Reviewed by Bob Keeley
It is easy to imagine that all Steve Howe albums are going to be like his 1975 solo debut, Beginnings or his 1979 follow up, The Steve Howe Album. After all, his guitar style is unique in rock. Even though he blended lots of styles in both of those albums, each song always sounds very much like him. However, the truth is different than that. Over the fifty plus years Steve has been in the public eye, in Yes, Asia and GTR, in collaborations with countless other musicians, and in his solo work, he has often given each album a different sound. Time, for example showed him in collaboration with an arranger and small string ensemble, His 2020 vocal album, Love Is, seemed to mark out new territory and included some of the best singing of any of his solo albums.
For the aptly named Guitarscape, Howe once again tries something new. He got hold of a new keyboard, a Novation Summit, which, like many modern keyboards, includes a plethora of sounds that Howe began playing with. Being on a new instrument, Howe realized that he was accessing a different set of compositional muscles than he typically does. He used this keyboard to record a series of chordal and melodic ideas and then picked up one of his many guitars to see where it took him. Finally, he sent the tracks to his son, Dylan Howe, to add drums and percussion. The result is fourteen tracks that sound like nothing else in the Howe catalog.
Howe uses his new composition method to paint landscapes of sound that run the gamut from a throbbing synth pattern on “Hail Storm” to the slow-rock of “Spring Board.” His acoustic playing is highlighted in the gentle “Distillations” and he evokes an island paradise with his steel guitar in “Steel Breeze.”
One of the things that is always interesting about Howe’s compositions and arrangements is that he will often use a distorted electric guitar tone in pieces that are quiet and reflective, as he did on Yes’ “Turn of the Century.” He does that to great effect on “Up Stream.” The rest of the album continues in the same vein, including more snatches of melodic ideas than full-blown melodies, although those are also present in some tracks.
Howe is not a virtuosic keyboard player but he doesn’t need to be to use it to set the state for each of the short tracks on Guitarscape. Howe uses all the colors of his signature playing. It is fascinating to see what happens when he experiments with his signature electric, acoustic and steel guitar sounds paired with his keyboard musings. Howe once again succeeds in surprising us. After fifty years of solo work, he has created something unique with Guitarscape.
Released on 27th September 2024.
Guitarscape – Track Listing
1. Hail Storm (2.22)
2. Spring Board (2.45)
3. Distillations (1.48)
4. Up Stream (3.17)
5. Secret Mission (3.26)
6. Passing Thoughts (2.36)
7. Touch The Surface (3.21)
8. Spring Rhyme (2.02)
9. Equinox (3.04)
10. Seesaw (2.12)
11. Gone West (3.03)
12. Suma (1.34)
13. Spring Tide (2.41)
14. Steel Breeze (2.57)
All tracks written by Steve Howe
Produced by Steve Howe
