Argus - Wishbone Ash

...Upton (drums).

Argus was first released in May 1972, it was a very sucessful album at the time, going gold, and over the years has become their most famous record. Something of a "concept" album this one, but I use that dreaded word loosely as it only applies as an ongoing theme linking the songs on the old side two. The original gatefold sleeve showed a warrior staring out over a lush green valley, contemplating the battle ...
...from Hipgnosis, who were masters of their craft in the 70s.

Track listing: Time Was / Sometime World / Blowin' Free / The King Will Come / Leaf And Stream / Warrior / Throw Down The Sword

Nowadays it would be artistic suicide to begin your new album with a nine and a half minute track, but this was 1972 and Time Was…"when there were things around I was afraid of……", fitted the bill perfectly. It begins with ... more

The first version of Wishbone Ash in the early 1970s were a London-based band fronted by the twin guitars of Andy Powell and Ted Turner, who had released two albums prior to this, their self-titled debut in 1970 and Pilgrimage in 1971.

Although nominally a progressive rock act, the Ash were too varied to be pinned to any particular style, alternating between hard rock, folksy-leaning acoustic material and melodic rock with jazzy undertones. All in all, a good band with more than capable musicians, who were: Andy Powell and Ted Turner (guitars, occasional vocals), Martin Turner (bass, vocals) and Steve Upton (drums).

Argus was first released in May 1972, it was a very sucessful album at the time, going gold, and over the years has become their most famous record. Something of a "concept" album this one, but I use that dreaded word loosely as it only applies as an ongoing theme linking the songs on the old side two. The original gatefold sleeve showed a warrior staring out over a lush green valley, contemplating the battle that is soon to come. Another brilliant album sleeve from Hipgnosis, who were masters of their craft in the 70s.

Track listing: Time Was / Sometime World / Blowin' Free / The King Will Come / Leaf And Stream / Warrior / Throw Down The Sword

Nowadays it would be artistic suicide to begin your new album with a nine and a half minute track, but this was 1972 and Time Was…"when there were things around I was afraid of……", fitted the bill perfectly. It begins with slow acoustic guitars…and three minutes later hasn't moved on. Just as you start to think "what is going on here" those twin lead electric guitars come in and begin duelling for the remainder of the song, which turns into a driving, descending rocker. One irritating thing, the vocals on this song sound needlessly American, surely out of place in this quintessentially English group.

Blowin' Free was to become a live favourite over the years, yet for me sounds somewhat out of place with the others here. Perhaps because it was written about one of the bands' girlfriends, but anyway a nice descending riff and sounding very AOR indeed. Suitably, it was released as a single from the album.

Perhaps the best song this group ever recorded is next. Sometime World is one of those tunes that picks you up and carries you along in its wake, its melody washing over you as it flows along. Similar in structure to Time Was, all acoustic then electric. Martin Turner, the band's main lyricist as well as singer and bass player, had "met a man who felt the same way",

Life had kept him waiting,
Regretting his pain inside.
Had to feel underrated,
And hated, besides.

Hit the stop-time gap and it's that old Ash staple, rhyming and duelling guitars over Turner's high-end bassline. Just a wonderful piece of music. It doesn't end, just fades out. I think the band were having such fun playing it they didn't want to stop.

What used to be Side Two in old money opens with the big, brave seven minute composition The King Will Come, the first of four songs of a loose concept: the threat of impending conquest, the quiet contemplation, a stirring call to arms and the tired aftermath. "King" has a simply fantastic twin guitar melody that still sounds as fresh today as it did 33 years ago. Still played by the group in concert today, as well.

Leaf And Stream is an unusual song in that it's slower, quieter and yet at the same time still sounds as fast-paced as the earlier ones. Unusual too in that for the first time Upton, the drummer, got to pen some words for the band. It's a gorgeous semi-acoustic number with lyrics that aptly sum up its subject matter. "Find myself beside a stream of empty thought, like a leaf that's fallen to the ground".

Warrior is a big uptempo number which mirrors its lyrics, "a slave I coudn't be......tomorrow the plough becomes the sword......make us stronger in our danger." Powell and Ted Turner's steadily rising shimmering riff that closes this out is one of the highlights of this album.

The aftermath of battle and feeling of "why?" is captured in the closing Throw Down The Sword, a sad, emotive yet beautifully crafted number. The fighting's done and over, neither lost neither won. A stronger lyric would help on this number but overall it's class rock music.

It might be unfair to say that Wishbone Ash had peaked on this, their third album, but there's no getting away from the fact that as good as later releases like "There's The Rub" and "New England" are, there is just something magical about the whole feeling of this LP, the time, the place, the sound, that could not be replicated again. Granted, it has its weaknesses: some of the lyrics are a little ham-fisted, and neither Ted nor Martin Turner were the world's best vocalists (for me the one thing that held them back from superstardom), but those weaknesses are far outweighed by the positives; the sheer number of ideas crammed in here, the usual Wishbone Ash dexterity of the playing, the rock-solid rythym section that reels in both twin leads when they threaten too much of a solo than is absolutely necessary - all contributing to make this a memorable set of songs.

You can pick this up for as little as a fiver online, and for me, the beauty of CD's these days is that you can go to any artist's back catalogue, often for less money than it would have cost at the time of original release, and find out for yourself just how good that band or artist that your mum/dad/older brother/older sister told you they were. Record companies are so wised-up to the demographics these days that they can afford to keep these 1970's releases on the market, knowing that for people of my age group (and a bit older) will go looking for them. Mark my words, this is a golden age for rediscovering classic rock - and it doesn't come any more classic than Wishbone Ash.

This is UK progressive rock at its very best, and a record no self-respecting fan of that genre should be without. Other albums of theirs worth looking out for: Wishbone Ash (1970) There's The Rub (1974) New England (1976) and No Smoke Without Fire (1978), plus an an honourable mention to Cosmic Jazz (1989) which saw the original line-up reunited for an interesting set.

 

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