LOVE IS

I must concurr with the general rating given to this album, lighthearted and breezy as it sounds. A record doesn't need to be always verging on the obscure or dense end of the spectrum to be progressive, don't you think? I do indeed, so what I find here is not only an effort with some virtues that are already usual in Steve's career ( such as his impressive dexterity and ductility with acoustic & electric guitars of all sorts, and the gorgeous tunes he's used to come up with), but also with some other ones he adds for this particular occasion:

First, there is a beautiful blend of voices, very reminiscent of Asia's "One Step Closer", he maintains with John Davidson (Yes current official singer) along vitually each vocal track here. Steve's own voice sounds much stronger than usual also (listen track 10 - On the Balcony).

Second, the track sequence alternating instrumental (like the opener) with vocal songs brings a balance to the overall sound, that you may not always find in Steve's recorded output, and is welcomed here.

Third, the ensamble sounds tighter now than it did on several of his former releases, with son Dylan well established behind the drums, and possibly emerging as the band's anchor.

Enough for you? It is for me.

Finally! Finally an excellent Steve Howe album! Since 'The Steve Howe Album', 1979, I have tried to find in Howe's discography something that is on par with his first two albums. Something that has his magic, creativity, energy and mostly: great songwriting. Steve Howe is my hero and changed the Yes face when he joined the band in 1970. My favorite Yes discography is when Steve is present, (including ABWH). For me, Howe is the magic of Yes and that's why the current lineup should carry the Yes name. But Howe's discography doesn't carry much of that magic, except for the first two albums and the present album: Love is.

'Love is' feels like a direct sequel to the first two albums, the same vibe is here, the same magic, that magic he brought to the Yes albums. In all of Steve Howe's other albums there's a lot of positive stuff, for sure, but in none of them did I feel the strength of an album, but more like a collection disconnected songs, experiments, virtuosity, or filling in the discography, nothing very memorable, especially in the subject of good compositions.

But in 'Love is' everything is there. For this album he had the happy idea of recruiting his current bandmate, vocalist Jon Davison, to help them with vocals, also to play bass (Davison played bass in his former band 'Sky Cries Mary'). By the way, Howe probably has his best vocals on this album. Davison makes an important and excellent collaboration with his vocal harmonies too. To complete the trio, the good Dylan Howe, Steve's son, takes over the drums (on this album he is perhaps in his best form). The album is basically an interspersed mix of instrumental and sung songs and I love them all. But I like the sung ones even more (that's why in my playlist I made a tracklist putting the sung songs first, something like side A with the sung songs and side B with the instrumental ones). Howe is superb on guitars, with all those colors, textures and magical layers of string instruments that he is a master of. The production, mixing, album art and concept are also highlights. With Howe taking over production on the last two Yes albums ('The Quest' and 'Mirror to the Sky', it's encouraging to hope that this experience will also determine great productions on his next solo works.

On this album it seems that finally Steve has something to say and show an album that had a reason to exist, not a "I have to do a solo album". It is a work that was born naturally. Also a more prog work than its predecessors (with the exception of the first two, as already mentioned). Also 'Love is' is an album close to the last Yes albums (with Jon Davison) and many songs could perfectly be on them.

'Love is' is a very pleasant surprise in Howe's inconstant discography, and I hope his next solo works are like this one, who knows this trio doesn't record some more?