BLUE HORIZON

Wishbone Ash are still going strong. The new millenium is very constistent. Andy Powell has a steady and energetic group of musicians in his band. For almost seven years the line-up is the same.

This new album is exactly what you woul expect from the Ash: folkrock, bluesrock, progrock and even some jazzfusion, lots of twinleads, beautiful melodies, some riffing, some clean guitar. They even added some fiddle in two songs.

Andy is perhaps not the most famous and outstandig leadvocalist but he always does a good job.

This album reminds me sometimes of Argus but also Illuminations, There's the Rub and No Smoke Without Fire.

This is not only one of the best records the band ever put out, but perhaps even the best record of 2014 of any band.

For fans of the classic Wishbone Ash sound, Blue Horizon does not warrant a high rating, particularly in the Prog Archives. The album has neither the classic Wishbone Ash sound, nor much progressive content. But, to be fair, a lot of Wishbone Ash music after the first few albums should be classified as classic rock, not prog rock. The music on Blue Horizon is essentially blues rock, this being the case with most Wishbone Ash releases under the leadership of Andy Powell. One notable exception is the 1996 Illuminations album, and it appears that former band member Roger Filgate had a lot to do with that album. The music on Blue Horizon is played well enough, but the songwriting is not very imaginative. Listening to Mk I and Mk II Wishbone Ash from the 1970s, it's apparent that singer, songwriter, bass player, producer Martin Turner is the prime source of the classic Wishbone Ash sound. It also appears obvious why the joint compositions on the early albums are credited to M. Turner, S. Upton, T. Turner and A. Powell, though the credits sometimes get listed alphabetically in the revisionist history of the band. For the classic Wishbone Ash sound, check out Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash. If you want to hear some really good blues rock, check out the Allman Brothers Band, who blend blues, jazz and rock in innovative ways.

Very often along the years, it has been noted the peculiar (and fundamental) role that the twin lead guitar approach plays in the music of Wishbone Ash. This is also true for this record, although the fact is not so simple, but involves more than one manifestation: the mentioned twins provide not only riffs, leads and solos, but elsewhere you can find them in textures that in another context could be left to synths, or installing ambient and atmospheres, or collaborating with the vocals in setting the appropriately vast space for the expansion of the overall sound by resorting to reverb and the right chord sequences.

All that is here, and is backing a great set of songs. Anything else? Oh yes, Andy Powell is here and sings just great