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Downes Braide Association
CD Reviews
Halcyon Hymns
Review by Gary Hill
You really can't go wrong with Downes Braide Association. This new album is a great example of that fact.

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Live in England
Review by Gary Hill

I really like this act. Just the two guys involved make it worth the spin.


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Pictures of You
Review by Gary Hill
The “Downes” of this collaboration is Geoff Downes.

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Skyscraper Souls
Review by Gary Hill
I have to admit that I was initially drawn to this act because of Geoff Downes. As a fan of Yes and The Buggles, I follow his work.

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Suburban Ghosts
Review by Gary Hill
This is the latest album from Downes Braide Association.

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Interviews
Downes Braide Association
Interview by Gary Hill
Interview with Chris Braide of Downes Braide Association from 2015

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Related Articles
Chris Braide
Review by Gary Hill

Interview with Chris Braide from 2018


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Yes - 50 Live
Review by Gary Hill
I am always upfront about the fact that I am a Yes fanatic. They've been my favorite band for more than 45 years now.

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Various Artists - Abbey Road Reimagined - A Tribute To The Beatles
Review by Gary Hill
The whole get a bunch of musicians together and record covers of an entire album thing is something I really like.

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Buggles - Adventures in Modern Recording (12 inch single) (Vinyl)
Review by G. W. Hill

Are the Buggles progressive rock?


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Asia - Alpha
Review by G. W. Hill
As I sat down to do a retro review of the single of "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes," I realized that I've never reviewed this album. I decided to resolve that issue.

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Geoffrey Downes - and the New Dance Orchestra – The Light Program
Review by G. W. Hill

This album was Geoffrey Downes first foray down the New Dance Orchestra trail.


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John Wetton - Anthology Volume 1: Studio Recordings
Review by G. W. Hill

This anthology of songs from John Wetton is quite strong. It’s not all progressive rock, and for the most par even when it lands there, it’s more in the AOR end of the spectrum.


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Asia - Aqua
Review by Gary Hill
I’d consider this to be a middle of the road Asia album.
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Asia - Archiva 1
Review by Gary Hill
This album really is a very pop oriented album. It is included in the progressive section of the reviews because both Geoff Downes and Steve Howe are on the album.
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Asia - Archiva 2
Review by Greg Olma

In 1995, Asia had a bit of a studio issue when a water pipe burst and ruined hundreds of thousands of pounds of studio equipment.  


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Asia - Arena
Review by Gary Hill
This is not your father’s Asia. In it’s beginnings Asia was a band that was arguably the first progressive rock supergroup -- well, OK, ELP probably has that title, but for various reasons, the crown was placed on Asia’s head at the beginning of their career.
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Asia - Aria
Review by Greg Olma

In 1994, Asia released Aria which was commercially a bit of a failure.  The previous studio record Aqua did much better, but by this time it really was the Geoff Downes/John Payne show. 


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Asia - Asia
Review by Gary Hill
When this group rose from the ashes of a dying Yes it seemed like a dream come true for progressive rock fans. Take two parts Yes (OK – one and a half maybe since Geoff Downes was only on one Yes album) in the persons of Geoff Downes and Steve Howe, one third of Emerson Lake and Palmer (Carl Palmer) and add in John Wetton (King Crimson, UK) and make a band.
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Asia - Astra
Review by Gary Hill
This album has all of the original lineup of Asia except Steve Howe. The music, however, is much different than what we heard on their debut disc.
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Asia - Aura
Review by G. W. Hill

This is an unusual album for Asia.


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Hawkestrel - Chaos Rocks
Review by Gary Hill
Hawkestrel is a project led by Alan Davey. Davey is probably best known as having been the bassist for Hawkwind for quite a few years.

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Billy Sherwood - Citizen
Review by G. W. Hill

A contender for best of the year, this is arguably Sherwood’s best solo album ever.


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Asia - Classic Rock Legends DVD
Review by Greg Olma
Asia has had many line-ups throughout their long career as part of having more than two-dozen musicians pass through their ranks. 

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Asia - Don’t Cry – 12-inch Single (Vinyl)
Review by G. W. Hill

For years Music Street Journal avoided covering items that were out of print.


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Asia - Don’t Cry – 12-inch Single (Vinyl)
Review by G. W. Hill

For years Music Street Journal avoided covering items that were out of print.


