engaged in a series of concerts under the name "An Evening of Yes Music Plus". The live set captured here includes plenty of unhurried soloing from each of the band members, a number of tight live renditions of crucial Yes compositions and five central tracks of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe material. The first track from the then new album is Birthright and it follows directly after Bruford's solo performance with its tribal rhythm and understated instrumentation. Disc two begins with Themes which opens wide toward the end into a rhythmically dynamic duet between bassist for the project Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. As this section of the concert builds to a crescendo Heart Of The Sunrise Roundabout and Starship Trooper build into to Order Of The Universe highlighting the fact that the ambitious early progressive heights were still being scaled.

ARTWORK
In standard DVD plastic case Live at the N.E.C. comes nevertheless with rich visual content: cover insert printed on both sides and twenty eight page booklet. The artwork holds much of Roger Dean's trademark imagery: bold graphic designs, intricate lettering and absorbing paintings. All track titles are listed on the rear, inside the cover is a page of information on the Evening of Yes Music Plus. The booklet is huge, beginning with the original tour dates and personnel. A comprehensive band members 'family tree' traces the musical careers of the quartet. There is a description of the project's inception and development; photos of relevant curios and ephemera; performance stills and promotional photography; brief biographical sections for the players along with portrait imagery; Dean's cover art and inspirational landscapes conclude the package.

OVERALL
This three-disc set presents a concert recorded Live at the Birmingham N.E.C. on October 24th 1989. Discs one and two are audio discs of Yes classics and ABWH tracks with plenty of space given over to virtuoso soloing: Steve Howe plays Clap and Mood For A Day, Jon Anderson sings a medley of three favourites over a single guitar accompaniment, Rick Wakeman delivers a passionate rendition of a medieval influenced synth montage, Long Distance Runaround provides a springboard for Bill Bruford to showcase his considerable percussive talents as does Themes. The Julian Colbeck video that fills disc three is an intimate monochrome look at the band in informal backstage setting and pre-concert rehearsals. In this way angles and details not easily found in live performance footage are explored and lingered over. Eventually, snatches from the concert itself are stitched into a compact whole leaving the impression that the viewer has shared something of the whole experience rather than simply a recorded concert. All in all this is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy this unique phase in the varied history of Yes - a package with a sense of souvenir about it. The collection can be ordered directly from the Gonzo Multimedia website, where you can also find the DVD An Evening of Yes.

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

ABWH COMPETITION PROBLEM

Yesterday we posted a link to a ABWH competition. There is, apparently, a problem with the competition, and one of the links doesn't work. We would like to point out that the competition is not run by us, and that we only reposted it as a public service. I have sent a message to the people responsible and I will keep you posted.

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

ABWH: Win 1 of 3 copies of Vintage Concert Deluxe Edition 2-CD/DVD Box Set

London, UK - Much to the excitement of progressive rock fans across the globe, UK's premier record label Gonzo MultiMedia has released a vintage concert by YES legends Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe (ABWH) ' Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe ' Live At The Birmingham N.E.C. The concert held on October 24, 1989 in Birmingham, UK has been released in its entitrety in this deluxe edition 2-CD/DVD box set.

A concept conceived as a return to more traditional 'YES' sounding music, ABWH recorded their debut studio album in late 1988, with the intial tracks done in Paris before the ensemble relocated to Montserrat with producer Chris Kimsey to complete work on the songs. In support of their self-titled debut release on June 5, 1989, ABWH prepared a major world tour touted as 'An Evening Of YES Music Plus'. The tour started in the US in Memphis, TN in late July, and featured Tony Levin on bass, Milton McDonald (additional guitars), Julian Colbeck (additional keys) ' Jeff Berlin was also featured on bass for several shows due to Tony Levin being ill.

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

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

ABWH: Another insightful review

http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_12897.html#oben

Reviews

By: Nik Brückner @

During the tour of Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe Tony Levin was sick (hepatitis A) and missed some concerts. For these performances, he was replaced by Jeff Berlin, who quickly got two and a half hours of material and abliefete a bravura performance that is at "An Evening of Yes Music Plus" documented.

For twenty years it was the only live document of the band and some fans felt Tony Levin, the actual tour bassist would, done by injustice. Gonzo, successors of Voiceprint corrected this now. The word "correct" in this company has a very unique Bedeuteung. The credits on the box were a dice, also got messed up both the order of the songs on the second CD, as well as the printed order.So you went from "Order of the Universe" unnecessarily (and accidentally?) With a bonus track (in fact, the song "Roundabout" played), its own track made from an announcement and printed also a completely wrong song order on the cover. Gonzo just. Anyway: Above the actual song order the CD is shown.

