What is your rating of the album Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe?

[BrianD]

This has been done before but not in a way to keep track of the scores - hopefully this will overcome that by allowing you to choose one score per album.

You can base your evaluation on any version of the album.

[MARS]

Had to go with 7. Not my best.
I STILL LOVE YOU JON!

[True Believer]

What she said above - especially love you Jon!
:hearts:

[Andersonic]

9 points from the Dutch jury...

It was my intro to the realm of Yes, still very very special to me this album.

[Yes2Yes]

I would have gave it a nine if Chris and Alan were a part of it.

[InverYes]

I'll give it a 9 - like it a lot.

[neilius]

7 - Because of the song Teakbois, otherwise a 9.

[brotherofmine]

This album is the best even better when seeing it as well. It is the most energetic / turned on live performance I have seen from 'Yes' because for me this IS Yes, everyopne was on form at the same time so a full 10/10 from me.

[Altres]

7 - Because of the song Teakbois, otherwise a 9.

Teakbois is one of those tracks that just defies any sense of taste, logic or reason. Even they must know it's crap. At what point in the studio did they think "this'll be great on the album"?

I have a CD single of Brother of Mine that has a pretty good track on the b-side called Vultures in the City. Why didn't they hide Teakbois on a b-side somewhere.....preferably on someone else's cd single....maybe the Goombay Dance Band or someone.

Brian

[YesfanAndy]

If only Chris was in this - it'd probably be considered one of the best Yes albums of all time. Even without Chris, though I had to give it a 10. It's too strong of an album. Anderson's writing very strong, and having Rick and Steve back with him just made it all the better. Sorry Bruford nuts - I'm more of a White fan, myself.

[YesJen357]

An incredibly powerful album. Delightful in its intensity. Normally I need a couple of listens to get right into an album. This one 'hit me' on the first play.

Love the Australian connection with 'Birthright.'

One negative for me. 'Teakbois.' I had played the rest of the album many times before I could manage to listen to that song right through. Just my personal preference, but in me it evokes a similar reaction to running finger-nails on a black-board. (sorry)

[cinderella]

I give it an 8. All in all it's a pretty good album. Plus I love the album cover. It's one of my all time favorites.

[jimmygtr]

I gave it a 9 although Teakbois alone really knocked it down to a 8. It was a special energy the 4 + Levin put forth on that album.

[Whitefish]

I gave it an 8. Nice to hear them back together with Bill. But without Chris it is not quite Yes. Nor is it supposed to be!

A fun album!

[BrianD]

ABWH currently rates 7.89

[Deliriumyes]

When ABWH hit my cd player, all I could think was "YES IS BACK!" I love this album. I gave it a 9, only because my 10's are reserved for CTTE, TFTO, and Relayer. I guess I am the only one who likes Teakbois. I enjoy many different types of music, and the latin rhythm in that one really gets me moving. Am I alone? I really like it!

[Hugh Shiebler]

I was very happy when this album happened. And I was a 70's Yes fan that really got into "Big Generator". BG was there for me when I needed it, and helped see me through some dark times.

Mainly I think that the most important lasting achievement of this period was bringing Steve back to the fold. To me, he was the odd man out in the '80's, the person who really lost out the most. With ASIA, I could not even bring myself to buy that first album. I heard more than enough of it. Maybe it was better than REO Speedwagon or Foreigner, but compared to YES it was embarassing.

And who had not wondered what this bunch would sound like if brought back together? Tony Levin, Miracle Worker, added immeasurably to the sound of this album. Overall, though, the songs sound under-cooked and not ready for prime time. I love the begininng, and "Birthright" was a classic, but somehow, in this case, the whole was less than the sum of its parts. Or something like that.

Bruford, as always, was incredible - - but woefully underused. I read with amazement posts to NFTE going on about how Bruford's career went all downhill after he left Yes. Right. Just for his solo work in 79 and 80 he deserves a permanent place of honor in the history of progressive music - - rock or jazz or fusion or cauliflower or strawberry bricks or whatever you want to call it.

What a shame that this band never really got to show us its stuff. Live with Tony Levin in 1989 they were formidable. Many would say that their live versions of the CTTE pieces were the best those tunes have ever been played live, ever. And that is not far off. Some of the Onion pieces like "Holding On" give us a glimpse of what this group (AWBH + T.Lev) might have achieved had it been left alone.

Oh well.

[BrianD]

After 28 votes, an average of 7.96

[Sad Preacher]

i gave it a nine just because of Brother Of Mine....if Squire would have been there i might consider it one of Yes's best songs ever....

[Silent_wings]

I'd give it a 6 If we are ranking it against other Yes albums (and I do consider it a Yes album) It's a good album but not a great one. I enjoy listening to it
Karen I like Teakbois too :D

[Earl Grey]

I gave it a 7...

