| Distillation - 1997 | |
"Distillation" is the most ambitious Wishbone Ash collection to date.
27 years in the making. This set is aimed at both the ardent and casual
fan. The entire history of the band is laid out in one glorious package.
Brought into existence through the fan-friendly efforts of legendary
Flying V man Andy "Keeper of the Flame" Powell, these 56 tracks of classic
and rare Ash were lovingly re-mastered and/or re-mixed by founder and
current part-time member Martin Turner. The world may now, push come to
shove, need five hours of this band's history, fully annotated and lovingly
packaged for posterity, but Powell has made a damn good case to the contrary.
Neither as sensual as Zeppelin nor as preposterously idiosyncratic and
Jethro Tull - and certainly more underachieving at the PR/self-mythologising
game than either - this set confirms the Ash's lofty place among the great
English folk-tinged stadium rockers of the 70's. Anyone even casually
interested in classic rock needs at least half the material here. Highlights
include the "Argus" re-mixes, the newly unearthed mid-70's live stuff,
and the occasional flashes of old magic in later work - from 1978's overlooked
"Ships in the Sky" right up to 1996's colossal "Mountainside". A gold
star exercise in how to "do" the box set. |
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| Produced By: Various | |
| Review: ***** | |
| Purchase "Distillation" - £30 | |||
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