 Read on...


Purchasing 
information: http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/13921/Anderson_Bruford_Wakeman_Howe-Live_at_the_NEC_Deluxe_Edition_(3_Disc).html

LINK: ABWH Greek Review

http://www.grande-rock.com/reviews/abwh_-_live_nec

ABWH - Live at the NEC

Mon, 09/17/2012 - 01:08 | thanos

ABWH

Live at the NEC

Gonzo Multimedia

2012

http://gonzomultimedia.co.uk

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Certainly the names of Anderson, Brudford, Wakeman, Howe will evoke a lot of memories to the progressive fans around the world. These talented and premiere musicians formed the alter ego of YES back in 1989 under the name of ABWH, just using the initials of their names. Some legal problems regarding the use of the name YES made them go on with ABWH for a couple of years till all the differences were resolved finally and they produced the YES album “Union” in 1991.

The 2CD/DVD “Live at The NEC” captures, in its entirety, the concert that was held on October 24th, 1989 in Birmingham. Except for the vocalist Jon Anderson, the drummer Bill Brudford, the keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and the guitarist Steve Howe we have Tony Levin on bass Julian Colbeck on keyboards & Milton McDonald on guitars. The first disc features mostly medleys of songs from YES & ABWH and a few solos from Wakeman & Brudford. The second disc starts with “Themes” which turns into a Brudford & Levin duet. The other 6 songs are closer to the original ones without any solos/medleys. Finally, the third disc features the “Off the Wall” short film by Julian Colbeck. On that film we see the band backstage celebrating Jon Anderson's birthday on the 25th of October and also onstage, both during the soundcheck and the actual concert. Of course, due to the technical equipment of the time, this bonus footage is not quite meeting the today BR, HD standards but it will give you an idea, especially to the younger ones, of how things were done almost 20 years ago. It's good actually and is giving the chance to the fans of the band to see some more personal moments of the artists they love.

This 2CD/DVD also features a 28-page booklet with lots of photos and biographical and not only material, concerning the members of the band. The whole package is greatly made, offering wonderful music and satisfactory video quality. Definitely, the loyal fans of the YES & ABWH will get it no matter what… but, undoubtedly, if you’re into progressive rock music then “Live at the NEC” will be a good addition to your collection.

PS: This box set is EXCLUSIVELY available only from Gonzo MultiMedia and won’t be distributed to any shops or on-line sites. You can order it here.

LINK: A great review of AWBH

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..

Read on...

Check out the ABWH Gonzo Artist Page

ANDERSON, BRUFORD, WAKEMAN AND HOWE: A little gem

The other night I sat down for the first time to watch the Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford and Howe DVD released some years by Gonzo. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it is an absolutely magnificent artefact of a particularly peculiar time in the history of one of the greatest progressive rock ensembles on the planet.

At the end of the 1970s, Yes lost several pivotal members and made an album called Drama with a line-up that included Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes (no relation). They had formally been of a very clever, but very 70s pop group called The Buggles and I vividly remember how waves of shock and awe spread across the proggy/hippy wot-not community at the news that our seminal icons had been polluted by the addition of those two geezers that had sung 'Video Killed the Radio Star'.

Of course, that was massively unfair. I thought then, and still think now, that 'Drama' is a much better album than anybody ever admits, but was in undeniable is that it heralded a weird decade for the band; one in which they got progressively more poppy until at the end of the decade four of the pivotal members from their most legendary prog line-ups toured as a splinter group.


Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe is, as I assume you will have all realised, an ensemble featuring Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Bill Bruford and Steve Howe. They made an eponymous album in 1989 and also this film, which I flush to admit I hadn’t heard of until now.

I always rather liked Yes and now, for the first time, have been able to see one of the shows in the ‘AWBH presents an Evening of Yes Music’ tour is a revelation. The arrangements are sparse, even minimalist, and none the worse for that. It is very interesting to see such a no frills approach on such familiar material, and it contrasts very well with the other DVD that Gonzo put out; the artefact of the Union tour which is what happened a year or two later when AWBH teamed up with the remainder of Yes to produce another massively entertaining record, tour, and film.

