It’s 1972 and Wishbone Ash have started making a name for themselves and building what seemed to be a solid legacy, having already released two full length albums. Now, we find them recording six new tracks, which would later be released in the band’s third full length album “Argus”. And that was it. Until today, “Argus” counts numerous fans in all over the world. Fans who share a varied musical taste amongst themselves. Am I exaggerating? Definitely not. Wishbone Ash’s “Argus” is not a random album that was just ‘good for its time’. With its groundbreaking structure and unique inspiration, it would become the gospel on which belovedacts of the hard scene we love and have made us what we are now would later step on.
But let’s take things one by one. “Argus” is essentially the third complete album of the British Wishbone Ash, definitely their most successful, the album that rocketedthe band’s image and acceptance by the audience and the press, resulting into continuous requests for live performances. Musically, “Argus” is built on a unique for the era axis, which is a mix of Progressive Rock, Folk, and Hard Rock, fused together under the veil of medieval lyrical themes. There are also some Heavy Blues elements, among the melodies that flood us, making “Argus” an extremely interesting, if not complicated album that makes you think that maybe Wishbone Ash shook the hand of a demon in a muddy crossroads in the middle of nowhere. What stands out almost instantly on this record is Martin Turner’s bass lines, who actually recorded the vocals of “Argus”, as well.
In contrast to the practice of most bass players, Turner did not follow the guitars as we’re accustomed to in order to give volume to the final result, but he followed his own path, playing the way he wanted, adding another unique feature to the final product (for example listento “Sometime World”). Beyond bass, drums and lead / rhythm guitars, Wishbone Ash has greatly benefited from the acoustic guitar, the intricate percussion instruments and the ecclesiastic organ (especially in “Throw Down The Sword”). What’s even more beautiful with the Wishbone Ash compositions is that despite the fact thatthe band constantly offered their most elaborate selves, they left some spaces open for jamming, letting the structures breathe on their own while at the same time fed our hunger for more. In addition, the long lasting compositions are also one of the most characteristic features of the album. For example, the opening “Time Was” lasts for almost 10 minutes. In these tracks we deal with a collage of ideas, a musical mix of different melodies that radiate self-confidence and a mood to explore or even enlarge the horizons of the band.
And it’s not only about the importance of the inspiration and composition of the album why “Argus” has been nominated as one of the best records of all time by many of us out there. It’s because we meet the twin-lead guitar harmonization, a technique that has been adopted and developed by beloved bands such as Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy.
We would say that we owe it all to Martin Turner. All the melodies and lyrics were of his own inspiration, while the whole band worked as a team on the orchestration.
Martin Birch was the album’s sound engineer. He had worked with Deep Purple, later with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and other bands. It sounds logical, doesn’t it? Production was handled by Derek Lawrence at Wembley’s De Lane Lea studios, to which a new state-of-the-art 16-track console had just been added. “Argus” was recorded in less than a month in early 1972.
“Argus” was recorded by:
Martin Turner – bass, vocals
Andy Powell – lead (except for “The King Will Come”), harmony lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, vocals
Ted Turner – lead (tracks 2, 3, 4, 6), slide (in “BlowingFree”), harmonylead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, vocals
Steve Upton – drums (besides “Leaf and Stream”), percussion