WISHBONE ASH

Wishbone Ash selftitled debut album was released in 1970. Wishbone Ash is basically a ( soft) hard rock band and there are few progressive tendencies in their music which means they fit well into the Prog related catagory. The most progressive thing about Wishbone Ash is their twin guitar leads which bands like Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden are very influenced by.

The music on this album is generally in the blues rock vein, but there are also jazz and folk influences in the music. Error of My Ways are folk influenced while there are some swing jazz tendencies in the almost instrumental Handy. The rest of the songs are more or less blues rock with the two guitarists complimenting each other in a great way. Just listen to Lady Whiskey with it´s beautiful double guitar melody. The Opener Blind Eye is probably the weakest song here with it´s honky tonk piano. Both Queen of Torture and the classic Phoenix are great songs.

The musicianship is really great and for fans of guitar driven music there are some really nice licks here and there. The vocals are a bit weak in my ears, but they are not that important. I can enjoy the album anyway.

The production is a bit thin but still enjoyable. Note that Martin Birch ( Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mack, Blue Öyster Cult, Whitesnake, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker) is credited for Engineering the album.

This album is a good debut from an influential band. I don´t think it´s excellent but there are moments where the album rises above good and touches excellent. It´s a sure 3 star album in my book.