ARGUS

The band of Andy Powell, Martin Turner and Steve Upton creates Argus, the crown masterpiece of Wishbone ash which, for me goes down as one of the best albums. The title, "Argus" comes from the Greek myth of "Argus" who is a giant with 100 eyes, it also can be used to describe a vigilant or observant person. With this name comes a conceptual album of war, time and history all of which are mentioned in "Argus." Even without listening to the album it is clear that "Argus" is based around warriors and war, the cover and song titles emulate this idea. "Argus" is an undoubtedly progressive album, changes in dynamics and tempo complement this claim as well as the epic concept surrounding the album.

Wishbone Ash developed their ideas to the point of perfection for the first and arguably only time and were rewarded with a number 3 charting in England, from which the band attained a moderate following, which remains to this day. "Argus" is a musical journey, taking the listener into a land of old, while still retaining an element of modern times, if you understand me. "Time Was" is a progressive song with time changes and extended song length as well as ingenious guitar work and lyricism. The song begins with a short acoustic section before moving into a fully blown rock/prog song with various guitar solos and lyrics. There is absolutely nothing dark about "Time Was" and it is actually an uplifting song and enjoyable to listen to. "Sometime World" follows "Time Was" and opens as a slow-ish song of a man waiting and lamenting basically. The song gradually gains momentum and eventually changes tempo and for the last four minutes of the song there is upbeat guitar work and supporting lyrics.

"Blowin' Free" is perhaps the most off-topic song, about the usual stuff. The songs takes on more of a conventional rock feel, but still retains progressive elements and tempo changes. Coming up next is "King Will Come" which opens with a instrumental jam consisting of a mainly a snare drum with guitar and bass overlay. The song follows on with the concept of history and talks of what will happen when the "King will Come" and various related propaganda. Next up is "Leaf and Stream" which reminds me greatly of 'The Church.' Anyway the song has a splendid atmosphere and a mellower feels than feel than the rest of "Argus", while still retaining great effect. Next is "Warrior" one of the best songs on the album, very infectious and just a great listen with stunning lyricism and guitar work. It really follows on with the concept of warriors and war. Last off is the legendary "Throw Down You Sword" whose guitar solo was named number 14 in Planet Rock's top 40 guitar solos. Once you listen to it you'll surely agree it is a entwined guitar solo from both Andy Powell and Ted Turner, amazing stuff which ends and amazing album and song.

1. Time Was (5/5) 2. Sometime World (5/5) 3. Blowin' Free (4/5) 4. King Will Come (4/5) 5. Leaf and Stream (5/5) 6. Warrior (5/5) 7. Throw Down the Sword (5/5) Total = 33 divided by 7 (number of songs) = 4.714 = 5 stars Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music

I posted my "Argus" review because at the moment the album is at around 4.80 (makes this review timeless, wink, wink<">) stars which is insanely good, the fact is it is a fair rating.The UK remaster of the album comes with three live bonus tracks, two of which run for over 10 minutes and are recorded live with great sound quality. I'd recommend "Argus" to all Art Rock fans and to all of you who love a good concept album. Also, a time less album.