A R T I C L E S
a n d I N T E R V I E W S
Wishbone Ash, first album review - Melody Maker, 23 January 1971 by Roy Hollingworth
This is the fine little band that’s worked its guts out over the past couple of years. They were back-up band at every gig and festival imaginable, and their solid work and consistency made them an awful lot of friends. And now this very clean, urgent and well tackled album is going to make them even more friends. The pity of the thing is that Wishbone have (in common with two out of every three bands at the moment) very little originality to offer. It’s basically the same hard rock that’s pumping out night after night throughout this country. It’s noticeable at times on this album that even the age old riffs and licks sound just that little bored themselves. But if you like hard rock and like to hear it played well you needn’t look much further than Wishbone. It seems as though we’ll be with rock for a long, long time, certainly for the next two years, and among the small brigade of bands who are destined to take the better pickings are Wishbone. I feel sure of that. Andy Powell and Ted Turner are both fluent on guitar, vocals are strong and menacing throughout. A legitimate tight band here. Best track for my money is “Errors of my Way” which gets away from the standard rock bag, becomes neo-folk at times and is the type of set that the band should further, for it gives them a chance to show off a remarkable sense of freedom, which in itself is a pointer for future success.