WISHBONE ASH

Everything on "Argus" fits together so beautifully and that starts with the title and the evocative cover. The album is named after the mythological figure Argus, the man who kept a close eye on everything with his hundred eyes. On the cover of the album you can see a medieval soldier keeping watch at the top of a large valley. You may wonder what danger he expects and what he wants to do against it with his harpoon. It is an atmospheric image that can also be seen as your personal guard due to the fact that the man has been photographed from the back. The cover carries a certain romanticism in it and that fits well with the mixture of progressive rock, folk and hardrock that the band shows on the album.

On "Argus" it's a back and forth of dreamy acoustic passages and steaming rock full of two-part guitar lines by Andy Powell and Ted Turner, without getting really intense anywhere. The often two- or three-part vocals also have this layering. The one who makes everything strongly connected to the drums of Steve Upton is the phenomenal bassist Martin Turner. For example, this "Argus" is a deluge of subtle sophisticated rock that sounds especially contagiously tasty. Seven songs that each in turn have a place lyrically in the overarching theme 'seeing'.

Opener Time Was has a nostalgic text about looking back on an ended relationship. The more than nine-minute song shows exactly how Wishbone Ash conquers the hearts of many on this album. For fifty years this song continues to have its effect due to its acoustic beginning and a long passage of rock. The subsequent Sometime World has the same structure, but is about looking ahead to the future. It has a steaming glow where the driving bass guitar and the Yes-like vocals stand out. The album continues with the bouncy Blowin' Free which indicates how much variation the compositions have been put down with and also lyrically they always know how to choose a different perspective. Blowin' Free is about the desire for a hopeless love for example.

It is amazing how closely Wishbone Ash with its delicious guitar rock manages to match the look of the cover and then the B-side has yet to start. Two songs, entirely in Ash-style, are magnificent and I don't know if it's because I grew up with them but I think they're classics. I am of course talking about The King Will Come and Throw Down The Sword with a guest role by John Tout (Renaissance) on organ. Hugging to death is fortunately not possible, they continue to resurrect. "Argus" is an above average good album that always reminds me of my fine childhood years. And then that meager bonus track presents itself. No Easy Road, the B-side of the single Blowin' Free, is not even close to stand in the shadow of the soldier on the cover of the masterpiece that "Argus" is.

Originally posted on www.progenrock.com

As long haired music was so hard to get to listen to back in 1974 (you young uns have no idea!) there was a Radio 1 rock show fronted for a time by a guy called Michael Whale and he used FUBB from this album as his 'talk over' tape. Of course you had to ask your mates has anyone any idea what/who that is and eventually I found out. Yes I had heard of Wishbone Ash and had a friends copy of Live Dates on tape but this was my first purchase...oh ffs 49 years ago???...and since then have added everything up to Number The Brave plus 70's live archive releases. But this remains my favourite.

I now know that a guitar player had left and Laurie Wisefield (best guitarist they ever had) was new in from the band Home...who also supplied AC/DC with their long term bass player too. Maybe this was why this feels fresh and full of energy and moves on from the blues based influences of the first 2 albums and the folkier feel of Argus. They were never blessed with a stand out singer but the harmonies work well on the opening track Silver Shoes. Lyrically it always reminds me of the film Sunset Boulevard but it has a good guitar melody line and plenty of air/space which 2 guitar rifferama bands didn't seem to have but a guitar/keys line up did. Don't Come Back is very riff based and I nominate for 'the most riffs used in an outro' award and the next prog oscars! Persephone has been one of my all time favourite tracks and might sneak on to my desert island ten. I used to think it was because I had a 'from a distance' crush on a drop dead gorgeous hippie chick called Stephanie (you can see what I did in my head with the lyrics huh?) but when had grown out of it (ok ok you never do....!) the song still has an atmosphere...and cue echo on the guitars...and minor chord melancholy that works to this very day. Lady Jay nods back to Argus , which is no bad thing, but this was a band determined to move on and the beast that is FUBB strides into view. Epics should be about dynamics but the slow burn build of this is almost tantric. The bass leads and the restrained but haunting guitar harmony takes us deep into that place where rather than chuck the kitchen sink at it, we get the taps...and the plug...and maybe the washing up bowl first before the lope turns into a gallop (well you weren't the first were you Iron Maiden..) and the actual sink itself shows up. And praise the lord...no vocals!! The earlier mentioned dj only used the lope part as his talk over track btw so it came as a welcomed surprise to hear it go full on heavy when I finally bought the album.

So the tricky bit of a rating. No I can't give it a 5 even with 2 of my all time favourite tracks on it yet a 4 seems tight fisted. So it is 4.5+ but sticking with the criteria.....a 4 it has to be.

