GTR

GTR and GT-R can refer to:

Motor vehicles

GTR (album)

GTR is the 1986 self-titled debut album and sole official studio release from the short-lived supergroup GTR. The album peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart, and the single "When the Heart Rules the Mind" reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Another single, "The Hunter", peaked at No. 85. The instrumental piece by Steve Howe, "Sketches in the Sun", resurfaced on his solo album Motif Volume 1 and again on his Anthology album. As for Steve Hackett's "Hackett to Bits", it was largely inspired by the latter's "Hackett to Pieces" from his Highly Strung solo album.

The group, founded by ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and then ex-Yes and ex-Asia guitarist Steve Howe, disbanded in 1987. Geoff Downes, another former Yes member, produced the album.

The band's name, anecdotally, comes from the marking on the studio mixing console that indicates the 'guitar' volume control.

The album was reissued in 2001 in a remastered CD edition. The album was out of print, with the exception of a Japanese mini-LP CD released in 2006, until a deluxe 2-CD version was released in 2015.

GTR (band)

GTR was a short-lived rock band founded in 1985 by former Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe and former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. In comparison to the two leaders' earlier work within progressive rock, GTR appealed to album-oriented rock radio stations. The band was short-lived, lasting for two years and one album. Hackett has subsequently been strongly critical of the project, though not necessarily of the other musicians involved in it.

The band's name came from an abbreviation of "guitar" as used for track labelling in multi-track recording studios.

History

GTR was formed following Steve Howe's departure from Asia in 1985, after which he and former Yes manager Brian Lane discussed plans for a new group. Howe expressed an interest in working with Hackett, who was then approached by Lane. Hackett proved amenable, despite some doubts as to the project setup: his last few solo albums (including the atypical all-classical-guitar project Bay of Kings) had sold disappointingly and despite his interest in continuing his acoustic work, he saw GTR as an option for sustaining his career at a prominent level and also financing future solo work. Once the two guitarists were in place, the group was completed with the recruitment of American drummer Jonathan Mover (ex-Marillion, and later to work with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Alice Cooper), bass guitarist Phil Spalding (ex-Bernie Torme, Toyah, Mike Oldfield and Original Mirrors) and singer Max Bacon (ex-Moby Dick, Nightwing and Bronz).