Steve Howe Leaves Asia (band) / Newcomer Sam Coulson Named as Replacement

Guitarist Steve Howe has announced his departure from Asia and he will be replaced by Sam Coulson (who has the reputation as a shredder, so I'm not sure I see the fit). Remembering back to something that Geoff Downes had posted circa 1999 - 2000, one of the reasons he pulled out of the then Asia reunion was that Steve Howe wasn't invited to participate. I had always heard that Howe didn't get along with John Wetton so Steve's departure doesn't come as a shock but...the Asia lineups with Mandy Meyer and Pat Thrall replacing Howe always seemed to be missing 'something' as Howe's playing is a prominent part of Asia's sound.

Here is Steve Howe's quote: "I have left Asia to concentrate on Yes, my solo work & my Trio. I've enjoyed the 6 years of touring and recording with Asia, but now it's time to focus more on the above mentioned formations. —Steve"

Here is the quote from the remaining members of Asia: "John Wetton, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer are delighted to announce that not only do they have an incredible talent in place to step into Steve Howe’s shoes, but also that their first international show with newcomer Sam Coulson will be a high profile performance at Sweden Rock 2013. Sam is a wonderful player, world-renowned amongst guitar virtuosos. Additionally, a new studio album, to be entitled ‘Valkyrie’, will be recorded for Frontiers Records during 2013 continuing the band’s relationship with the label.

John Wetton said, “ASIA is ready to take its next steps along this remarkable road. We cannot wait to perform again for the fans and also to unveil some of the new material, of which we are very proud”. Geoff Downes said, “We look forward to writing another chapter in Asia’s history”. Carl Palmer commented, “We’re all looking forward to the next decade of great ASIA music”."

Check out Sam Coulson's playing and see what you think...





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Yes (band) Will Play Three Complete Albums At Show At Beacon Theatre on April 9th

I have such the aversion to 'tribute bands' that I cringed when Yes replaced vocalist Benoît David (who fronted the Yes tribute band Close to the Edge) with Jon Davison (who fronted the Yes tribute band Roundabout). It equally seems like a bad idea that Yes is going out next year and playing three albums back-to-back that 2/5 - 3/5 of the current lineup played on. I would have loved to have seen Yes do something adventurous like play through albums like Time and a Word, Tales from Topographic Oceans, Drama or Open Your Eyes but, unfortunately, it looks like Yes wants to play it safe but...this moves the band somewhere between Moody Blues (who last released an album in 2003) and tribute band territory.

Legendary progressive rock band, Yes, today announced its upcoming North American tour, kicking off March 2013 in West Wendover, NV and wrapping up May 2013 in Detroit, MI. On this tour, fans can look forward to a totally new and unique Yes experience; the band, for the first time in its storied history, will perform three of its most popular albums in their entireties, The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One. Due to performance time limits in several venues, Yes will perform two albums, The Yes Album and Close to the Edge, in their entireties.

Performing three of rock’s most renowned albums will see Yes members, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, and Jon Davison, playing Yes staples that have dramatically influenced rock music over the last four decades. Fans will enjoy long time favorites, including "Yours is No Disgrace," "I’ve Seen All Good People," "Starship Trooper," "Close to the Edge," "And You And I," "Going for the One," "Wondrous Stories," "Awaken," and more, in a completely unique format. Moreover, Yes will perform all tracks in the order they appear on their corresponding studio albums.

"These albums we all easily agreed on—they are complete works in themselves. And several of the songs have rarely been performed live," says Yes guitarist, Steve Howe. "I believe the one song we’ve never performed in concert is ‘A Venture’ from The Yes Album," states Yes co-founder and bassist, Chris Squire. Yes drummer, Alan White goes on to say, "This is a great opportunity to show the growth of Yes throughout different eras, and to once again enjoy the great memories of those times, as well as create brand new ones. We’re looking forward to performing these albums. It’s going to be fun for us, and we think our fans will love it as well."

Tickets for the Beacon Theatre go on sale Dec. 14th and ticket prices range from $39.50 - $125 (or $53.25 - $143.60 after TicketMaster fees). (Update: I was curious to see what sort of tickets were left and the Beacon/TicketMaster website shows no tickets available, at any price - I'd be shocked if the show sold out that quickly so I'm wondering if it was canceled).

For anyone who wants to see what the current lineup looks like - here is a live video from a tour stop over the summer.



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Asia - "XXX" CD Review (Frontiers Records)

DOWNLOAD/STREAM: Asia - "Face on the Bridge" (Radio Edit)
(Note: Track hosted on Frontiers.it)

Two years ago, I reviewed Asia’s then current release, Omega, and my comment was “While the urgency/intensity and arena rock sound of the early releases is gone, this is a mature release that doesn’t detract from the band’s legacy and it should strike a chord with long-time Asia fans.” At the time of its release, John Wetton had compared Omega to Alpha and said that “musically and conceptually, the two albums share commonality.” With the release of XXX, Asia sounds re-engerized and this disc is the closest that the band has come to recreating the sound of their first album.

