Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (album)

''Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe'' is the only studio album by the English progressive rock band Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, released in June 1989 on Arista Records.

Background and recording

The project began in 1988. At that time vocalist Jon Anderson had felt artistically constrained within Yes's current format, where the songwriting of Trevor Rabin had taken the band in a commercially very successful but musically and lyrically different direction. Anderson regrouped with Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford. Bruford, who had at various times been a member of King Crimson, recruited his Crimson bandmate Tony Levin as their bassist. The group was unable to use the name Yes for legal reasons. However, the group did have Arista assign the catalog number of 90126 to the original releases of the CD and cassette. This was a subtle way of stamping this as the next Yes album after '' 90125'' (1983).

Pre-production recording took place at La Frette Studios near Paris with Anderson putting down an outline of much of the album's songs with guitarist Milton McDonald. Anderson notably built on several demos provided by Howe, some of which Howe released on his solo album '' Homebrew'' (1996) and subsequent releases. Recording then relocated at AIR Studios on the island of Montserrat with Wakeman, Bruford and Levin. Most of the album was recorded using C-Lab's Notator software.

Howe recorded his guitar parts separately at SARM West Studios in London. Mixing took place at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York. Howe wrote in 2021 that Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, who supervised the mixing along with Anderson, were, while very in demand at the time, unfamiliar with the Yes sound and how the band had balanced its instruments in mixes over the years. Some songs appeared to him to have been pieced together at that stage of post-production, as writing credits did not reflect the actual input. Howe says that while "Themes", the opening track, credits him as one of the writers, he had nothing to do with it, and conversely other members share credit on compositions that were largely his.

Songs

The final section of "Brother of Mine" draws on an unrecorded Asia track "Long Lost Brother of Mine" written by Howe and Geoff Downes.

"Birthright" concerns the British nuclear tests at Maralinga in the 1950s and 1960s in Australia and incorporates material by Howe and Max Bacon for their band Nerotrend.

"Quartet" (She Gives Me Love) contains lyrical references to several Yes songs, including "South Side of the Sky", "Long Distance Runaround", "The Gates of Delirium", "Awaken", and " Roundabout".

"Let's Pretend" was originally written by Anderson and Vangelis as a Jon and Vangelis song, but it was rearranged as a voice and guitar duet for Anderson and Howe.

Cover

The artwork was designed and illustrated by Roger Dean, known for designing several Yes covers and stage sets in the 1970s, including their logo, the last being ''Classic Yes'' (1981). Dean was asked to design the cover in February 1989, and claimed he was not briefed on its direction and proceeded to work on "whatever seems appropriate"; his main idea was to suggest what American Indian culture might have developed if European colonists had not come to the Americas. Much of the cover depicts real landscapes and formations in the US; the clay pinnacles in the foreground are in Bryce Canyon, Utah and the background hills are based on the Vermilion Cliffs by the Colorado River. The cover is formed of two titled paintings, Blue Desert on the front and Red Desert on the back.

Release

The album was released on 20 June 1989, and reached No. 14 on the UK Album Chart and No. 30 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Elsewhere, it reached the top 30 in Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Norway, and Sweden. On August 30, 1989, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 500,000 copies in the US. Yes biographer Chris Welch reported the album sold approximately 750,000 copies.Welch 2008, p. 227.

"Brother of Mine" released as an edited single and peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Its music video was directed by Storm Thorgerson.

Paul Stump's 1997 ''History of Progressive Rock'' commented, "The album was calculated to appeal to diehards; sweeping orchestral bridges, episodic songs, multitudinous solos. But this, as did the ''90125'' project, lacks momentum, the emotional syntax of the music is still boringly rock-based; the orchestration, once pearly and luminous, sounds merely stodgy, and technology remains under-utilized; even Horn's primitive samplings of 1983 are absent here."

Reissues

The album was re-released in a remastered limited edition by Gonzo Multimedia on 18 March 2011, with a bonus CD with extra tracks, including alternate edits and live versions of tracks on the main album, as well as "Vultures in the City" (originally titled "Vultures" and previously available only as the b-side to the "Brother of Mine" 7-inch vinyl and CD single). This edition was initially only available only from Gonzo but can now be bought from other suppliers. In 2014 Esoteric Recordings reissued the album in time for its 25th anniversary.

Track listing

All music and lyrics by Anderson, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford. Additional writing credits are below:

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's LP liner notes.

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
* Jon Anderson – lead vocals, production
* Bill Bruford – Tama acoustic drums, Simmons SDX electronic drums
* Rick Wakeman – keyboards
* Steve Howe – guitars

Additional personnel
* Tony Levin – bass, Chapman stick, vocals
* Matt Clifford – keyboards, programming, orchestration, vocals
* Milton McDonald – rhythm guitar
* The Oxford Circus Singers (Deborah Anderson, Tessa Niles, Carol Kenyon, Frank Dunnery) - backing vocals
* J.M.C. Singers – Jon

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