Steve Howe - (2001) Natural Timbre

"The YES guitarist Steve HOWE's new album "Natural Timbre" is quite far from the music he have recorded with YES and ASIA through the years. The album contains eighteen all- acoustic instrumental songs witch moves within many different genres. And they're performed in an emotional, relaxed, and for being Steve HOWE, different way. I saw Steve performing together with MARILLION on MTV a couple of years ago, and I remember that I was thinking that the man had grown old and his guitar playing wasn't as good as before, but this album shows the opposite. The music is complex, vital and more refreshing then Steve have been in many years. But there are actually some YES connections on this album after all, as Steve has included three new versions of some old YES-songs, selected by his fans: "Your Move", "Disillusion" and "To Be Over". With this album Steve proves that he's still one of the world's finest guitarists.
Review by Greger (Greger Rönnqvist), July 03, 2004"

I'm shocked to see that this excellent album has only four reviews. I can understand that many people may have felt burned by some of the releases from earlier in Steve's career, but this one is very nice indeed. It will be quite a departure for people who are only familiar with Steve's most well-known stuff, as most of this album is made up of laid-back, jazzy instrumentals (with a strong country influence on some songs as well.) Steve is still mesmerized by the sounds of his various guitars, and brings them to us in a some delightful works that showcase their sounds and characteristics as much as they showcase his talent.

That's right, I said instrumentals. We can all breathe a sigh of relief. Steve doesn't sing.

Anyhow, this is the best of Howe's albums that I have heard and it is well worth having. If you gave up on Steve's solo career in the last millenium, try this one out. It's different and better than those old albums you bought in the '70's.

Four stars. Steve may have released things that required more impressive chops in the past, but this is the right mix of skill and taste.
Here's probably the best Howe album... All the songs are acoustic, but he can make them very different one from another, using Mandolin, Banjo, several acoustic guitars, violin(played by Anna Palm). The whole album is very calm, perfect for reading, and he makes blues (Intersection Blues, to me the best track), Jazz (Dream River), and ambient music ( Distant Seas)... The disc has songs for all my moods. The Yes songs, in my opinion are all excelent: Your Move's extremely beautiful melody is made better, and the recorders are so calm and soft; Disillusin (from Starship Trooper) is outstanding, very emotive; To Be Over is a masterpiece, with amazing Glockenspiel, and a totally different atmosphere from the original. They are all as good as the originals.

Studio Album, released in 2001

Track Listings

1. Distant Seas (6:14)
2. Provence (4:00)
3. Intersection Blues (2:28)
4. Family Tree (4:29)
5. J's Theme (3:52)
6. In the Course of the Day (3:32)
7. Dream River (3:58)
8. Golden Years (4:35)
9. The Little Galliard (1:22)
10. Up Above Somewhere (3:56)
11. Curls and Swirls (2:33)
12. Pyramidology (3:06)
13. Lost for Words (3:34)
14. Winter (Vivladi) (2:16)
15. Solar Winds (3:53)
16. Your Move (3:27)
17. Disillusion (1:41)
18. To Be Over (6:13)

Total Time: 65:09

Line-up/Musicians:
- Steve Howe / guitar (acoustic), banjo, bass, dobro, guitar, mandolin, percussion, autoharp, guitar (bass), guitar (12 String), koto, mandola, mandocello, Hawaiian Lap Steel guitar
- Andrew Jackman / piano, Glockenspiel
- Anna Palm / violin
- Dylan Howe / drums