I really love the album, but miss Chris on the thing. The album has wonderful imput from Jon and Howe, and Wakey (although I would have liked some Hammond B3 and analog mini moog along with the early digital stuff he used here).

Bruford sounds great as always, but I have did have some trouble with the electronic drums he utilized on this one...
It gave the album a somewhat sterile sound at points, not the manner in which he played, but what he played on: The electronics didn't serve Bill as well as a simple snare and high-hat would've, but oh well!

What I really miss on ABW&H is the letter 'S'.

Squire adds a certain warmth, both in bass work as well as in his vocals. Chris also has a penchant for kicking arrangements into overdrive...

I listen to ABWH often, love the CD, but I miss Chris!

And there ya go.

EG:yesbird:

[gitsy]

I think I must be missing something here as I only gave a 5. Maybe it's time for another listen.

[Steve St Thomas]

I think I must be missing something here as I only gave a 5. Maybe it's time for another listen.

Nah. I gave it a 5 as well. For Fist Of Fire and Birthright mainly. And Tony Levin. And Bill Bruford. That equals 5.

[Earl Grey]

I think I gave it a higher rating on another thread here, back when.

Here's the thing: When ABWH came out, many of us 'Troopers' were starving for 'Classic Yes'. And this was the closest thing.

Pretty damned good in retrospect, but I still miss Chris, as I did when it was a new release.

History now, here's to a new Classic YES album in... 2007?

2007.

The sooner the better!

:ele: URL

[Steve St Thomas]

But is Steve Howe playing through a Rockman Effects (created by Tom Scholz of Boston) on this album?? I swear he is.

[Earl Grey]

Could be Steve...

It's a decent effects-box actually...

If honesty were a virtue in A&R-land, 'BOSTON' would have been called 'Rockman', the world would have spun along with attitude and sweet distortion.

'BOSTON'
...the band built on a fuzzbox.

Nice fuzzbox! Yeah. He used it, we ALL did!

:ele:

[Steve St Thomas]

Could be Steve...

It's a decent effects-box actually...

If honesty were a virtue in A&R-land, 'BOSTON' would have been called 'Rockman', the world would have spun along with attitude and sweet distortion.

'BOSTON'
...the band built on a fuzzbox.

Nice fuzzbox! Yeah. He used it, we ALL did!

:ele:

LOL

Yea, I used one as well, and the guitarist in the band I was in swore by them. That's why I can tell their sound pretty much in seconds. I think it might be on Order Of The Universe that I heard it, and said that HAS to be a Rockman he's playing through. They have a pretty unmistakeable sound once you hear them .

[Earl Grey]

Yup!

Trevor Rabin and 'The Rockman'...

...Whole other thread!

;)

A betchen box!

[Close to Loch Ness]

I gave it a 7. it would have scored higher, but like others, I think there is a distinct lack of bottom end on this one due to the absence of Chris.
Also I have to admit to quite liking Teakbois. It's just a bit of fun.

[Albino Camel]

I gave it an 8 only because it's one of my favorite albums that I own. I guess that's rating it against all the albums in my collection which is big, but lacking some classic Yes for sure. That's mostly because I can never find any albums around here!! The good ones sell quickly and I can never afford the CD when I see it. Anyway, I love Birthright.

[gt76yesman]

IMHO it was the best album put out by any of these guys from 90125 to Keys, heck, maybe even Magnification. It was a great album, would like to see more of that!
I also like Teakbois.

[ham]

The 12" single version of "Brother of Mine" was a belter; the album version is just not right te me...
Fist of Fire is a corker as is The Meeting... The rest of it is decent although I agree with sentiments expressed about Teakbois................. PANTS I'd call it :eeek:

[new_sum_do_solve_ay]

This album was pure brilliance. This is classic Yes with experience and technology. I remember waiting on the edge of my seat for this to come out. And seeing the return of Roger Dean art convinced me this was on track. 9, and the only reason it's not a 10 is the absence of Squire and Teakbois. I don't care too much for autobiographical songs.

[Yes2Yes]

I gave it an 7.5. I enjoy the album. I only wish Chris would have been a part of it!

[new_sum_do_solve_ay]

I gave it an 7.5. I enjoy the album. I only wish Chris would have been a part of it!

Where is the '.5' button? How did you do that? :lmao:

Here's ABWHS:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d70/cdamezcua/bcd319f1.jpg

[Faceintheplace]

I go with 7.5 on it too, if it had Vultures instead of Teakbois I'd give it an 8. There are a few songs I really love on here, Themes, Brother of Mine and Order of the Universe. Chris is missing but Tony Levin does a good job (could have been put higher in the mix) in his place.