4. The King Will Come beautiful crescendic intro with Andy and Ted, yes this trademark which will be emulated; on the Judas Priest, on the Iron Maiden, on the Thin Lizzy, groups above all hard ultimately, was Wishbone Ash one of the fathers of hard rock in fact? The solo is stunning, the purity of the time when we still played with only 10 fingers; Camel tune, Boston rhythm, yes innovators 5. Leaf and Stream guitar arpeggio on soft vocals, a bucolic ballad like Led Zeppelin was able to release with 'The battle of evermore' for example; the melody flows without interruption and it is good to have a peaceful air 6. Warrior with this guitar that tears off your right ear... A strong tune, not heavy, a gripping tune, on the verge of hard, yes for me Wishbone Ash is indeed one of the fathers of hard; a musical touch that I will find later on Deep Purple, when the latency of the air simply gives rise to a sound. The ambient, progressive finale is transmitted on 7. Throw Down the Sword yes, you have the two titles linked together and almost 12 minutes without interruption; a minute of rise for a folk tune then the piece that turns my head the most with the guitar association which splits into a solo for two without interruption, one of those that every proguous fan, metallic or otherwise must have secretly playing on his Fender neck or his broomstick... Huge finale indeed. In short, a UFO before its time!

Miles Copeland produced a number of these instrumental albums on his No Speak label. The music is generally not prog, but instrumental rock, with most tracks in the 3-4 minute range. There's many surf rock motifs backed by funky, 80s style rhythms. Poor Steve Upton was playing four on the floor for much of the first half of the album, and he can do so much more. But that was the 80s, wasn't it?

The second half of the album is more Wishbone Ash-y, more 70s. Tunes like The Spirit Flies Free and Something's Happening in Room 602 are recognisably WA tunes. Johnny Left Home Without It is probably the most proggy track, with some tasty textures and variations. Real Guitars Have Wings brings back the band's famous twin guitar harmonies.

All that is here, and is backing a great set of songs. Anything else? Oh yes, Andy Powell is here and sings just great

The double live album craze of the 70s hadn't really hit its stride yet in 1973, with classics such as Kiss Alive and Frampton Comes Alive still a few years down the road. However in the world of progressive rock, where songs stretching at least over six minutes were par for the course, double live records must have made a lot of sense right from the start (or in the case of Yes and ELP, triple live records). The fact that Live Dates spreads its eleven tracks over two discs seems then to make a statement about Wishbone Ash as part of the prog rock canon. While not as technical and flashy as their more widely recognized prog contemporaries, Andy Powell and crew are clearly aiming to take rock and roll somewhere new...or rather somewhere ancient.

While many bands were already dabbling in medieval themes, Wishbone Ash conjure up uncompromising visions of knights and farmers, kings and cornfields, witches and wars, all cast in a chilly gray haze. Not content to simply tell tales of battles and myths, their lyrics turn philosophical, almost spiritual, on many songs, including the opening 1-2-3 punch of The King Will Come, Warrior, and my personal favorite, Throw Down The Sword. This isn't just some soundtrack music for your next reading of Tolkien or round of Dungeons And Dragons (though it certainly sets the perfect mood for both of these activities), it's great music to sit and watch the leaves turn colors in the fall, or to watch a pond freeze over in the winter, or to watch flowers bloom in spring. This is music that will have you looking to the sky and pondering the passage of time and the dream of peace.

Yet Wishbone Ash aren't just a group of wandering minstrels teleported into the 1970s, they're a real rock and roll band, and they know how to conjure up a fine brew of bluesy, early 70s rock. Cuts like Rock N Roll Widow, Jail Bait, and Blowin' Free are perfect for the live setting because of their inherent, jammy nature. The cover of Baby What You Want Me To Do clearly shows where these players' roots lie. But of course a good jam needs some great lead guitar work, and that is precisely what the band gives us through all of these more rocking numbers. Trading one sizzling solo after another, Andy Powell and Ted Turner prove over and over the awesome benefits that double lead guitars provide. Certainly Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden were all taking notes. But the pair truly shines on the more progressive side of things, weaving together hazy harmonized riffs which immediately cement themselves into your memory. Throw Down The Sword is the perfect example of this, a rather simple minor key melody from one guitar gets harmonized by the other as it fades in, the the rhythm section breaks in and carries the progression into its B-section before it all turns around to support the plaintive lead vocal in the first verse. Speaking of harmonies, though the group's vocals aren't necessarily the strongest of their peers, they make up for this with impressively catchy melodies sung in harmony most of the way through. The softer tone of the lead vocals also aides in creating the mystic atmosphere which surrounds their music.

