Steve Howe - "Homebrew 3" Review

Artist/ Band: Steve Howe
Title: Homebrew 3
Label: InsideOut Music
Year of Release: 2005
Artist/ Band Link (click for details/ ordering)

The Review:

Here we have the third installment of the Homebrew series, released in the same year as Spectrum. One must understand Homebrew 3 isn’t a new album of material, rather skeletal versions of songs Steve Howe used either in personal projects and or with his primary band, Yes. The source of the material on Homebrew 3 are from the late-period Yes back to Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe, as well as GTR and his own solo material. This is solely for his hardcore fans. Casual one may want to skip this over until they get more of his full releases.

In most cases, the songs are short, and about a quarter of them feature Howe on guide vocals. He’s obviously not a singer and at times, I’d just rather hear the musical ideas backed with perhaps a synthetic voice. Again this release is for Steve’s hardcore fans and I’m wondering why it was released on InsideOut Music rather than perhaps a fan club release. Anyways, it is a nice insight to the makings of songs but I’d approach with caution.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on January 3rd, 2006

Tracks:

1) Turbulence

2) Hint Hint

3) The Main Title

4) Just A Passing Phase

5) Suddenly

6) Kind of Friends

7) Pyramidology

8) In the Course of the Day

9) Family Tree

10) Solar Winds

11) In Your World

12) No Deceiving

13) From Door to Door

14) Cruise Control

15) It’s Too Late

16) Seven Castles

17) Between Your Smiles

18) Reaching Out

19) The Last Word

20) Getting Through

21) Outlawed