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
Steve Howe (musician) the group was back together less than a year later, Howe was not included in the new line-up. In 1981, Howe teamed with Downes, singer and bassist John Wetton, and drummer Carl Palmer to form the supergroup Asia. Their debut album, "Asia" (1982), became highest selling album of 1982 in the US with 4 million copies sold there; Howe is credited on five of its nine tracks. When it came to writing their second album "Alpha" (1982), Howe noticed a sense of staleness and the songs too direct and concise which disrupted the group's creativity and musical direction. After its