Was Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe a Failure?

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   Here's Bill Bruford, quoted from the book The Music's All That Matters:

"Anderson-Wakeman-Bruford-Howe was first and foremost a business thing. I still wasn't crazy about the music, but there were some interesting bits... If we could have developed the group over a very long period of time instead of, say, over five minutes, I believe the band could have been very interesting, but that wasn't the way Arista wanted it."

Quite a change from the spirit of early Yes, I would say. But the music business was very different in 1989 than it was in 1969. No wonder the band could only manage one studio album...

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Neu!mann Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: January 21 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 689	Posted: August 27 2016 at 17:08
	Here's Bill Bruford, quoted from the book The Music's All That Matters: "Anderson-Wakeman-Bruford-Howe was first and foremost a business thing. I still wasn't crazy about the music, but there were some interesting bits... If we could have developed the group over a very long period of time instead of, say, over five minutes, I believe the band could have been very interesting, but that wasn't the way Arista wanted it." Quite a change from the spirit of early Yes, I would say. But the music business was very different in 1989 than it was in 1969. No wonder the band could only manage one studio album...
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Tom Ozric Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: September 03 2005 Location: Olympus Mons Status: Offline Points: 15921	Posted: August 27 2016 at 17:03
	Only Teakbois was a failure - but there was an amusing story behind that slab of Caribbean noodling.........I think Anderson would sign the hotel guest-book as Bobby Dread.......

aglasshouse Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 27 2014 Location: riding the MOAB Status: Offline Points: 1505	Posted: August 27 2016 at 16:50
	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. But it turns out it was quite different. It didn't quite shake off the Yes sound of that time like on albums 90125 and Big Generator. Much of it features the same things people criticize 80's Yes for, except this time old members of the band are playing it (and Tony Levin). But, this could also be forgiven for either a laidback attitude or age. It featured multi-movement suites which were very unlike the then-Yes and very much like your stereotypical prog band. So, I ask, did Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe turn out to be just like Jon Anderson's vision of a revival of classic Yes' sound or was it just another 80's Yes album disguised as a complex prog album? This question extends to the band as well as their only album, seeing as that's where most if not all of their original material came from. Edited by aglasshouse - August 29 2016 at 09:53
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