[.ca] Turbulence

Very exciting music:
(...)I rate it as one of my three favourite releases of the 90s. I will concede that the drums and keyboards don't offer much (thus only 4 stars), but the compositions themselves and Howe's guitar textures are brilliant (ok--he's not Chris Squire or Tony Levin when it comes to bass, either). But the minor deficiencies of the album are outweighed by the strength of the pieces themselves. Most of the tracks --Hint hint, Running the human race, Novalis, Fine line-- transport me to the stratosphere. They reach the area in my spine that the best Yes music does. Even the tracks that show up Andersonified on Union are better here. So what if there are no vocals? I, personally, do not subscribe to theory, as many do, that music is subservient to lyric or dance. Music is much more than merely a beat to dance to or a vehicle for rhetoric. Music is, well, music...

Unlistenable?!:
I read the below reviews that deemed this album unlistenable. So I naturally dug this CD out of my collection to test it on my own ears and see if I was mistaken many years ago that this was an exceptional album. I can inform you that years later, this album is the opposite of unlistenable for me. For me, this album has it all: technically proficient guitar playing, a tight ensemble, perfect instrumentation and arrangments, and sophisticated song structures that reach out to listeners at the same time with beautiful melodies. My only complaint is some of the melodramatic keyboard parts (for instance, the intro to "Sensitive Chaos"). But this album is incredibly inspiring if you are willing to accept the fact that it is Steve Howe. And it is a Howe album, in and out. No, it doesn't sound like his 1970s discs. But, you know, artists are allowed to dip their bill into different things now and then. Sometimes they are good endeavors, other times you become turned off by them. To me, this is not Howe trying to be Satriani. This is Howe in all of his electric beauty. Would I lie?

Steve Howe's Masterpiece:
When this album was first released, one reviewer called it, "The Future Of Guitar Instrumental Albums". In the inervening years, nothing has managed to even come close. The songs are elegant, witty, and beautifully arranged. Each piece is cleverly constructed with just the right amount playfulness. One senses that Steve was having the time of his life making this, and that he was a very happy man. A couple of the songs wound up on Yes' UNION album (re-arranged, of course), but they are better served as backdrops for Steve's brilliant guitar work. The thing that makes this album so perfect is that it transcends the typical "guitar album": set up a simple foundation and then solo over it until you have "made the point" (this describes his failed QUANTUM GUITAR in a nutshell). With TURBULENCE, Steve is concentrating on songcraft, not on virtuosity. The guitar playing is done at the service of the composition, and nothing is wasted. Everything is where it should be. Bold, brash, grandiose numbers are contrasted by simple, sensitive ballads. It's truly a very moving work, and deserves to be in everyone's collection. If you're remotely interested in what one can accomplish with the guitar, then this is an album you cann't pass up.

GETS BETTER AS YOU LISTEN!!!:
OK IM AHUGE YES FAN. THIS DISC LIKE MANY YES OR YES SOLO DISCS TEND TO GROW ON YOU AS YOU LISTEN. I PARTICUALLT ENJOY THE SONG CORK SCREW ABOUT THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE.IT ALSO GIVES ME A BIT OF INSIGHT ON HOW SOME FINE YES PEICES ARE STRUCTURED. UNLISTENABLE COME ON.PUT YOUR INTELLIGENCE WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS

Faultlessly played, but uninspiring:
It's probably just me, but I cannot find anything to love on this album. It's got so much going for it: Bill Bruford and Steve's immaculate playing, for starters. It's nicely recorded, too. But maybe the world just doesn't need another technically perfect progressive album. This is very much an album of its time: Bruford's hitting style copied the heavy disco thud that was in vogue in 1991. And Howe's guitar wouldn't have gone amiss on say, a Rippington's CD. But there's no personality to it. No vocals. And I don't particularly want to see a photo of my 70s guitar hero with a balding 'soccer cut' hairdo. Sorry, Steve. Give me BEGINNINGS or FRAGILE in preference any day of the week.

• Turbulence
• Hint Hint
• Running the Human Race
• Inner Battle
• Novalis
• Fine Line
• Sensitive Chaos
• Corkscrew
• While Rome's Burning
• From a Place Where Time Runs Slow