Number 92

There were a couple of CD's I considered for this spot, including Toto's Isolation album and Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Those are both great albums but just fall short of making my favorite 100 CD list. The album that does make it at number 92 is:

Steve Howe - Not Necessarily Acoustic (1994)

Steve Howe has been one of my favorite guitar players ever since I heard him on the first Asia album. His playing is by turns intricate, distictive, delicate, powerful, technical and emotional. A guitarist who deliberately removed much of the blues from his rock guitar playing style, Howe pulls inspiration from classical, folk and spanish music. His lenghty career in successful bands such as Yes, Asia and GTR has earned him the nickname "Maestro".

On Not Necessarily Acoustic, Steve Howe plays many of the guitar solo pieces that have highlighted his work both with various bands and his solo albums. Some of my favorite guitar solos include renissance fair sounding "Sketches In The Sun", the spanish guitar styled "Mood For A Day" and the happy, bouncy "Clap" (early Yes album covers titled this "The Clap" to make it sound edgy, as if it was supposed to be about VD). However, my favorite Steve Howe song is "Masquerade". Originally released on the Yes - Union album (1991), this solo danced between the playful and pastoral. I recorded myself singing (badly) a song of made up lyrics to my wife to listen to while she and I were dating. I will always have happy memories of this song.

When Steve Howe is on top of his game live (as he was when I saw him with Yes in 1997), he is one of the best guitar players on the planet. His individual style becomes more pronounced and he plays his parts completely different from what he recorded on the albums. Steve Howe's guitar playing can be enjoyed on many levels and is my second favorite guitarist of all time.