Anthology 2: Groups & Collaborations

A companion to 2015's Anthology: A Solo Career Retrospective, 2017's Anthology 2: Groups & Collaborations may tell the story most Steve Howe fans want to know, whether they're casual listeners or dedicated followers. Over the course of three discs -- 56 songs in all, clocking in at three hours and forty-six minutes -- Howe marches through the work he's done as part of a band or duo, or even as a guest. This means that this includes cuts from Yes, Asia, and GTR -- the three bands that are best-known to the general public -- but this also digs deep into the music he made prior to joining Yes and the music that he made afterwards. As such, it's possible to gauge the full scope of his evolution and accomplishments. While the latter-day material is suitably tasteful and refined, the startling thing about Anthology 2 is how it proves that Howe was a fleet, fluid guitarist from the start, knocking out a nifty solo on the mod raver "Finger Poppin'" with the In Crowd and spinning out dazzling lines during his time with the psychedelic Tomorrow. All this points to what he achieved with Yes, and while that group is well-represented, they do not dominate Anthology 2, which is appropriate: this is a showcase for Howe's overall musicianship and it's quite impressive at that. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine