Argus - Wishbone Ash

Advantages: Lots of Ash
Disadvantages: none

...With the 70's came the live album, and this rates up there with the best of them. Purple had Made in Japan and Yes had Yessongs, and now Ash had their Live Dates. Wishbone Ash had already released four excellent studio recordings, but like many bands in this era, they really came into their own on stage. Like Argus, their third album, no Ash fan should be without this album! All the classic Ash songs are on here: The King Will Come, Blowin' Free, Warrior, Pheonix, Lady Whiskey and many more. If you like guitar and vocal harmonies, then you'll like Ash, and you'll love this album. Wisbone Ash are still playing today, and are still well worth going to see. It's a pity everything after this album went downhill for Ash.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Technically very good, virtuoso performances, good prog
Disadvantages: A little dated, won't make you look trendy

...Ash don't seem to have dated as well as other bands: they did the twin lead guitar thing and combined rock, folk and blues long before Thin Lizzy but while Lizzy are perennial favourites Ash are largely forgotten. The Allman Brothers are revered but say "Ted Turner and Andy Powell" and people would probably say: "Television guy? Radio One DJ?" Originally released in April 1972, "Argus" is said to be the crowning moment of the recording career of Wishbone Ash. Fans and critics see it as the definitive Ash album yet I bet it hardly ever figures in those "best 100 albums of all time polls" you get when magazines and newspapers need to fill space. If you've never heard of Ash, they're a bit like Jethro Tull or Yes: prog rock combined with jazz, blues and folk, with quite delicate vocals. In fact the whole sound is quite delicate... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: excellent guitar playing
Disadvantages: inconsistent material

...Wishbone's sophamore effort from 1971 suffers by comparison with both its predecessor, their excellent, energetic debut album, and its successor, the career defining "Argus" which is one of THE classic British Rock albums of the 70s. It's a good album of course, but after an excellent start it sags in the middle, and the closing live track smacks of a band short of material and desperately trying to find forty minutes worth of material to meet a deadline. The first three tracks are classic Ash. "Vas Dis" opens proceedings with a duel between the lead guitars of Andy Powell and Ted Turner and bassist Martin Turner's scat vocals. It's an exhilarating start and paves the way for the outstanding (almost) title track. "The Pilgrim" wafts in gently, slightly reminiscent of Jimmy Page's "Black Mountainside" before evolving into a head... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful