Friday 2 February 2018

Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four (1973)


The fourth album from this British band.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums and vocals.
The band had some help from five guest musicians who provided saxophones, trumpet, piano and keyboards.

The band were now proper rock stars after the release of Argus, Wishbone Ash's proper and enduring masterpiece. You can read my seven years old review of it here. I have recently been listening to that album again and I stand by my seven years old review.

How do you top Argus ? Well, you can't. The band, or the two Wishbone Ash bands, are still living and recording albums in the shadows of that masterpiece.

Wishbone Four is the first attempts in topping Argus. The band got some help from saxophones, keyboards and other instruments. They were diluting their sound and their appeal by doing this.

The many good guitar solos and harmonies is still well worth checking out. But their foray into commercial bubblegum rock is not good and dilutes their music.

There is some good stuff here and some barely decent stuff here on this forty-two minutes long album. It is not a good album though and it feels like the success of Argus has blinded the band and their record label. The music on this album is the biggest victim.

2.5 points 


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