GTR (band) GTR (band) GTR were a British rock band founded in 1985 by former Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe and former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. Though the band's leaders were known as progressive rock musicians, GTR appealed to album-oriented rock radio stations. The band lasted for two years and one album. Hackett subsequently criticized the project, though not necessarily the other musicians involved in it. The band's name came from an abbreviation of "guitar" used by recording studios for labelling guitar tracks. After Steve Howe left Asia in 1985, he and former Yes manager Brian Lane discussed forming a new
GTR (band) perhaps done it for life, but frankly, I prefer my albums to be more spontaneous and creatively free ... There are artistic limitations with any successful band, and it "was" a successful band." Mover also left GTR, going on to play in Joe Satriani's band. Unwilling to give up on the band, Steve Howe tried to continue GTR with Bacon, Spalding, ex-Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler (who had worked for Toyah with Spalding) and a second singer/guitarist, former Hush member Robert Berry. A bootleg of initial sessions (titled "Nerotrend", which was also a new name suggested for the band) shows that