I can’t pick which of these DVDs I like most. This is probably because, even though quite a lot of the tracks are the same, and four of the same musicians play on both, the arrangements and presentation are so completely different. One night I will have to watch them back to back and see if I can come to a definitive conclusion as to which one I like the best. I strongly suspect that I won’t.

In the meantime, check this out:

YES: Roundabout

From the Gonzo Multimedia DVD Union: Live

YES: A kind of magick

Union Live Part Three
I think that the last word about the Union Live DVD should go to one of the major players on it, Mr Rick Wakeman. I have been working on a reissue of one of his volumes of autobiography in which he wrote:

Yes were also in the middle of recording an album, and the general plan was to merge the two products, produce one album and call it Union. (When I heard the finished product I renamed it “Onion" as it made me cry every time I played it.)

More time was obviously needed to enable the albums to be merged successfully, but time was something that I didn’t have. I had a solo tour contractually booked and so was very limited to the amount of extra work that I could put in on the project. The end result was, as far as I was concerned, an unmitigated disaster and the worst piece of Yes product ever released to the general public.

The tour, however, was a totally different kettle of fish.

I arrived in Florida for the rehearsals, full of excitement and expectation. I sensed in a strange way that such a tour would only ever happen once, as there were too many personality clashes waiting in the wings for a head-on musical tight, so I had already decided that I was not going to get involved in Yes politics but just thoroughly enjoy performing the music - and that is exactly what I did.

It was wonderful playing with Chris Squire and Alan White again, and Trevor Rabin and I also struck up a tremendous relationship. The tour lasted nearly a year and virtually went round the world, with the last performances taking place in Tokyo early in 1992.

Far be it for me to argue with Mr W, but I really enjoyed Union when it first came out two decades ago, and whilst it is not the best album they made, it is still a personal favourite. And I have to agree with him, there was something completely magickal about the tour, and that magick comes across on the DVD.

Trust me guys, it is well worth the small investment.

YES: No tin boxes

Union Live Part Two
On the back of the cover of Mike Oldfield's seminal Tubular Bells LP (it is so nice to still be able to use the term LP - none of the youngsters who come in and out of my office know what the flip I am talking about) there is the message:

"This stereo record cannot be played on old tin boxes no matter what they are fitted with. If you are in possession of such equipment please hand it into the nearest police station."

Again this is probably lost on anyone under the age of 40, but once upon a time records used to have the following statement (or something very much like it) emblazoned on their sleeves:

"This stereo record can be played on monaural record players, but there will be a significant loss of sound"
...or something like that.

However, I have a significant warning that has to be made about the Yes DVD that I am featuring all this week. The following message was inadvertantly left off the sleeve:

"This DVD should not be played on a twenty year-old portable TV given to you by your nephew after the intern poured water into the back of the old one whilst cleaning out the bitterling tank".

Or something like that.

I don't watch television very much. It doesn't interest me in the way that music and books do, and so our only TV is a little portable (provenance noted above). The other day, I played the Union Live DVD on it, and it sounded terrible! I was feeling terribly worried about it, but then Graham plugged it into our hi-fi, and suddenly it sounded as wonderful as I had always expected that it would. maybe better.

So, before we go any further, let this be a cautionary tale. An old mono TV may be perfectly adequate to watch old films on (in my case the Prisoner box set Corinna gave me for Christmas), but it is totally inadequate to watch music DVDs.

And you need to have the optimum equipment for this DVD because it really is smashing.

I am currently working on a reissue of Dan Wooding's classic biography of Rick Wakeman. In it he quotes a Melody Maker piece from around the time that Rick joined the band:

'Part of the reason for the split was that Tony Kaye wanted to concentrate on Hammond Organ while Yes wanted to further augment their sound'.

That is as may be, but I was totally unprepared for the sound that came from the two keyboard players playing in tandem. It was rich and full, and totally surprising. Both musicians are masters of their art, but their styles are markedly different and I had always assumed that they would clash, but far from it.And the two drummers also complimented each other in a totally unexpected (well, unexpected by me) way. They are amongst my favourite drummers, but again have wildly differing styles. Alan White demonstrates why no less a personage than John Lennon had pulled him out of obscurity to join the Plastic Ono Band, and Bill Bruford just continues being the drummer of choice for all the world's leading prog bands.I had always liked the Union album, but I had expected the live stuff from the tour to be a bit of a mish mash. But I was completely wrong. It is a delight.Once again I have over-run and overshot my budgeted words. I will continue on this subject next time