Of course I would be remiss not to mention the 17 minute closing track, The Phoenix, and the nearly ten minute disc two opener, The Pilgrim. The former is an aural journey taking the listener through a passionately performed series of moods and dynamics, dropping out almost to nothing at one point before bringing things back around to the vocal to close out the record. One might compare its construction to the Lizard suite from King Crimson, being not so much comprised of distinct sections as it is an engulfing, evolving piece. The Pilgrim on the other hand is similar in its coherence, but takes its time in its first half building up a beautiful instrumental before getting to the meat of the song in its second half, somewhat like Rush would do on Xanadu some years later. Both of these are fine progressive pieces which serve to bookend disc two of this live set quite well.

There is one moment on the record which stands out to me as the most transcendent though, and that is the climactic lead at the end of Throw Down The Sword. The studio version of this song is famous for featuring two simultaneous guitar solos overlapping one another to great psychedelic effect, but my heart lies with this live version, in which one single guitar summons forth a melody so righteous, so full of life and color, that it inadvertently makes the rest of the record pale in comparison. If one ever needed inspiration to pick up a flying V, let this solo be a testament to that particular axe's legend and quality.

In the first place, like I implied above, this album can't be deemed as "progressive" in any plausible sense of the term.

Not less discouragingly, the first half of the album pass like a continuous and somewhat monotonous jigging festival.

Fortunately, the second half, beginning with "Drive" gets much better, proving their recuperation with good melodies and nice guitar interweaving, as it's expected from this historic band.

Time Was is your fairly typical prog epic in a lot of ways, but it's a pretty great one regardless, with the way the first few folky minutes then break into more energetic rock that reminds me of Rush, especially in the interplay between the guitar and bass, especially during solos. The song doesn't really hit any grand peaks like a couple of later tracks, but continuously shifts around extremely distinct sections, all of them paced quite well in order to give a very clear and satisfying sense of progression as everything keeps speeding up. Funnily enough, the song after this, Sometime World ends up following a lot of things that the opener accomplishes, but executes it so much better despite being about 3 minutes shorter. Once again, the song starts off being primarily acoustic, but this time around it's so much more emotional, the vocal melody and delivery being incredibly heartfelt as the hints of electric guitar just amplify the emotion. It's once this part ends that the song is elevated even higher however, with an incredible bassline backed up by one of the most epic sounding choruses I've heard, without even a hint of exaggeration, and it just doesn't feel like it stops, just keeps going with it until it erupts into an extremely triumphant, powerful guitar solo that floors me every time. All of this makes it one of the absolute pinnacles of 70s prog rock for me. It's unfortunate that this masterpiece is followed up by what's easily the weakest track on the album, and just a painfully mediocre one in general, sounding more like some generic hard rock than anything else, not really going anywhere interesting or having anything I'd personally consider enjoyable to listen to.

It's fortunate that things get back on track relatively quickly with The King has Come, which while having less of an overall impression on me than some other songs here, also has some of my favourite instrumental work on the album, especially in the intro, which builds up perfectly into a very memorable riff. The rest of it is a bit tamer than most of the album despite being one of the ones to most prominently make use of the electric guitar, overall another good song. After the reasonably decent, pretty Leaf and Stream, highlighting the folk aspects of the album exquisitely and creating a great atmosphere, the album closes off with the amazing one - two punch of Warrior and Throw Down The Sword, which once again return to the purely epic nature of Sometime World. Warrior in particular impresses me, especially with the vocal harmonies during the "I have to be a warrior" section, really just sounds amazingly powerful once again, especially once the guitar starts to interweave with the gaps in the vocals. Throw Down Your Sword brings things to a close perfectly, still having the sense of grandiosity, but with a sense of quiet triumph to it all. If Warrior was a song about an army going into battle, Throw Down the Sword would be the result after victory was achieved, and it closes everything off perfectly.

I find that the mix of prog and hard rock is that potentially can end up sounding rather generic or just uninteresting if not handled properly, leaning firmly into the aesthetic of one side too hard, which is something that I believe Wishbone Ash did right here, being able to avoid such pitfalls and using these 2 sounds to make something truly interesting and distinct. This is definitely an album that I'd 100% recommend to fans of artists such as Uriah Heep or Rush, but more broadly just to fans of hard and progressive rock in general, taking the best aspects from both of these genres and making something that I could easily see fans of either of them liking quite a lot. I'd rate this a bit higher even, but I personally do believe that Blowin' Free detracts from the album enough to give it a slightly lower score in the end.

Best tracks: Sometime World, Warrior, Throw Down the Sword

Weakest tracks: Blowin' Free