ARGUS

One of the most popular Prog rock albums of all time, "Argus" remains as profound and influential today as it did on its release. This is what Progressive rock is all about - its wonderful imagery, dramatic mythical themes of history and time, wonderful vocal harmonies and superb musicianship confirm its place as an archetypal Prog classic, the various musical styles on their previous albums came together to form the very cohesive material on "Argus".

This could indeed be described as a "crossover" album as it was and remains very popular with all rock and pop fans, many of the songs are still part of the Wishbone Ash live set, most latterly "Leaf and Stream". Recorded at Wembley's De Lane Lea studios in January 1972 and released on April 28th of that year, the album reached No.3 in the UK album chart. The first track "Time Was", about putting the past behind and moving on, is in two parts; introduced with an atmospheric acoustic section leading into a Who influenced (a band WA had toured with on many occasions) rock workout, sometimes played live as two separate songs. "Sometime World" contains some fine scat style vocals and a brilliantly fluid guitar solo from Andy Powell, the song also features some very catchy bass lines from Martin Turner, overall some great album highlights. "Blowin' Free", a whimsical love song reputedly about a beautiful Swedish girl Annalena Nordstrom, a former girlfriend of Martin Turner... the phrase "you can only try" was one of hers!

Side 2 begins with "The King Will Come", reputedly written about the Christian Biblical idea that when the world ends believers will be saved - I promise to be good...honest! A military-style beat with wah-wah guitar solo snaking around it introduces the song, breaking into a classic Ash guitar riff. "Leaf and Stream" is a beautifully atmospheric English folk song written by Steve Upton, his first lyrical contribution to the band. "Warrior", a rousing song about having to fight one's own personal battles, not being pushed around or country fighting country and "Throw Down the Sword", the battle won, healing wounds and a return to peace, are two songs but are often regarded as a two part mini-epic. These classic Prog songs are still part of the band's live set.

An essentially uplifting addition to any Prog collection!

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