This disc is very much the Wetton/Downes show with the focal point of most of the songs being Geoff Downes’ piano and keyboard and John Wetton’s spot-on vocals. The music has a sense of urgency and immediacy that was missing from Omega and John Wetton hasn’t sounded this energized in years. Steve Howe’s guitar work is stellar when it surfaces from beneath Downes’ textured keys but…Carl Palmer’s contributions are fairly inconsequential. Seven of the disc’s nine tracks were written by Wetton/Downes, with Steve Howe sharing the writing credits on the remaining two songs. Most of the songs run close to or just over the five minute mark which gives them a chance to build and only one or two songs sag a bit when the band drifts too far into AOR territory.

The disc starts out strong with “Tomorrow the World” which opens with Downes on the piano and quickly builds up to the melodic and vocal hooks of the classic Asia sound. “Bury Me in Willow” is equally strong and includes the big melodic choruses which Asia is known for. “No Religion” (one of the numbers co-written by Howe) has a driving pace and more aggressive guitar work than typically found on an Asia album and Howe’s guitar work also shines on the other piece that he co-wrote – “Judas”. The disc’s first single “Face on the Bridge” leads in with Wetton’s bass work and features some of his strongest vocals and Wetton and the band’s strong vocal harmonies are also highlighted on “Al Gatto Nero”. The only dud on the album is “I Known How You Feel”, which isn’t horrid but sinks under its AOR weight.



The originally lineup of Asia seemed to run out of gas with their second album Alpha and collapsed shortly thereafter but XXX is a strong third release from the reunited band and shows that this lineup still has plenty of life left in them.

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Yes - "Fly from Here" CD Review (Frontiers Records)

It is starting to feel like 1979/1980 all over again, [Jon] Anderson and [Oliver] Wakeman both leave Yes, Yes regroups with vocalist Benoit David (a Trevor Horn sound-alike) and keyboardist Geoff Downes, Roger Dean does his first Yes album cover in years and the material focuses around songs brought to the group by keyboardist Geoff Downes and producer Trevor Horn.

The disc starts off with the twenty-four minute / five–part epic “Fly from Here” which was originally brought to the band as “We Can Fly from Here” by Downes and Horn in 1980 but ultimately left off of the Drama album. This new re-working of the song includes the original song plus “Sad Night at the Airfield” (a demo from The Buggles’ 1981 album Adventures in Modern Recording session), another previously unreleased Buggles demo “Madman at the Screens” and a new jittery composition by Steve Howe entitled “Bumpy Ride” that borders on Talking Heads' style funk. Continuing to leverage the some of the Buggles’ previously unreleased recordings, Chris Squire has said that "Life on a Film Set" is based on "Riding a Tide" (also released as a bonus track on Adventures in Modern Recording).



Of the remaining tracks, Steve Howe and Chris Squire both contributed separate pieces. The only song written by the full band (including Oliver Wakeman, prior to his departure) was “Into the Storm”, which sounds like something out of the 90125 era. Howe’s contributions are “Hour of Need”, where David sounds like a dead-ringer for Jon Anderson and the guitar instrumental "Solitaire", which is Howe's 'update' to "Mood for a Day".

Collectors Note: A significantly longer version of “Hour of Need” (6:45m) is included as a bonus track on the Japanese issue of Fly from Here.

Chris Squire takes lead vocals on his contribution, “The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be", which has an early-Yes/Syn vibe. This song was written last decade for an aborted solo project and it was co-written by Gerard Johnson (who played with Squire in The Syn) and Simon Sessler.

Fly from Here is fairly mellow and nowhere near as edgy as Drama but it is a solid and mature performance from a band that had seemed to be running out of gas. As to be expected, the same “you can’t have Yes without Jon Anderson” drama is flaring up on the internet. Most interesting was a “sour grapes” comment from Jon Anderson who told Rolling Stone “I wasn't really convinced…The new singer is singing good, but it sounded a bit dated to me. Also, the production wasn't as good as I expected. They've got a great producer with Trevor Horn, so what the hell are you doing?" The nay-sayers should keep in mind that, while this disc doesn’t break any new ground, it is head and shoulders above some of the band’s releases in the 90’s (specifically Talk and Open Your Eyes).

Yes is currently touring the summer sheds on a co-headlining bill with Styx and the set list includes "Fly From Here" from the new disc and "Tempus Fugit" from Drama. In other Yes-related news, Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman will be playing a string North American shows in the fall.

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