YR

Yr has such an intimate and refined sound, yet allows plenty of room for improvisation. Yr has a very mature sound for and album from the 80s. 80s fusion was plagued by the plastic sound of albums like Future Shock (Herbie Hancock) and music from artists like Yellowjackets. The album is similar to the folk/jazz fusion sound of Pat Metheny, but with far more warmth and soul. It is hard to believe that a guitarist can achieve this. Most fusion artists, or most artists who are planted firmly in the traditions of western music, cannot accurately portray the music of other cultures this well, but somehow Tibbetts does.

It is also very unusual that a fusion album has such an original and magnificently composed atmosphere. Tibbetts used techniques such as overdubbing so much that it is said a single song could have as many as 50 different layers to it. That is truly astounding. Despite this, the sound still manages to retain its warmth and intimacy. When recording this many layers it is too easy to go overboard, like many over produced prog albums.

It may be a stretch to call this fusion, because it relies on a slightly different language, but nonetheless it is a truly monumental Masterpiece (with a capital M), because it is so expressive and warm in a cold and calculated era of plastic music. Hats off to Steve Tibbetts.