New England/Front Page News - Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash Argus (Remastered)

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 ...

JeroBear 09.12.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Argus [Remastered] - Wishbone Ash

New Millennium, New Album, Same Brilliance!

Advantages: Fantastic songs, classic Wishbone Ash guitar work, good variety, clear sound quality.
Disadvantages: Some songs carry a more simple and generic 'blues rock' feel...

' contains references to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which is indeed something new for a band which used to carry messages of pilgrimages, ancient battles and tales of 'ye olden' times. This track also combines some light flute work with some later heavier riffs which really rock, and bring another different feel to the album. The closing track, 'Peace' is a slow moving, soothing and expressive instrumental - something which is found on many Wishbone Ash albums - and is a really nice way to close. There are so many different moods contained within this one album! If you get the Special Edition of the album, you'll have three bonus tracks to enjoy . The first, 'Hard On You', is a nice melodic tune which seems to feel a bit more 'pop'-esque than most of their material. There's a live version of Almighty Blues, and there's also an 11-minute ...

jproscoe 18.08.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Bonafide (Special Edition) - Wishbone Ash

Rock of ages

Advantages: Brilliant early 70's rock music
Disadvantages: Some of the singing!

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 ...

pinkmatchstick 29.07.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Argus - Wishbone Ash