INSIDE WISHBONE ASH 1970-2004

This instalment of the "Inside" rockumentary series attempts to cover the entire career of Wishbone Ash from 1970 to 2004 in just over an hour. With 18 studio albums plus one live release ("Live dates") being reviewed, many albums are skimmed over with the briefest of comments.

As usual, the panel consists of a group of journalists and others from the music industry who, although having little direct relationship with the band, are sympathetic to their music. Credibility is added by the presence of the late DJ Tommy Vance and original member Andy Powell. A couple more members from later line ups also appear, including Trevor Boulder, who discusses his brief time away from Uriah Heep.

Even the early albums are covered with what seems like indecent haste, "Argus" getting a mere 7 minutes in the spotlight. It is though rightly hailed as the band's masterpiece. The effect of this is rather clouded by the liberal application of 5 star (the maximum) ratings to many other albums by the band which, while admittedly good, do not warrant such an accolade. The only album to receive one star is the disastrous "Locked in".

Although it is never said, the impression is given that a number of the selected gurus are (understandably) only slightly familiar with the succession of forgotten albums recorded by the band in the 1980's. The comments rapidly veer away from the opinionated to the Wikipedia style factual.

Interestingly, Powell's misguided foray into dance with "Trance Visionary" is overlooked completely, as is the fine album of unplugged reworkings released under the "Bare bones" name.

As usual with these Bob Carruthers productions (he is also one of the pundits), the film clips are from a range of live gigs which do not necessarily match up with the time period of the song being discussed. Nevertheless, we do get some vintage footage from the early 1970's in addition to the more recent material.

In all, this DVD serves as both a useful introduction to the band for those who know little of them, and also as quick resume of the band's long career for those who already appreciate their work.

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