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Yes - Drama
Review by Gary Hill
In 1980 when Yes found themselves without their keyboardist (Rick Wakeman) and vocalist (Jon Anderson), they turned to their manager Brian Lane to see if he had any suggestions. As it was, he was also managing a group called "The Buggles".
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Yes - Drama - Remastered and Expanded
Review by Greg Olma
This is the bastard child of the Yes family. Many Yes purists don't acknowledge its existence with even Jon Anderson refusing to play any of the material live.
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The Prog Collective - Epilogue
Review by G. W. Hill

This is quite a cool set. The main man behind this is Billy Sherwood, and I always like the stuff he does.


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Asia - Fantasia – Live In Tokyo
Review by Gary Hill
Yes fanatic and general prog head that I’ve always been, when Asia released their debut disc, I was all over it. They were the progressive rock supergroup of the time and they delivered with a killer disc.
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Asia - Fantasia - Live in Tokyo DVD
Review by Gary Hill
Asia fans rejoice, the reunion tour is now presented in DVD. I covered the CD release in detail, so you might want to check that out for the specifics about the music. Let’s just say that we get treated to a killer performance of Asia classics, King Crimson, ELP and Yes songs.


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Chris Braide - Fifty Dollar Planets and Twenty Cent Stars
Review by G. W. Hill

The easiest way to describe this would be modern pop music.


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Yes - Fly From Here
Review by Gary Hill

Only the second album in the history of Yes to be recorded without Jon Anderson, this one, particularly since it’s the only other Yes disc with Geoff Downes on keyboards, is obviously compared to Drama.


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Yes - Fly From Here – Deluxe Edition
Review by Gary Hill
This review addresses the Deluxe Edition of Yes’ latest album, Fly From Here.
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Yes - Fly From Here (Vinyl)
Review by G. W. Hill
I’m a huge Yes fan and Yes collector. For that reason I tend to buy various configurations of Yes albums.
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Yes - Fly from Here: Return Trip
Review by Gary Hill
This is an unusual release. In 2011 Yes released the album Fly From Here.

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Various Artists - Fly Like an Eagle - An All-Star Tribute to Steve Miller Band
Review by G. W. Hill

Cleopatra Records loves doing these tribute albums, typically with Billy Sherwood in charge.


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Asia - Go / After the War Vinyl Single
Review by G. W. Hill

It used to be that we wouldn’t review things that were out of print.


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Asia - Gravitas
Review by Jason Hillenburg

One cannot rage against the dying of the light indefinitely.


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Asia - Heat of the Moment / Ride Easy (vinyl single)
Review by G. W. Hill
The old school Asia singles are cool because they generally include b-sides that aren't available on the main albums. This is no exception.

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Yes - Heaven and Earth
Review by G. W. Hill

Where do I begin on this review? I guess I should start by saying that I’m a Yes fanatic and I have been since I was twelve years old – and for those keeping track, that’s a long time ago.


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Robby Krieger - In Session
Review by Gary Hill
This compilation disc is quite strong. There is really a lot of great music here.

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Yes - In the Present: Live from Lyon
Review by G. W. Hill

While any Yes album is better than the music of a lot of other bands, this is probably the group’s weakest live album.


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Various Artists - Legends Play The Beatles
Review by Gary Hill
This new album showcases a lot of cool Beatles covers from a number of artists. It's actually compiled of tracks previously released on a number of albums.

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Various Artists - Light My Fire - A Classic Rock Salute To the Doors
Review by G. W. Hill

I’ve always been a big fan of the Doors.


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Yes - Like It Is - Yes At the Bristol Hippodrome
Review by G. W. Hill

This new live album from Yes is quite good.


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Yes - Like It Is: Live at the Mesa Arts Center
Review by G. W. Hill

Yes recently did a couple of tours where they performed some of their studio albums in their entirety. This live recording comes from one of those shows.


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Asia - Live Acoustic
Review by Greg Olma

When Tesla released Five Man Acoustical Jam back in 1990, who would have thought that a new type of performance would emerge within metal and even prog?  


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Yes - Live in Birmingham, England, May 2016
Review by John Pierpoint

I drove to The Symphony Hall and bought a ticket for the night's Yes show at the last minute (literally!). It was a long shot, but it really paid off, as I got a good seat in the stalls.


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Yes - Live in Chicago, Illinois, August 2015
Review by G. W. Hill

There seem to be some Yes fans deriding the recent incarnations of Yes.


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Asia - Live In Moscow
Review by Greg Olma

Asia may not have been the first band to tour Russia but they certainly made their mark during this concert that was captured in 1990.  By this time, the band had lost Steve Howe and replaced him with Mandy Meyer for the Astra album.  


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Asia - Live In Osaka
Review by Greg Olma

This double CD set is a nice live show from the Aqua tour in Japan.  


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Asia - Live In Philadelphia
Review by Greg Olma

Asia has been around for quite some time, and I think they are one of the few bands that has more live releases than studio albums.  


