RAW TO THE BONE

The mid eighties were a challenging time for Wishbone Ash and predictably the band needed to Morph with the times, necessary survival instincts to gurantee evolution rather than dissolution. Raw To The Bone shows in many respects why they survived even with line up changes. This almost sounds like ( sorry to say) a better version of Foreigner or perhaps Boston. And it has that eighties date stamp to prove it. Nevertheless, thankfully Raw To The Bone saw the light of day and while Mervyn Spence did OK in the vocal department ( and Bass), check out the third track ' Don't cry' he didn't quite own his territory. But still a great tune if you are into straight forward rock and roll, al la Gary Numan! ' Cell of Fame' is another highlight as is ' Love is Blue' with some tight drum work from Steve Upton. There are some shockers though like ' Rocket in My Pocket' and Perfect Timing'. Overall not a Train Smash as some critics suggest and the determination and tight arrangements ensure this album deserves two stars at least.

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Posted Friday, August 8, 2008 | Review this album | Report (Review #179229)

The hey-days of this band are definitely behind. When you've been through the opening track you can only wonder how this good band fell that low. But this is of course not an isolated case. Most of the giants that appear on this site were subject to the same and sad situation (Floyd and Graaf being noticeable exceptions).

This work is even poorer than their previous release as far as I am concerned. Pure AOR or basic rock music is on the list. To name them all would consist in a listing each track available. No need of course?

Once in a while, you can expect some decent music. Like during "Love Is Blue" which features great vocals. But is this really what we expect from WA? I guess not? It is quite hard to recommend this album: most of the tracks available are just too average to do so. Not even talking about prog of course.

This album is just sub-par hard-rock music ("Rocket In My Pocket"). If you are ever willing to discover an inch of prog, I can only tell you to pass your way. This album doesn't hold any of these moments. Some funky and Led Zep atmosphere ("It's Only Love") wouldn't probably meet your expectations.

This album was totally formatted for FM radios. But it was not to my ears. One little star. This is their weakest album so far.

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Posted Monday, June 6, 2011 | Review this album | Report (Review #457706)

AOR vocals and mainstream music approach, in an album they should never release. Let's do the track-by-track marathon: Cell Of Fame: An AOR song of descend quality. It sounds somewhat repetitive to me, and with nothing outstanding to offer. People In Motion: Oh, Wishbone Ash are a hair met ... (read more)

Report this review (#1630644) | Posted by BigDaddyAEL1964 | Monday, October 10, 2016 | Review Permanlink

The cover of Raw to the Bone is probably one of the most deceiving album covers ever. From the cover one would expect some kind of very heavy metal from that period, something like Abattoir - Vicious Attack, Destruction - Infernal Overkill, Exodus - Bonded by Blood, Grave Digger - Witch Hunte ... (read more)

Report this review (#1201199) | Posted by SMSM | Monday, June 30, 2014 | Review Permanlink

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