Roxanne Howe Murphy

File under "Yes." When this version of the band couldn't obtain rights to the name, they put their album out under their combined names, but it's still Yes by any other name. Jon Anderson's tenor wails through spacy lyrics, Rick Wakeman constructs cathedrals of synthesized sound, Steve Howe rips high-pitched guitar leads, and Bill Bruford makes his drums sound like timpani. For all that, it's a pedestrian effort for these veterans, not as bombastic as some of their stuff, not as inspired as others, but it definitely has the "Yes" sound. "She Gives Me Love" even refers to "Long Distance Runaround."

Not many bands can say they are releasing their third album thirty-five years after their debut, but not many bands have the history that California rockers Roxanne have. Originally formed in the late 80’s, Roxanne garnered commercial success with their 1988 self-titled debut album which was well received with two songs charting on rock radio; “Cherry Bay” and “Sweet Maria”, as well as a cover of Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music.” The band is back with their first album of new material in five years and second for Rat Pak Records. Stereo Typical features ten brand new songs from the quartet comprised of Jamie Brown (Vocals, Guitar), John Butler (Guitar), Joe Infante (Bass) and Dave Landry (Drums). The new album also features guest appearance from Paul Gilbert of Mr. Big, dUg Pinnick of King’s X and Jeff Scott Soto. Stereo Typical is scheduled for release worldwide on February 24th.

File under "Yes." When this version of the band couldn't obtain rights to the name, they put their album out under their combined names, but it's still Yes by any other name. Jon Anderson's tenor wails through spacy lyrics, Rick Wakeman constructs cathedrals of synthesized sound, Steve Howe rips high-pitched guitar leads, and Bill Bruford makes his drums sound like timpani. For all that, it's a pedestrian effort for these veterans, not as bombastic as some of their stuff, not as inspired as others, but it definitely has the "Yes" sound. "She Gives Me Love" even refers to "Long Distance Runaround."

If there's one thing listeners have learned about the solo projects of Yes members (or former Yes members), it's that no one should expect their solo output to be a carbon copy of Close to the Edge or Fragile. That has been true of Chris Squire and Alan White; it is also true of Steve Howe, whose solo projects have ranged from Yes-minded to not so Yes-minded. This 2003 release finds a 56-year-old Howe leading a five-man group called Remedy, which unites the guitarist/singer with two of his sons (keyboardist Virgil Howe and drummer Dylan Howe) as well as saxophonist Gilad Atzmon and bassist Derrick Taylor…

To any rock music fan of the last 50 years, Steve Howe needs no introduction. Best known as the guitarist for progressive rock band Yes, he has enjoyed a prolific recording and performing career spanning five decades. In addition to his solo work, Steve has released more than 50 albums with bands such as Yes and Asia and guest appeared with the likes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lou Reed and Queen. Love Is is Howe’s 17th solo record, comprising ten songs: five with current Yes singer, Jon Davison, singing harmonies and playing bass guitar and five instrumental tracks rotating through the running order.

Ten songs totalling 30 minutes of music from the eve of Steve Howe's emergence as one of the world's most famous guitar players. The singing isn't much, and the songwriting (apart from the excellent "Black Leather Gloves," written by Clive Skinner, and the group composed "Tired Towers") lacks some lyricism and tunefulness, but Howe's playing is filled with virtuoso melodic flourishes that almost make up for this shortcoming. His guitar carries songs like Curtis's "I Want You," and if you close your eyes on some of the other cuts, it's easy to imagine some of his work grafted onto songs from his first two Yes albums; one can also imagine some of this as demos by Peter Banks' group Flash. But overall this CD reveals Bodast as a band that needed something distinctive besides its axeman, and didn't have it, either in its personnel or their songwriting abilities.

To any rock music fan of the last 50 years, Steve Howe needs no introduction. Best known as the guitarist for progressive rock band Yes, he has enjoyed a prolific recording and performing career spanning five decades. In addition to his solo work, Steve has released more than 50 albums with bands such as Yes and Asia and guest appeared with the likes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lou Reed and Queen. Love Is is Howe’s 17th solo record, comprising ten songs: five with current Yes singer, Jon Davison, singing harmonies and playing bass guitar and five instrumental tracks rotating through the running order.