Search - Steve Howe :: Pulling Strings

Not Howe's best

R. Carreiro | 02/01/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Steve Howe is one of the finest guitar players there is. He is also the worst singer of all time. It is bad to such an unbelievable level that surely his producers, friends and fellow musicians have told him not to do it. And yet here again is a CD with about 8 or 9 tracks that are almost unlistenable because of his vocals. The other 8 or 9 tracks are instrumental and very good. While there is some singing (fortunately less than this CD)on "Not Necessarily Accoustic" , it is a much stronger collection of guitar work and is the live Steve Howe CD to have. "Quantum Guitar" is probably Howe's best studio work and, no surprise, has NO SINGING bogging down the great guitar playing. The Steve Howe Album is also excellent. The beauty of CD players is that you can program in the good songs to hear without having to listen to a whole album. On this CD you need to program in the instrumentals and leave out the cuts with Howe singing."

Howe Magnificent

Peter M Roche | US | 12/30/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even non-guitar afficianados would find this to be a great album. Recorded in Chicago and Minneapolis during Steve Howe's tour of the same name, PULLING STRINGS is like NOT NECESSARILY ACOUSTIC, PART II, and therefore a must-have for any Howe/Yes fan. Here, Steve thrills with acoustic interpretations of Gates of Delerium and Close to the Edge on his trusty Martin guitar. He teases the crowd by quoting every song from GOING FOR THE ONE before launching into the poignant nylon-stringed sentimentality of Turn of the Century. Steve also revisits some of his best bits from BEGINNINGS and THE STEVE HOWE ALBUM, including Diary of a Man Who Vanished and Pleasure Stole the Night. His spin on Mason Williams' Classical Gas is simply fantastic. The finale, My White Bicycle, is a rare cut from Steve's early days with Tomorrow. You won't find this track anywhere else, really, save for Steve's MOTHBALLS disc.Yes fans already know that Steve's voice isn't that great--but one doesn't listen to Yes or Howe for his singing abilities. His fretboard virtuosity is stunning and clean, and the few tunes which feature vocals aren't any worse off for it.You should just order the album now and put it on heavy rotation in your CD player, along with NOT NECESSARILY ACOUSTIC. Both discs evidence that the multi-talented, genre-jumping Howe is amongst the best (if not THE best) living guitarists on this planet."

Wish I had seen the live show too!

Peter M Roche | 07/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like the music of Yes, the Clap and Mood for a Day in particular, you will like this CD. I am a Yes fan and after listening to this CD, I had to play it again to be sure what I heard was really as good as I thought it was. Excerpts from Close to the Edge and the Gates of Delerium were excellent guitar pieces. Mr. Howe's guitar prowess is evident in this Cd and if you are a guitarist and fan of Yes, you should love this CD."