Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Wishbone Ash
Label: Bellaphon
Released: 2002
Rating: 4.5/5
With “Bona Fide”, Wishbone Ash have delivered an album that’s bursting with freshness and songs that stick in your head instantly, thanks to that quality, rare these days, that an album like this demands. “Bona Fide” is an album that doesn’t care about sounding current. If I may wobble out on a limb, dodging the looseness of all those rock-analytical hypotheses, you could say Wishbone Ash sound a lot like, say, Uriah Heep with David Byron and Ken Hensley in the lineup would sound today. And that’s what every great album needs! Magic. Wishbone Ash have practically never forgotten about magic. That pinch of mysticism, of hidden longing, which the descendants of the Celts, today’s rockers of the British Isles, know so well. Subtlety and a sophisticated approach are the cherry on top that wins you over on the spot. And Wishbone Ash simply know how to do that.
Almighty Blues is a rhythm ‘n’ blues opener with a wound-up, bouncy swagger. The triple harmonies are with us right away, and the album leaps up high from the start. Rhythm ‘n’ blues under Wishbone Ash’s baton is always something special. A compact “heavy riff drive”, crystal-clear energetic guitar melodies, and a solid, deep rhythm line with a properly thick, voluminous sound. The band immediately delivers outstanding production that combines liveliness with a remarkably harmonious balance of instruments, where everything is clear and distinctly audible. The tools they approach through the prism of the blues bring Wishbone Ash an exceptional dose of melodicism, and it’s nothing out of the ordinary when the guys can hardly wait for the instrumental middle section to slip out of the blues form and sail off into a purely classic, melancholic world ruled by a realm of tender, almost mournfully wailing twin guitar harmonies, which then flows, almost unnoticed, through the solos back into the most refined version of rhythm ‘n’ blues. The alternation of motifs is extraordinary! Given how limited the basic blues template is in terms of tonality, with this song Wishbone Ash have squeezed practically the maximum out of “blues rock” in terms of its melodic perfection.
Things settle into their standard place with the next track, the mystical Enigma. That means a typical Wishbone Ash song. A relic of the seventies, full of refined triple harmonies, with Andy Powell’s vocal production carrying a real air of mystery. An expressive motif that gets under your skin immediately, the contrasts between vocal, beat, and clearly separated riffs and guitar melodies are outstanding, and the album’s atmosphere jumps to a whole other level. Faith Hope And Love is one of the most impressive tracks on the entire album. A classic “hard rock” line travels from A minor to G and F major. The guitar variations alone in this “triple-chord” line are downright predatory in origin. A gentle, fragile, soulful vocal, steeped in those harmonies, creates a stunning contrast. And then the atmosphere jumps again as gleaming Hammond lines fill the sound in a passage. A song only old, mature, experienced and mellow cats can pull off. Surrendering to the feeling overrides everything! The lyrics are extraordinary. The title alone says it all. All I need is in faith, hope and love. How true! And those melancholic triple harmonies only amplify all those beautiful verses and give them a touch of special grandeur, sending shivers down your spine just for kicks. This is a song that personifies the very idea of Wishbone Ash in the best possible way. Hammond, triple harmonies, and mystical vocals. One of the album’s peaks. Next comes the gypsy-flavored Ancient Remedy, which once more effectively brings the seventies back to life, and the vocal sticks to an “echo” effect, so that shade makes the seventies feel even more present. Changing Tracks and the “heavy blues” guitar again lift the dynamics of “Bona Fide”, which surprises with the variety of all its songs, every one of them boasting convincingly crafted motifs. They creep under your skin one after another, unstoppably, so you’ll soon be whistling them while, say, waiting at the checkout in Mercator to get fleeced. A sophisticated “bluesy rock” variant is captured in Shoulda Woulda Coulda, which borders on “reggae party time”. Refined, with precisely measured, short and punchy tricks. Not a single superfluous move. Made straight for the ear, and for soaking up some proper classic “hard rock” energy. After it comes the title track Bona Fide, which is really yet another Wishbone Ash classic. A characteristic “boogie” rhythm, fanned by a fresh, expressive twin guitar harmony. A Wishbone Ash standard. Difference in Time keeps to these well-known Wishbone Ash standards with a refined interweaving of vocal multi-harmonies in the chorus that run parallel to good old Uriah Heep (heh… after all, they’re peers). Come Rain Come Shine is probably one of the strongest songs on “Bona Fide”. All the talk of mysticism is turned up to the max here, a version only Wishbone Ash can conjure. To that end the guys added a flute in the background, which fits the vocal perfectly and gives the song a pastoral touch. Then the twin triplets strike again, brrrrrrr… It looks like Wishbone Ash haven’t lost one bit of the greatness of “Argus” (1972). This song makes no secret of flirting with progressive figures and dallying a little with “psychedelicisms”. The band again creates an incredible contrast of moods through the middle instrumental section, which is probably one of the most convincing on the whole record. Peace is the instrumental that closes the album “Bona Fide”. If the title track has a “boogie” rhythm, Peace is now a swaying waltz, with the Hammond back with us and those unforgettable guitar harmony duets. It’s the best possible idea for how to wrap up such a blissfully mellow, classic “hard rock” album.
“Bona Fide” is likely the pinnacle of this kind of album for 2002. The magic is with us, and the maturity of the songwriting on it is splendid and flawlessly sophisticated. “Bona Fide” is a mellow, incredibly listenable classic hard rock album without a weak spot, dressed in constantly, highly vibrating shifts of mood, an album of exceptional genre dynamics, yet all the while caught within recognizable Wishbone Ash directives. The spirit of the seventies lives on and has no intention of letting up on reminding us who knows how to create a true classic. “Bona Fide” has it all! Absolutely everything. From start to finish.
Lineup
Andy Powell – vocals, guitars
Ben Granfelt – guitars, vocals
Bob Skeat – bass guitar, Hammond organ, piano, flute
Ray Weston – drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Miri Miettinen – percussion
Richard Johnson – backing vocals on “Difference in Time in “Come Rain, Come Shine”
Ako Kiiski – backing vocals on “Difference in Time”
Production
Andy Powell
Track list
1. Almighty Blues (5:23)
2. Enigma (4:09)
3. Faith, Hope and Love (5:53)
4. Ancient Remedy (4:48)
5. Changing Tracks (4:16)
6. Shoulda Woulda Coulda (3:59)
7. Bona Fide (3:05)
8. Difference in Time (4:28)
9. Come Rain, Come Shine (6:07)
10.Peace (3:49)
Album length: 45:52
BONUS TRACKS ON THE 2006 “Special Limited Edition”:
11. Hard on You (Studio 2005) 4:45
12. Almighty Blues (Live 06) 4:09
13. Tales of The Wise (Live 06) 5:53
