Steve Howe
Legendary guitarist Steve Howe, better known as the long-time guitarist with iconic English prog-rock group YES, has two of his albums — 1999’s Portraits of Bob Dylan and 2001’s Natural Timbre — reissued this week, both available for the first time on CD and 2LP coloured vinyl.
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On Portraits of Bob Dylan, Howe pays homage to one of his musical heroes by covering a selection of classic Dylan tunes.
“I got into him via his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963),” Howe tells Musical Musings.
“That album encapsulated a whole new kind of record that then he made lots of.
“So, for me up until and including his 1978 Street Legal album, there was a pattern, a mood, and a sound.
“After that, I didn’t really hear anymore.
“But I totally loved him, and saw him play lots of times, and thought his songs were unbelievable.
“They were revolutionary, as nobody was really putting their thoughts in such clarity in front of your face.”
During his interview with Musical Musings, Howe revealed that YES were at work on a new album.
“We’re working on something, but I’m not saying any more,” he says.
“We've been busy since we had a nice break this year, since we finished touring in Japan in September last year.
“And while the other guys have been doing other things too, I’ve been writing and working on new material.”
YES last toured Australia in 2014, so are there any plans for the group to return to our shores?
“Eleven years is an amazing amount of time,” Howe says.
“I can’t predict if we’re going to come back soon or if we’re going to come back.
“It’s got to be practical, and we hope it’s not like Canada.
“Canada wants us back, but because of the trade wars going on, they’re reluctant to make it work.
“So, promoters have to stump up the concept of making it work and there has to be viability.
“Everybody’s got to pay their way in this life, and that does put pressure on, going to such far-reaching places as Australia.”
Alongside his day job in YES and his solo career, Howe has over the years also worked in other groups such as the early 1980s supergroup Asia and done sessions for other artists, including Lou Reed, for whom Howe contributed guitar on Reed’s self-titled 1972 debut album.
“It’s one of the most unmemorable things I can think of,” Howe says.
“Not because of Lou, but because it was all over and done and dusted quickly.
“He was very nice, friendly, and just said, ‘here's a demo and a bit of paper with the chords, so just go out and play it’.
“It was really very straightforward.”
For more on Steve Howe, visit stevehowe.com
Music news
Boz Scaggs, who enjoyed huge commercial success in the late 1970s with his 1976 album Silk Degrees, will issue a new album next month.
Titled Detour, it sees Scaggs delving into the Great American Songbook and is a follow-up to 2018’s Out of the Blues.
Former The Police drummer Stewart Copeland has announced his Have I Said Too Much spoken word tour of Australia for January 2026.
According to new research conducted by Connect by Live Nation, Australia has become the third-largest country music market in the world, behind only the United States and Canada.
The study found that 78 per cent of Australian music fans now considered country music “mainstream,” with 68 per cent of those surveyed being Gen Z listeners, who were consuming more country than ever before.
At a ceremony later this month, Australian-born Nick Cave will receive an Honorary Doctorate from The Royal College of Art, the world’s top art and design university.
A remastered special edition of Eric Clapton’s 1989 album Journeyman, with four new bonus tracks, is set for release on November 21.
Joy Division and New Order founding bassist Peter Hook and his band The Light have announced they’ll be returning to Australia in July 2026.
Peter Hook and The Light will perform New Order’s album Get Ready in full to celebrate its 25th anniversary, as well as performing a selection of Joy Division and New Order greatest hits.
Album review
Foreigner 4 2025 reissue
Out this week is a re-release of British-American group Foreigner’s 1981 classic album 4.
This superb reissue box set features a new remix of the original 1981 album — one of my favourite albums of the 1980s — along with multiple discs of unreleased material, studio outtakes, never-before-heard songs from the recording sessions, instrumental mixes, as well as a collection of live cuts from the band’s 1981-82 world tour.
This is a treat for any fans of music, as the instrumental mixes and alternative versions in particular give an incredible insight into the songwriting process of several of the songs that have gone on to become radio playlist staples.
One standout is Waiting For A Girl Like You, where a basic piano and vocal version fleshes out the song in its most basic newly written form.
An additional version also included sees a later development of the song, one that gets closer to the finished version.
There’s also a newly unearthed fragment of a song in progress, Fool If You Love Him, that was never finished at the time, but the group recently completed and recorded for this reissue.
A must for any Foreigner fan.
This week in music history
In 1956, more than 60 million American viewers watched Elvis Presley make his debut television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he performed a handful of songs including Don’t Be Cruel and Love Me Tender.
In 1991, Nirvana released Smells Like Teen Spirit, which went on to change the musical landscape by paving the way for grunge.
This week’s country music album charts
US: I’m The Problem — Morgan Wallen
Australia: I’m The Problem — Morgan Wallen
UK: Traveller — Chris Stapleton
Fun fact
The cover to Coldplay’s third album, 2005’s X&Y, may at first glance look like a game of Tetris, but in fact it’s a colourful and visual representation of the Baudot code, invented in the 1870s as a mode of telegraph communication.