Wishbone Ash started in blues based songs but had a penchant for English folk and jazz. By this third album they had a loyal following that appreciated their ability to boogie but to be able to play pretty songs. To Wishbone Ash's credit much of this had to do with their stellar playing which was more based in minor key work than traditional blues. Django Reinhart was more of an influence than say Eric Clapton.

On Argus the boys made their progressive album. Several songs were in the six minute plus range and featured multi sectioned arrangements. In particular Time Was, Sometime World, Throw Down The Sword and Warrior brought a mixture of progressive rock and some complex and engaging harmonized guitar work. Besides this guitarists Andy Powell and Ted Turner had unique qualities that made them easy to identify but were capable of working together in a way that made it hard to figure out who was playing what.

That might seem a guitar geek's kind of compliment but really it had more to do with both guitarists desire to keep their work musicial and within the framework of the song which was not always typical of 70's guitar based music. Not to say there aren't some great solos, there are. They were so compelling that as a young guitar player I spent a great deal of time figuring out what they did because it was so unusual.

A lot of other players must have done the same as the harmonies, phrasing and solo styles in many hard rock bands seem to have adopted this sophisticated style of playing.

Beyond the skill of the guitarists bassist Martin Turner played what can be described as lead bass, often letting the guitar duo hold the rhythm together with drummer Steve Upton (who had a flair for understated jazz oriented playing). The singing is excellent with Martin Turner doing most of the lead vocals along with Powell and Ted Turner on harmonies.

To a minor degree there are moments where the songs may seem dated in spots. This is more to the overplay of many of the ideas heard on this record expoited by bands of lesser quality. Critics were often divided about Wishbone Ash probably because they varied styles on each album. From a historical standpoint this band was making music that influenced other bands but never got the kind of reception their followers had.

Worth checking out if you like classic rock, melodic guitar playing or for historical interest. Almost a five star effort, I wish we could give out half stars. This is album is a solid 4.5


The Twin Guitars Never Sounded Better!   March 10, 2002
J. E FELL (Carterville, Illinois United States)
48 out of 51 found this review helpful

I was eagerly anticipating the reissue of this album. Bassist/vocalist Martin Turner remixed the tracks on this disk a few years ago for their inclusion in two great Wishone Ash compilation sets "Distillation" and "Time Was". This is the first time the new mixes have been remastered and included in the original "Argus" album context. The sound is excellent. Three bonus tracks from the "Live In Memphis" promo ep which was released in 1972 are also included.

Their third album "Argus" from 1972 features the classic line up of Andy Powell on guitars (Gibson Flying V)and vocals, Ted Turner on guitars (Fender Strat)and vocals, Martin Turner on bass and vocals and Steve Upton on drums. This set at the time of release was voted as album of the year by a few British music magazines. The band hailed from Britain and their unique style is spotlighted at its best on this album. The band's influences ranged from progressive rock, folk, jazz, and blues/boogie. Tracks like "Time Was" and "Sometime World" progress from acoustic opening sections to more rocking numbers by their end. "Blowin' Free" is perhaps the band's anthem and the new clarity of the remix allows for further examinations of the bands harmonic guitar approach. Martin Turner's bass much to my approval also seems to be more "up front" in the new remixed version of "Argus". The new remastering enhances the harmony vocal approach which the band often utilized. "The King Will Come" a song about the second coming of God contains a great riff and one of my favorite guitar solos by Ted Turner. "Leaf And Stream" shows the band's more folk/rock approach. The tandem of "Warrior" and "Throw Down The Sword" end the album on a high note and fit in perfectly with one of Storm Thorgerson's classic Hipgnosis album covers. The music and melodies are haunting while the axe work both harmonic and solo is outstanding.

The success of this album landed them the opening slot on the Who's 1972 tour. The "Live In Memphis" ep was recorded during the time and adds three of their better tracks featuring the Powell, Turner, Turner, & Upton line up. "Jail Bait" is a great stomping boogie rocker, while "The Pilgrim" also from their second lp shows the more progressive/jazzy nature of the band and is mostly instrumental. "Phoenix" from their first lp was their closing show stopper and evolves from a more subdued number to an energetic guitar showcase near its end. The bonus tracks are a welcome addition. I highly recommend this reissue. If you enjoy this cd I would also recommend the 4 disk anthology "Distillation" which summarizes the band's career with live material and rarities to that point or "Live Dates". Now if only Universal/MCA would reissue the "Live Dates 2" album on cd.


Superlative British 70's rock   July 13, 1999
Michael Clough (UK)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful

This album has some of the finest guitar-based rock music ever recorded. The solo work on 'Sometime World' is breathtaking, it still sends a shiver down my back and I've been listening to this album since it was first released in 1972. Other notable highlights are 'The King Will Come' and 'Warrior' which both feature totally original, inventive and exciting playing. The only disappointment is the 'bonus' track ('No easy road') which, as is so often the case, does not fit in with the overall feel of the 7 tracks from the original vinyl.

I was fortunate to see Wishbone Ash in 1972 when they were touring UK universities (I had lunch with them, nice lads!) and the concert they played, featuring numbers from their first three albums, remains the most memorable I've ever been to. Even the 'warm-up' session they did after lunch, where they jammed in front of a couple of dozen curious onlookers, was fantastic.

I cannot recommend this album too highly. It is totally brilliant.


