Distillation

I lost interest in Wishbone Ash after Argus for some reason and never stuck with them. After picking up some of their albums with Laurie Wisefield, I sure wish I would have. Wisefield is just a super guitarist and wrote some really nice tunes. I was just amazed at how good WA's catalog is after Argus, they really kept churning out good music. This box set is a must have for any Wishbone Ash fan. The song selection, comprehensive booklet and outstanding re-mastering by Martin Turner make this worth the price of admission, and them some. It won't replace your other WA albums, it is a companion piece. Once you hear this collection, you'll want to delve further into their catalog (if you don't already own most of the albums). If you are new to this band, get their masterpiece Argus, the S/T album, Live Dates and this one--you'll be off to a great musical guitar journey.

This is a great compilation. Remastering is LOUD and very bright - maybe a little too bright!!I agree with another reviewer that "Time Was" really should be on here and I also would have liked to have had a clear remastered version of "Mother of Pearl" - this song sounds a little muddy to me on other CDs.There are many surprises on this compilation and I was blown away by some songs I had not heard before - especially on Discs 3 and 4. I highly recommend this set.My biggest complaint is that the edited version "You Rescue Me", one of the best songs on the New England album, was botched. Granted on the album this song goes on too long with cricket sounds for about a full minute at the end of the song. So it was good that this was edited out and the song length reduced from 6:13 to 5:27. However, in this process they began the fade out too soon. My FAVORITE part of this song is when the twin guitars are playing the same melody from 3:40 to 4:40 and then this culminates with a loud single POP of the drums at 4:42. However, the CD editors decided to begin the fade out of the song right at this moment - thus reducing the volume of the exquisite POP of that drum at the end of the guitar solo! This is unforgivable, especially when they had about 40 more seconds after this to do the fade out. They could have easily started the fade out at about the 5:00 mark and been just fine. So one of my favorite WA songs, which sounds great in this remaster, is botched at the end!!! I still can't believe they failed to recognize how integral that little pop of the drum was to this song.

This is a four cd anthology spanning the years 1970-1996. The first two discs contain remastered versions of their fan favorites. The third disc contains mostly unissued tracks, alternate takes, and non-lp singles. The fourth disc contains unissued live recordings. The live recordings are smoking outtakes and single b-sides from their criminally out of print "Live Dates II" album. The band was from England and was formed in the late 1960's by bassist/singer Martin Turner and drummer Steve Upton. Martin Turner's brother Glen the original guitarist abruptly quit due to lack of success. The remaining members advertised for a new guitarist. Their original intention was to add a new guitarist and a keyboardist. Among the guitarists who answered the add were the progressive Andy Powell (with his Gibson Flying-V or Gibson SG) from Hemel Hempstead and the more bluesy Ted Turner (with his Les Paul and Stratocaster) from Birmingham. Upton and Martin Turner could not decide between the two guitarists so the idea of a keyboardist was abandoned and both guitarists were added. Their music was a combination of hard rock, British blues/boogie, jazzy progressive numbers and folk influenced acoustic numbers. The band was finally given a break following a preconcert jam between Andy Powell and Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore. Blackmore advised Deep Purple's producer at the time Derek Lawrence to recommend the band to some of his record company contacts. Due to this help Wishbone Ash were signed by MCA in 1970. The guitarists alternated between playing harmony lines together and playing counterpoint to each other. This line-up remained intact until Ted Turner left shockingly during their most successful period in 1974 (he rejoined briefly in the eighties). He was replaced by guitarist Laurie Wisefield from the group Home who opened for Wishbone Ash at one point. Their music at this time became slightly more commercial but still interesting. This line-up lasted until 1980 when Martin Turner quit. The line-up has changed many times since with Andy Powell currently being the only remaining original member. This dual lead guitar attack influenced other bands from the United Kingdom such as Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, and Def Leppard to name a few. My favorite numbers on this set include the boogie "Jail Bait", the progressive "The Pilgrim", the riff fest "The King Will Come", the instrumental "F.U.B.B." and the more commercial "Front Page News". It may be useful to compare this set to the domestic 2 cd anthology "Time Was" issued by MCA. The "Distillation" set is more representative of the whole career of the band to this point and contains more rarities. However, the 2 cd "Time Was" contains some rarities and focuses more on the early Ted Turner period. The "Time Was" set contains many essential cuts not in included on the "Distillation" set like the jazzy "Vas Dis", the excellent "Time Was", and the rocking "So Many Things To Say". Neither set contains two favorites "Rock And Roll Widow" or "Mother Of Pearl". If you are a fan you will probably want both sets for the rarities and remastering. If you are just looking for a sampler either set is good but "Distillation" is slightly more representative as it contains material from other labels in addition to their MCA material. This set is a MUST for fans of British progressive rock and dual lead guitar playing.

