Here's another one from the "fun with isolated tracks" files!
It's Steve Howe's isolated guitar (top YouTube player) and Chris Squire's isolated bass (bottom player) from "Roundabout," the classic early 1972 Yes tune from Fragile.
While the bass line pure genius, it is pretty straightforward in its isolated form. What's truly fascinating is how Howe's various guitar parts—played on various guitars—were spliced together into the final track, thus creating a one-of-a-kind musical performance.
Howe mingles acoustic and electric figures, finishing things off with a series of furious electric runs and an atonal solo that doesn't adhere to traditional rock forms.
"Certainly what I felt I was doing was bringing that guitar sound, the Martin 00-18, right to the front of the group, which was not something that I knew would work," Howe said in 1998. "I wondered how much could I play acoustic guitar in a rock band. I’d done it with 'Clap' and 'Starship,' and little bits on 'Yours Is No Disgrace.' My goal on 'Roundabout' was to make the acoustic a feature instrument."
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Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
