Steve Howe: Natural Timbre : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Sure, he used to be in Asia, but guitarist Steve Howe has a reputation among Yes fans as the one with the integrity, the prog-rocker who's done the least selling out. That's been borne out by a long string of solo albums where he's explored everything from classical chestnuts to Ventures/Shadows instrumentals -- heck, he even released a full disc of Bob Dylan covers. But though acoustic picking has always been his specialty, Natural Timbre is his first fully acoustic album. There's no flashy, mile-a-minute soloing -- that was Eighties Yes man Trevor Rabin's department. Howe's real strengths have always been his lyrical sense and flair for arrangement, and both get a workout here. The disc's more ornate tracks use subtle overdubs to create Yes-like sound textures: Howe even remakes one of that band's weightiest epics ("To Be Over") without plugging in, using dobro and mandolin to replicate the climactic solo. The more spare numbers work just as well, particularly the uncharacteristically tongue-in-cheek "Intersection Blues" -- a jaunty Chet Atkins homage with a chorus centered on a "beep-beep" guitar lick. Here's hoping this disc's good taste spills over to this summer's Yes-with-orchestra album and tour.

BRETT MILANO
(June 4, 2001)