[tormatotork]

Stonker

[DrMoog]

I gave it seven. Prior to first hearing it, a friend told me it reminded him of GFTO ... oh no sir, not in the same league but none the less a very good album. And the tour was fab ...

[Yes_Fan_4_Life26]

Where is the '.5' button? How did you do that? :lmao:

Here's ABWHS:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d70/cdamezcua/bcd319f1.jpg

...or is it SAWHB?????????????????

I'm crazy

[new_sum_do_solve_ay]

I think SAWHB is the Canadian translation...

[DrMoog]

How about B-Mash?

[luckeydoug1]

I don't care too much for this album. It is definitely at a disadvantage without Chris, Alan and Trevor. My favorite part is the album art (which I use for my desktop wallpaper).

[Store Hadji]

I gave it an 8.

I LOVE Teakbois - that's one of my favourite Yes songs ever. (I include all the solo albums as 'Yes' as well.)

Um, anybody know what happened to Steve on this album? He sounds like he forgot how to play his guitar. Maybe Steve Hackett slipped him a mickey. Steve sounds wonderful these days, though he's only about 93% the guitarist he was on Drama and before (which is still fantastic.) (Maybe something as simple as age did it - but it was rather a shocking transition.)

[YESYOUANDI]

Not perfect.

But it is the best and most important YES album since G.F.T.O.

It's the reason many of us came back to YES.

Cheers fans.

[BigGenerator]

I gave it a 7.
Interesting sounds and melodies.
My #1 song is Let's Pretend .Then The Order Of The Universe .

[BrianD]

On January 7 2006 after 67 votes ABWH rates 7.49

[brotherofmine]

On January 7 2006 after 67 votes ABWH rates 7.49
With me it's still a 10, 10, 10!

[djcub]

score points for having King Crimson's rhythm section! :headset:

[Ron Drummond]

I gave it a 6, then immediately wished I'd given it a 7. Oh well.

Was really happy when this album came out, and figure it has 45 minutes of good stuff on it -- the equivalent of a full-length LP from the old days. Not bad.

An Evening of Yes Music Plus is a seriously underrated live album, by the way.

[podo]

Great album.. I like it, including Teakbois. Tony Levin is very cool on this album.. If Drama shows that Yes is not the Jon Anderson band, Then ABWH shows that Yes is not the Chris Squire Band !

This album is special to me because it came out just after I moved to London. I bought a cheap "ghetto blaster" to use in the flat I was staying at. Nell Gwynn House in Chelsea. The room was just a living room with a small kitchenette and a bathroom. It had a strange musty smell that I could never get rid of, no matter how long I left the windows open for. A couple of weeks after I moved in I spotted the cover of ABWH in a record store in Kings Road. They only had the cassette version, so I bought that and added it to the collection of 6 tapes and CDs that I had. I played ABWH endlessly !

To this day, whenever I hear that opening keyboard part I can smell that flat and can imagine the room as if I was still there

[Ron Drummond]

This album is special to me because it came out just after I moved to London. I bought a cheap "ghetto blaster" to use in the flat I was staying at. Nell Gwynn House in Chelsea. The room was just a living room with a small kitchenette and a bathroom. It had a strange musty smell that I could never get rid of, no matter how long I left the windows open for. A couple of weeks after I moved in I spotted the cover of ABWH in a record store in Kings Road. They only had the cassette version, so I bought that and added it to the collection of 6 tapes and CDs that I had. I played ABWH endlessly !

To this day, whenever I hear that opening keyboard part I can smell that flat and can imagine the room as if I was still thereWhat a lovely memory, Rog, thank you for sharing it!

Cheers,

Ron

P.S. I like Teakbois too. Sheer joy!

[Vic W.]

I guess I've got to give it about a 7. Generally good, but doesn't really soar, at least not quite in the way that Yes can. I actually really, really love this album when I first got it. Played it quite a lot. It hasn't held up for me, though, in the way that the great Yes albums have.

This album briefly brought me back into the Yes fold after having drifted away in the 80's - late 70's actually. The return of Steve and Rick caught my attention, but Steve is not the dynamo here that he was in the 70's. The album suffers in that he's not out front leading the music in the way he was back then. This album reminds me a bit of Tormato in that respect.

Bruford almost single-handedly ruins Themes, among other songs. The album is interspersed throughout with some of most annoying drumming I've ever heard. Typical Bruford, though, there's some really fascinating and cool drum moments, too. He's at his best when he's being the clever minimalist. He can't rock and roll.

I miss Chris, too. Definitely a warmer, more driving presence. I don't like the sound of that metal thingy Levin used.

[BrianD]

On July 1 2008 after 83 votes, average 7.27