WISHBONE ASH - ARGUS: The Heavy-Folk-Prog Dream, Realized
If a band is lucky, they achieve a moment where theirambitions, abilities and communication merge into a kind of alchemy thatproduces a perfect album. In the middle of this moment, all the songs will comeout brilliant and everyone involved - from the players to the producers to the engineers- never takes a wrong step. Every element will magically fall into the rightspot, creating a final result that shines brilliantly from every angle. Such amagical album often becomes the standard by which the rest of the group's workis measured - and that's exactly the case with Argus by Wishbone Ash.
The group considers Argusthe culmination of their early career. That's not nostalgia or hyperbole: pastalbums had that classic early '70s vibe of a band showing all the styles theycould do on different songs. On Argus, they merge all their different stylesinto each song. Case in point: opener "Time Was" starts off withgauzy acoustic guitars and gently-harmonized vocals before shifting into aboisterous rocker where both guitars and vocals harmonize with taut energy."Sometime World" pulls off a similar trick with a circular melodythat grows in intensity and speed from a slide-driven ballad to a relentlesspiledriver fuelled by a fast bassline. "Blowin' Free" and its joyousevocation of young love brings the energetic first side to a close, throwing ina nice left-turn of a bridge that adds a surprise touch of half-tempodreaminess. All the exploratory joy of the past albums is there but thearrangements have a new sharpness and focus.
The second side of Argusis as close as Wishbone Ash ever got to a concept album, offering a suite offour songs that contrast the drive for war with the humanity of the peoplecaught up in the war's battles. "The King Will Come" is a majesticcall to arms, with a stunning army-of-guitars fade-in, while"Warrior" takes the point of view of a downtrodden man who resolvesto fight even as he feels the pull of the love left behind. Between those two,"Leaf And Stream" testifies to the yearning and introspection thatgets abandoned during wartime and the despondently gorgeous "Throw DownThe Sword" closes the album with a meditation the futility of battle. The music for these songs covers everythingfrom heavy rock to pastoral acoustic stylings, creating an ever-shifting, emotionalcascade of sounds that shows the mileage you can get from two guitars, a bassand a drum kit.
Simply put, Argus achieves the idealized dream on an album, taking you on a journey that encompasses a range of emotions and sounds. It's beautifully arranged and benefits from crisp, detailed yet minimalist production by Derek Lawrence that sounds timeless (the engineering was handle by Martin Birch, who would soon be producing Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, et al.). Wishbone Ash would immediately begin experimenting with variations on their sound after this to varying degrees of success but Argus will always remains the moment when they touched perfection.