NUMBER THE BRAVE

I'm not aware of what they relesed in the '70, only some tracks here and there on the radio, so i'm gonna be obiective to this one as much as i can. My impresion is very good, maybe a little hard rock than prog, but very nice compositions, every track sounds fresh, to me, if not for many. One of the good albums in the early '80. Some super tracks are Underground and Number the brave. For hard rock fans is a good one, for prog lovers, for those into Genesis, Floyd, Jethro Tull, etc, this is a simple music with little prog elements. To me 4 stars.

Here's another band who was making glorious records in the 70s, trying to fit in the new decade, incorporating the modern (for the time) approach and sounds. But: they weren't exaggerating, and the album, although a bit weaker from their prime albums (songwriting-wise) is not bad, as I said. When I say it's not bad I actually want to say this: there's some Wishbone Ash essence inside. It's much more oriented to boogie-rock and southern rock then it's predecessors (I guess fans of ALLMAN BROTHERS would enjoy this one), but on the other hand they used new wave licks: a simple, repetitive guitar chord playing in staccato...at the moment I expected to hear lyrics of London Calling by THE CLASH. Honestly. I don't have a problem with that.

The other thing is, they changed their sound picture a bit - but don't worry, there are no cheesy synths or 80's drum sounds here - guitars are much wider sound-wise, and they sound great. They were not overdoing the effects.

Early Wishbone's album were prog, or contained some traces of prog...this one contains a shade of a shade of proggy, it's straightforward rock, but the sound offered some innovations, really. It's a new decade. And what I'm missing the most, there are no more vocal harmonies, just plain vocal. Which is not memorable, but at least is not boring.

I can't believe I'm rating this one with three stars. At first sight, it was horrible, then, slightly better but annoying, and after that it grew on me and I learned to appreciate it. Surely it can't be compared with any album that actually deserves three stars. But Number The Brave is charming, and perhaps you should get it to see how is possible for a 70s band to sound decent in the 80s.

1981 and Number The Brave signalled a bit of a downer from Wishbone Ash. John Wetton in the fold and Laurie Wisefield dominating proceedings. For me the music is not as strong nor the lyrics/vocals. From the poor version of ' Get Ready' ( leave this one to Rare Earth guys!), the anything but loaded ' Loaded', pardon the pun and the throw away ' That's That' this signalled a mediocre release at best. The album does redeem itself with Laurie Wisefield's clever and catchy ' Roller Coaster' and the trademark sounding ' Rainstorm' which has excellent guitar work, but again the vocals fall short and would have been better as an instrumental. ' Open Road' is another solid track but as much as I want to justify two stars for this Wishbone Ash release, I simply cannot based on the poor combination of songs making up this album. Wishbone Ash managed changes well but not in 1981. For completionists only.

It was quite a surprise to discover the cover of "Get Ready" from "Rare Earth" to be played by WA. I am of course talking about the single version of this classic and not the side long one from their album.

To be honest, I have enjoyed the originals (single and album versions in 71) quite a lot and when I was confronted with this poor and pale comparison, I was quite disappointed. It is quite disastrous to my ears.

It is of course true to say that at this time of their career, no great stuff was expected but at least decent music could have been the goal. To be fully honest, there is some good rocking moment à la "Status Quo" ("Where Is The Love"). But can this be related with prog? I guess that you know the answer?

"That's That" sounds quite like "My Generation" and is borderline plagiarism as far as I'm concerned. Still: it is a great and wild rock song for sure. On the contrary, the funky "Roller Coaster" and "Loaded" are quite dreadful and meant for US FM radio. Not my cup of tea as you might know? The weak and heavy "Rainstorm" is not raising this album any higher in terms of quality, I'm afraid?

Here and there, some good and straight forward song as "Number The Brave" and "Underground" are saving my time and procure some fine feel. The fine and upbeat "Kids On The Street" is of course also welcome but this is mainstream rock'n'roll. No more. As such: two stars.

Well,I am with olarlu on this one.

Way back some of my friends had 'Live Dates' and played it for me.I quite liked it.Did not have any Wishbone Ash myself,so when I came across 'Number of the brave' in a second hand shop ,I thought I would give it a go.As most Wishbone Ash fans know,this was not from their hey day out put,but I think it is an excellent album,never the less.Songs are shorter , punchy and catchy too,and yes,is a product of the times.(and to me quite successful at that).

John Wetton was on board on bass and sings too,and is very solid.

So all in all a very good AOR album from some great musicians trying to carry on, in a time when progressive was a naughty or nauseating word.I thank you for that.

The more I listen this record the more I like it. I have to admit, I missed it when it originally came out, it was not released where I lived at the time, and later on, it was out of print for the longest time. I do however feel, that it was a huge missed opportunity by the band not to utilize John Wettons' undeniable writing and vocal abilities to a bigger extent. I believe he is featured only on one track as a vocalist, the track he wrote, out of a total of ten tracks. His playing was however felt all thru-out the record.

I have supported the band virtually from the beginning to this day. John was a great choice as a musician and vocalist to fill the vacant position of the bass player/vocalist. Fresh from the U.K. gig, I felt that his aggressive playing style and sound suited the band quite well. Unfortunately before we know it, he was gone. At least we have this single document from his short stint with the Ash.

Their first album without the great Martin Turner. His absence is critical, and the result is one of the most mediocre albums they released 'till then.

Let's see what's in there track-by-track:

Loaded: A surprisingly good funky song, with great groove and very pleasant feeling. A sample of the (sometimes not obvious) greatness they bare as artists, being able to play anything on the pop-rock spectrum with success.

Where Is The Love: Boogie rock in the style of ZZ Top, simple but effective. Not great, but not bad at all.

Underground: Jazz-funk atmosphere in this song, which is interesting for it's sound, but not that much as an actual composition.

Kicks On The Street: A groovy rocker which makes you move with the rhythm, but not significant in general.

Open Road: Somewhere between funk and bluegrass, it's a joyful song that and arguably one of the best in this album.

Rainstorm: Pretty forgettable song, nothing special at all.

Get Ready: Pop rock in the style of Bad Company, with a funk guitar part in the middle. Mediocre.

That's That: Fast song that reminds me of the Uriah Heep rockers, but without the keyboards. Nothing special once more.

Roller Coaster: Funk seems to be their ace at this point, since every funky song from this album is better than anything else. For me, this is the second best song of the album behind Loaded.

Number The Brave: Somewhat closer to their past in comparison to the other songs. Judging by it's lyrics and melody, it could be part of Argus if played with a different approach; and if it was a more inspired composition overall...

RATING: Nothing fancy at all. By the time, it was their second worst album after Locked In. 2 stars.