Steve Howe ‎– Mothballs - Groups & Sessions 1964-69 (2001 Big Eye Music)

Before joining Yes, Steve Howe had nearly a decade's worth of experience with other groups under his belt. This is a first-rate 25-track compilation of his '60s work, with six previously unreleased cuts, starting in 1964 with the raw R&B/beat band the Syndicats, moving to soul-mod with the In Crowd, psychedelia with Tomorrow (six of the better tracks from their sole LP are included), and progressive rock with Bodast.

Howe's playing is always interesting, and the material is pretty solid, serving almost as a road map of British rock trends of the '60s. It also includes the unreleased instrumental single he cut under his own name in 1967, a rare single by Tomorrow singer Keith West, and an unreleased track by the short-lived Canto, which was renamed Bodast. Although the six tracks by Tomorrow and the three by Bodast are easily available on separate CDs devoted to those groups, the remainder are quite hard to find.

As a whole, it shows him as a player nearly the equal of Jimmy Page in versatility and imagination, although Howe's work from this time is much less widely recognized. (Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com)

Of course Steve Howe is one of the great guitarists in pop and rock from the 60s/70s decade and this collection is a good cross section from the second half of the sixties which shows not only the different musical styles but also his development as guitarist.(Frank)

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