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.



Band Members:

  • Andy Powell
  • Ted Turner
  • Martin Turner
  • Steve Upton
  • Laurie Wisefield
  • Trevor Bolder
  • John Wetton
Produced By: Various
Review: *****

 

Tracks - CD 1
sound sheet music lyrics Song Title
1) Blind Eye
  2) Lady Whiskey
  3) Phoenix
  4) Jail Bait
      5) The Pilgrim
  6) The King Will Come
  7) Leaf & Stream
  8) Warrior
  9) Throw Down The Sword
  10) No Easy Road
  11) Ballad Of The Beacons
 

12) Sorrel
  13) Persephone

 

Tracks - CD 2
sound sheet music lyrics Song Title
  1) Lady Jay
      2) F.U.B.B.
    3) Say Goodbye
    4) (In All My Dreams) You Rescue Me
      5) Prelude
      6) Candlelight
    7) Front Page News
    8) Goodbye Baby, Hello Friend
    9) Surface To Air
    10) You See Red
      11) Ships In The Sky
    12) Living Proof
    13) Lifeline
    14) Underground
    15) Genevieve
      16) Clousseau

 

Tracks - CD 3, The Rarities
sound sheet music lyrics Song Title
  1) Witness To Wonder
    2) Why Don't We
    3) Strange Affair
    4) Dream Train
    5) Standing In The Rain
    6) Alone
    7) Time And Space
    8) Come On
    9) Fast Johnny
    10) She's Still Alive
      11) T-Bone Shuffle
    12) Bolan's Monument
      13) Duffle Shuffle
    14) Mountainside
      15) Crack of Dawn

 

Tracks - CD 4, Live & Beyond
sound sheet music lyrics Song Title
    1) Outward Bound
    2) Rest In Peace
    3) Lorelei
    4) Come In From the Rain
    5) Bad Weather Blues
    6) Sometime World
    7) Errors Of My Ways
    8) Blowin' Free
    9) Insomnia
    10) Helpless
    11) Way Of The World
    12) Lookin' For a Reason

Purchase "Distillation" - £30
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