Was Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe a Failure?

It certainly didn't sound like early 70s Yes, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I love Yes through all of their transitions. All Yes albums, as well as the ABWH albums, are a 10/10 in my book.

ABWH was pretty good. Fun to mess with people and tell them the Order Of The Universe is about promoting a far right wing supremacist movement. It's not... is it? ;) Thought it needed some toughening up, I prefer the live release (autographed too!).

As for Union and the ABWH parts (most of 'em) I thought that was a pretty good album. Most people seem to get overly close to what they perceive as the the politics of Yes at the time. Who says it's the music that counts? Side one some terrific songs, side 2 is the epic suite.

They gave pretty good concert too.

aglasshouse wrote: Jon Anderson is said to have felt strained by the restrictions of the pop-oriented rock Yes was playing at the time, and wanted to go back to basics. He pulled on board old Yes members to create a wonderful lineup with fantastic musicians. So, what I (perhaps naively) expected was something along the lines of a classic Yes revival.

Except that the songs weren't quite wrritten that way. Look at all the sessions musicians and people involved. Some of the same culprits that screwed up the songs that became Onion.

I like ABWH, except for Quartet.

Jon's problem is that he's too flighty. He's like a lot of these lead singers who think they have musical chops they really don't. In the right band he's fantastic and I love his ideas, but he just doesn't have the chops to do it all himself. Even Olias struggles with this fact.

But i really like the vibe of ABWH, Vultures should have been on the album from the get go. Brother of Mine, Second Attention and Fist of Fire and the one about Australian nuclear testing are excellent tracks. Order of the universe is pure cheese but fun enough. Teakbois i've never understood what that word means but I like the music - pure Anderson.

cstack3 wrote: I saw ABWH in concert, they were sublime!  It was especially fun to see Tony Levin in Squire's spot, and he seemed to enjoy himself immensely.  However, the "Yes" brand is probably too compelling to abandon completely, so it always goes back to Yes(registered trademark). < ="cosymantecnisbfw" co="cs" id="SILOBFWID" style="width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block;">

Did Anderson sing Owner of a Lonely Heart as i've seen from Youtube recordings.

FFS Jon!

Jeffro wrote: I remember being excited about ABWH when first hearing about the project. Went out and bought it on cassette!  Never could get into it. I think I, like others, thought erroneously that it would sound like early Yes. I have recently tried to get back into it and am having little success. Oh well, can't like everything I guess

Rick Wakeman was the only member i'd ever heard of. I loved the album though. I'm listening to Brother of Mine right now. It has one of Howe's best ever guitar solos.

I love ABWH, and the live show I saw in Birmingham, subsequently released as a live cd, was incredibly good. Definitely one of the highlights of later Yes related material.

Rednight wrote: Ghost Whistler wrote: [QUOTE=aglasshouse]Even Olias struggles with this fact. Amen to that, brother. I bought that one a few years back after hearing years of hoopla about it, and boy did it disappoint. I may never put it on again.

I had a copy. The art work superb but what was so fantastic about the album? Really needed input from his band to lift it up. To me the Yes solo albums indicated a whole is the sum of the parts. They would have been better off making four or five Yes albums. Or even one.

Even many Jon fans say Olias is his solo album peak. I've heard one or two since and ... he needs yes or ABWH or RAW... WAR? Well, something...

Heh, I wonder if we'll get a new 90125? 

(Ducks...)

uduwudu wrote: Rednight wrote: Ghost Whistler wrote: [QUOTE=aglasshouse]Even Olias struggles with this fact. Amen to that, brother. I bought that one a few years back after hearing years of hoopla about it, and boy did it disappoint. I may never put it on again. I had a copy. The art work superb but what was so fantastic about the album? Really needed input from his band to lift it up. To me the Yes solo albums indicated a whole is the sum of the parts. They would have been better off making four or five Yes albums. Or even one. Even many Jon fans say Olias is his solo album peak. I've heard one or two since and ... he needs yes or ABWH or RAW... WAR? Well, something... Heh, I wonder if we'll get a new 90125?  (Ducks...)

Animation is by far his best solo album. It's actually really strong with some good musicians. I think he had a band of sorts at this point.

And then he got wind of Cinema...and 90125.

The stuff he did with Vangelis is excellent (for the most part).

^That's too cruel. I see your point, though.

I see it as a Yes album that couldn't be called Yes for legal reasons.