This is incomplete in my humble, yet honest opinion without "Silver Shoes" from There's the Rub in '75. How come I cannot find a complilation CD from ASH with Silver Shoes on it?? Did they not perform this song live either?? I have yet to see a live ASH recording with Silver Shoes on it. Has this song been forgotten?? It was one of their BEST!

It's likely that any WA fan who is here is already aware of wishboneash.com. This CD has just been re-issued and is available there.

I can't believe! Were's "Time Was" track ? They made a great compilation with 55 tracks but they missed the "Time Was"!! Can you imagine a Zeppelin box without 'Black Dog' or a Deep Purple box without 'Black Night' ?

Needless to say, this is the ultimate collection thus far and long overdue. Martin Turner worked very closely compliling this box. Fans will just go nuts with this one.

yes it's an expensive cd box set , but worth the price! cd's #3 are just worth the price alone. on disc 3 you get all the remixed and previously none released songs you won't find anywhere on other albums. disc 4 has all live recordings with an awsome recording of "insomnia".another benefit of buying this cd set is the liner notes for each song in a booklet with the band members own recollection of each track.

Brilliant

A collection which covers most of the important music from the Mk. 1 & Mk. 2 lineups. Very nice collection.

Wishbone Ash ist seit über 40 Jahren eine von meinen Lieblingsbands. So habe ich die alten Songs noch nie gehört. Der Drum Sound ist differenziert und Martins Bass erzeugt Gänsehaut, die Gitarren perlen und es zeigen sich all die Feinheiten, die es zu entdecken gibt - das nach all den Jahren - Einfach unglaublich! Bitte die gebrauchten Boxen mit dem tollen Booklet und Infos von der Band zu jedem Song kaufen! Das Remastering von Live Dates und Live Dates II Collector's Edition kommt da nicht mit, da ist der Sound eher verfälscht. Hier stimmt einfach alles - der Sound ist besser als bei vielen aktuellen CDs und das bei Masterbändern die 40 Jahre alt sind - Hut ab - great work!!! Danke - das habe ich mir schon seit vielen Jahren gewünscht. Bitte nicht von den 3 Sternen täuschen lassen das sind 10 von 10!

欲しくて欲しくてようやく購入した。（アマゾンで安かったので・・）Disc1,2は順当な選曲で納得だし、Disc3の再結成時の音源や蔵出し音源も満足で、リマスターされた音質の向上にも驚きました。また賛否両論ありますでしょうけれど第２期のLaurie Wisefieldの存在意義は非常に大きかったと今更ながら感じた。Disc4で聞かれるライブでの縦横無尽に弾きまくる彼のギターワークは本当に素晴らしい。最近のギュインギュインだけのギタリストは是非襟を正して聴いて欲しい。何と情感溢れる音色でしょう・・・。おっと、勿論Andy Powellもいいけどね。　個人的にはライブで聴かれるErrors Of My Wayが落涙ものでした。１stに入っていたこの曲、結構気に入っていたのですが、まさか実演しているとは思いませんでした。素晴らしいボックスセットです。

初期の頃からのディスクを多数所有していれば、あえて購入する必要もない。ただ、入門者やディスクをあまり所有していなければ、ベスト盤としての価値はある。ここ何年かはメンバーチェンジも著しいため、オリジナルメンバー、あるいはテッドに代わってローリーが加わった時代がよかったと思える初期〜中期の集大成的役割を果たしている。今のＡshは、アンディ・パウエル・バンドって感じだからね。