SOMETIME WORLD: AN MCA TRAVELOGUE

Sometime World is Universal's 40th anniversary compilation of Wishbone Ash tunes. Disc 1 offers material from Ash Mk I, made up of Martin Turner, Steve Upton, Andy Powell and Ted Turner. Disc 2 includes material from Ash Mk II, with Laurie Wisefield replacing Ted Turner, and two tracks from Ash Mk III, with John Wetton replacing Martin Turner. Disc 1 is probably the strongest material, particularly from a prog point of view, including Phoenix, The Pilgrim and a number of tracks from the classic Argus album. But Disc 2 also includes some good tunes, like Persephone, FUBB, Lorelei and The Way of the World. Fans may quibble with some choices. Ballad of the Beacon and Sorrel, my favourites off Wishbone Four, are not there. Rest In Peace or Say Goodbye would be better choices off Locked In than Moonshine, but some would say skip Locked In altogether. That album is widely considered to be one of the Ash's weakest albums. It should have been good, but producer Tom Dowd, famous for his work with other artists like Eric Clapton and the Allman Brothers Band, dropped the ball, and the Ash themselves provided some rather lackluster material. Many fans also consider the material on the Number The Brave album to be a departure from previous Ash offerings, with Open Road, for example, having the southern-US-style boogie rock sound that came to dominate the two subsequent Ash albums. It's obvious, as well, that the Ash did not make full use on John Wetton on Number The Brave.

A selling point for Sometime World is the excellent remastering job. This is especially noticeable on Everybody Needs A Friend from Wishbone Four, an album which was poorly mastered on its first outing. Universal has promised remasters of all the MCA Ash back catalogue, but so far all we've seen is the Argus deluxe edition. The remastered four-disc Distillation box set is a more complete compilation of Ash material over the years, and includes some rarities, plus a disc of live material from Ash Mk II. But Sometime World serves as a good overview of Wishbone Ash's first decade.