A Stunning Achievement   March 23, 2002
Legal Reader (Washington, DC USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is, simply put, one of the best albums of all time. My jaw dropped when I first heard Blowin Free on the radio, I was speechless when I first heard the double leads in Sometime World and Time Was after buying it an hour later, and I still get goose bumps when I hear the opening chords of Warrior and the syncopated axework at the beginning of Throw Down the Sword.

Every song on the album is incredible. The melodies and harmonies are infectious and the musicianship is impeccable. Even the vocals (never their strongest suit) sound good. But it's the double leads on Argus that make this the best twin guitar album ever (just my opinion Allman Bros fans). This is Wishbone's best album and it still sounds fresh after 30 (jeez - I can hardly believe it) years. Over those years I've turned a number of friends on to this album and almost all of them have become WA fans.

The remix is great -- probably a little crisper than the original. I'm personally not crazy about throwing in the three "Live From Memphis" songs as I feel it detracts from the feel of the Argus "concept," but if it exposes listeners to more of this band's music then I guess it's a good thing.

Too bad they couldn't have included a big fold-out of the original Argus album cover art in the cd case -- I don't know how many hours I've spent looking at that barely perceptable spaceship in the upper corner.

Enough nostalgia. For those of you that haven't heard this album, please take a listen. For those that have, I highly recommend checking out this remix -- it'll blow you away. Again.


Missing a few eyes   February 29, 2008
eurocrank (Ketchikan, Alaska)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Argus was a Greek mythological character who had a hundred eyes, any one of which would have seen the problems in this namesake. I'm not a fan of art by committee, but the opinion of a collector or two might have corrected the compiler's vision.

I'm very curious why Mark Powell, who did such a fine job compiling and producing other reissues (Camel, Nektar, Man), would allow such a frustrating compilation to grace the Wishbone Ash market. This 2CD set sounds wonderful, thanks to Paschal Byrne, who performed similar duties for the first two of the just-mentioned reissues. It was remastered from the original mix and the original master tapes. Powell's liner notes continue to be excellent. But, unlike in the other reissues, the proofreading is bad--a first sign of something out of focus, something missed.

Proofreading? Who cares? Well, sometimes bad proofreading suggests other problems (cf. Budgie). In this case, random punctuation seems connected to questionable compiling judgments.

The "Argus Deluxe Edition" comprises "Argus," "Live in Memphis" (minus one track, 'Jailbait'), a stereo version of the previously released "BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert" (minus two tracks, 'Jailbait' and 'The Pilgrim'), the B-side of a single ('No Easy Road' from 9/72), and two mono tracks previously released on "Wishbone Ash Live at the BBC" ('Blowin' Free' from the BBC Radio 1 Bob Harris show 5/31/1972 and 'Throw Down the Sword' from the Pete Drummond show 5/10/1972).

The expanded edition of "Argus" was nearly perfect. Remixed by an original and highly important band member (Martin Turner), remastered by a pro (Erick Labson)--all of which supervised by an expert in the reissue business (Andy McKaie) and someone well-versed in Wishbone Ash (Leon Tsilis)--its only flaw was its somewhat hagiographic liner notes by Tsilis.

This deluxe edition, however, makes little sense. The B-side, 'No Easy Road,' for example, was recorded in between "Argus" and "Wishbone Four" and has a lot more in common with the latter. It actually appears on "Wishbone Four" but with a brass section; otherwise, the single and the album version are the same. Why include it on "Argus," especially when a remastered version of "Wishbone Four" is sorely needed? (In my experience, "Wishbone Four" shares the title of Worst Major Label CD Issue with Bruce Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town.")

And that's perhaps the best news. An incomplete "Live in Memphis"? "BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert" is in stereo, to be sure, but what about the missing tracks?

Powell could have made the "Live in Memphis" addition complete by adding 'Jailbait' to Disc One and either eliminating the unnecessary 'No Easy Road' or putting it on the second disc. Disc One would then have repeated the track listing of McKaie and Tsilis's edition, but so what--why mess with perfection?

Powell could have included the two missing tracks ('Jailbait,' 'The Pilgrim') from the original "BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert" CD on the second disc, ignored the other two BBC tracks, and added 'No Easy Road' at the end of the second disc to indicate the new direction Ash was taking.

Or, for the second disc, Powell could have avoided previously issued material altogether and focused solely on something unissued, such as a live concert.

Instead he decided to cut songs that were originally on "Pilgrimage" ('Jailbait,' 'The Pilgrim') because, I think, of CD time constraints and because he might be using them on a possibly forthcoming deluxe edition of "Pilgrimage." Yet, if so, the second rationale seems strange to me because it ignores context and concert-set-list thinking. I'd rather have a live performance presented "as is" instead of cut and parceled out according to the original studio album sources. I'd rather recognize history and the musicians' decision making than a shoehorned, Procrustean fit.

Collectors will have to ask themselves if an original mix remastering, the B-side 'No Easy Road,' and a stereo version of a truncated "BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert" are worth the price of this new edition. Non-collectors would do best, I think, to stick to the previously released CDs.

I just hope that problematic sales of "Argus Deluxe Edition" aren't in a position to compromise the remastering and reissuing of other Wishbone Ash albums, such as "There's the Rub" and "Pilgrimage" as well as "Wishbone Four"--not to mention "Live Dates Volume Two."