Cult band is often the way "Wishbone Ash" is described these days - you won't find the band on MTV or written about very frequently in the music press - but anyone who is into their music will usually know exactly where to find them. In particular, the discerning rock fan will acknowledge the role that the Ash has played in the development of the guitar in rock music.

By now everyone knows that "Wishbone Ash" are a twin lead guitar driven band, and one of the first to explore the medium at that. But what often gets missed is the way that the bass is used to create a third harmony along with the guitars, giving the music its distinctive melodic sound. This can be heard to great effect on cuts like "Blowin' Free".

There is also the element of musical eclecticism which the band displayed, particularly in the early seventies, moving easily from the majesty of songs like "Throw Down The Sword" to the acoustic feel of the opening section of "Time Was". It was all just music to them. In fact, the great thing about the period in which their music is rooted is that there was always the freedom to try any musical style that caught one's ear. Each band from the so-called progressive rock era had the freedom from the record labels to do and be what it wished. Record companies were having to sit up and take notice of these new kids on the block, and to what audiences were demanding from their chosen bands.

An amazing diversity of great players were thrown up at this time. The electric guitar took a great leap forward, and there was a large palette of technology, styles, and influences to dip into. It had only been a few short years from Rock 'n' Roll to Rock. In Britain, I suppose the guitar moved firmly centre stage with the music of the Shadows. There has hardly been a British guitarist who has not cast a nod in Hank B. Marvin's direction.

By the time the members of Wishbone Ash had moved to London to make their mark, the British blues boom had been hitting the clubs full force. The blues mutated into psychedelia, and it was this phase that was to herald the progressive rock era with which Wishbone Ash is most closely associated.

In this collection the listener can hear all of the elements come together in a live concert, with music spanning three decades. Sit back and enjoy music from one of Britain's best loved unknown bands.