Steve Howe – The Steve Howe Album

Early releases like mine had a Poster of the Cover of LP inside.

I believe the attribution to Leos Janacek of "Diary of a Man Who Vanished" (which appeared only on some British editions) is an error. Leoš Janáček (to spell his name correctly) was a Czech composer who wrote a song cycle called 'The Diary of One Who Vanished' (or similar, depending on translation)...but Howe's song does not quote from this cycle. My best guess is that someone at the British label noticed the similarity of title and made some assumptions. The song certainly sounds like a Howe composition...and nothing like Leoš Janáček.

It’s likely that almost every wide-eyed neophyte Yes fan sucked in by side-long epics and Roger Dean gatefold sleeves eventually finds himself (or rarely, herself) scraping the bottom of the Yes barrel and investigating the stacks of available Yes-man solo albums. The more discerning ones will soon realize that these releases constitute far more quantity than quality. There are, however a few of these albums that are indispensible for even the most selective Yes fan. Among the best of these is Steve Howe’s eponymous 1979 album.

Released right at the end of Yes’ heyday, The Steve Howe Album finds the guitarist reveling in his entire range of influences: country, bluegrass, early rock & roll and classical music. Side one focuses on shorter pieces shaped largely by old timey Americana, while side two features two longer-form orchestral pieces in the form of a Howe original and the second movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in D.

Throughout it all, Howe employs his growing and eclectic collection of acoustic and electric stringed instruments, usually several at one time. The inside of the gatefold on the original LP and the 1994 CD reissue shows photos of each instrument used and includes a key detailing which instruments were used on which tracks–fascinating stuff if you are into guitars.

Fortunately, Howe learns from the mistakes of his first album and elects to sing on only one track. While Howe is capable of carrying a tune, his limited range and earthy timbre sound great as a foundation for Jon Anderson’s and Chis Squire’s cosmic choirboy harmonies in Yes but they do little to endear themselves to the listener when they take center stage. Fortunately, Howe leaves the remaining vocal duties to singer-songwriter Claire Hammill on “Look Over Your Shoulder.” What’s left is ample room for tasteful and timeless acoustic and electric guitar playing without a hint of the gratuitous self indulgence and lame posturing that would plague so much guitar based music in the eighties.

An interesting point about the cover art is that the swimmer in the water on the original LP was removed for the CD reissue. According to his book “Views,” Roger Dean’s original intent was that the pool in the image was to be a portal between two worlds. The swimmer actually is doing a backstroke in the world opposite the viewer’s perspective, but apparently, many people just saw a dead body floating in the water. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Does anyone know if this was ever released on 8-track?