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Asia - Live Koln
Review by Gary Hill
This double disc set is a very strong chronicle of a live performance by Asia. The repertoire includes material from every phase of their career, and they do a great job of performing it.
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Yes - Live on Cruise to the Edge, November 2015
Review by Brenda Bradley

 I knew it would be hard to see Yes without Chris Squire! As "Onward" played, with a white Rickenbacker on stage with a spotlight, I felt myself tearing up.


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Various Artists - Meddle Reimagined: A Tribute to Pink Floyd
Review by Gary Hill
Tribute albums like this are always interesting, but also often disappointing.

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Asia - Omega
Review by Greg Olma
Now this is more like it!  I enjoyed the Payne fronted version of Asia also but if you are a purist, then Omega will certainly satisfy those cravings for original Asia material.  

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Asia - Phoenix
Review by Gary Hill
Unless you’ve been living in the proverbial cave for the last few years you probably know that the original lineup of Asia (Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton has reunited). This is their first studio CD of the 21st Century.
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Asia - Phoenix – Special Edition
Review by G. W. Hill

This is a brand new, two CD edition of Asia’s Phoenix album. It’s quite classy.


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Various Artists - Prog Box
Review by Gary Hill

I've been looking to do a retro review of this box set for a while. I finally had the opportunity this time around.


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Asia - Rare
Review by Gary Hill
This disc is a bit of a paradox. Although it was released under the moniker of Asia, the material here was actually recorded by just Geoff Downes and David Payne.
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Asia - Silent Nation
Review by Gary Hill
I remember when Asia's first album was released thinking that it was an intriguing combination of sounds, still basically prog rock, but packaged in very accessible cuts that really rocked. After a while Asia seemed to lose their sense of direction, and I often lost interest.
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The Prog Collective - Songs We Were Taught
Review by Gary Hill
The Prog Collective releases compelling progressive rock album after album.

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Various Artists - Still Wish You Were Here: A Tribute to Pink Floyd
Review by Gary Hill
I generally like things like this where an album is created by taking the track list of a famous album and having different artists reproduce the songs.

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Yes - The Royal Affair Tour: Live From Las Vegas
Review by Gary Hill
This live album from Yes is a couple years old. It has some interesting songs that aren't often performed by the band.

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Asia - The Smile Has Left Your Eyes / Lying to Yourself (vinyl single)
Review by G. W. Hill
One of the cool things about these vintage Asia singles is that the song on the flip side is typically not included on the album. That makes these worth having. 

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Yes - Time And A Word: The Yes Story written by Martin Popoff
Review by Greg Olma

There have been a few books written about the band, Yes but this one really includes the involvement of many of the members of the group through extensive interviews. 


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Yes - Topographic Drama: Live Across America
Review by Gary Hill

This brand new live album from Yes is cool stuff. For one thing, it's great to get live recordings of all the Drama songs. There are also two epics from Tales from Topographic Oceans and the "Leaves of Green" part from "The Ancient" on that album. They round the section out with a few other Yes classics. The live sound is great.

 

I've seen Yes close to twenty times (more times than I've seen any other band), and I can tell you that despite the technicality of their music and instrumental prowess, no two Yes shows are the same. That's true even when you see them on multiple nights in a row. Each performance is a little different because the music tends to take on a life of its own in live gigs. So, don't expect to hear the studio versions exactly covered here. For one thing, the line-up is different. For another thing, I don't think I've ever heard a live Yes song sound exactly like the studio version. I mean, why would you want that? You can listen to the studio version any time. I think these renditions are very faithful, and bring a new life to the songs at times. I highly recommend this, especially for those (like myself) who really love Drama.


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Yes - Wonderous Stories: The Best of Yes
Review by G. W. Hill

I’m sure some would make the argument that we don’t need another Yes compilation album.


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The Prog Collective - Worlds on Hold
Review by Gary Hill
The Prog Collective always puts out interesting music. It's a project that has Billy Sherwood at its core.

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Asia - XXX
Review by Larry Toering

Asia return with their classic line-up for an out of this world album.


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Various Artists - Yesterday and Today: 50th Anniversary Tribute To Yes
Review by Gary Hill

This new various artists collection, as you would imagine, pays tribute to the music of Yes. It's an intriguing set.


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Yes - Yesyears Box Set
Review by Gary Hill
Released during the flurry of activity surrounding the Union tour, this four CD set is a pricey, but fairly solid addition to the Yes catalog. While any compilation will undoubtedly bring up complaints as to what was included and what was not, this album presents a fairly accurate representation of the chronology of the band.
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