Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. Few bands in the history of hard and heavy music boast a catalog as vast as Wishbone Ash. As the English workhorses approach their 55th anniversary, they possess a catalog of 23 studio albums (excluding an ill advised duo of electronic re-recordings and an acoustic album) and counting. When we include live albums and various others oddities scattered about the past half century, their output grows even larger. While I’ve been wanting to highlight WA as part of this ongoing retrospective for quite some time, I wasn’t sure how I’d go about it, until now. So instead of reading yet another 1,000+ word essay on Argus, here is a hopefully equally compelling composition on WA’s oft forgotten 11th album, Number the Brave (For today’s essay, we will be revisiting the U.S. pressing with an alternate track listing than its European counterpart).
The way in which ’70s hard rock and heavy metal acts navigated the ’80s provides both enough information and mystery to make up its own college course. We’re all aware of the early ’80s triumphs of Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, and Budgie, how they kept themselves contemporary amidst the burgeoning NWOBHM scene. On the contrast were the likes of Nazareth and Uriah Heep, who despite their best efforts, continued to be typecast as dinosaurs of metal past. Unfortunately for Wishbone Ash, by 1981, they largely fell into this latter category.
What’s all the more intriguing is that, up until this point, Wishbone Ash’s only major misstep was 1976’s Locked In, which abandoned the hard rock, musically adventurous approach of their early output for more accessible fare. Come New England, also released in ’76, and 1977’s Front Page News, the band was back on the right track. I’d go a step further and argue the two albums that followed those, 1978’s No Smoke Without Fire and 1980’s Just Testing, are as compelling and classic as their first five full lengths. There was, however, a few circumstances to take into consideration.
For one, the landscape in which Wishbone Ash found themselves in 1981 was radically different from the one they initially formed in back in ’69. The ambitious sounds of progressive rock, folk rock, and early metal were quickly uprooted by the advent of punk around ’76, which itself would be dethroned by the NWOBHM come ’79. And while acts like Iron Maiden and Saxon owed much to Wishbone Ash with their twin guitar approach to metal, their sound was much more in keeping with the times than the pioneering stylings of Pilgrimage (1971) or Argus (1972).
Furthermore, all was not well within the Wishbone Ash camp. After a decade run, founding bassist/singer Martin Turner quit the band for the first time, leaving a key position open. This left founding guitarist/singer Andy Powell, alongside founding drummer Steve Upton and longtime guitarist Laurie Wisefield, in search of a low end. Lucky for them, rescue arrived in the form of veteran journeyman John Wetton, who at the time found himself smack dab in the midst of a solo career and a new venture that would prove to be the biggest of his career, Asia. The sole fruit of this quartet arrived in April, 1981 in the form of WA’s 11th album, Number the Brave.
Whereas past WA albums coupled a hard rocking guitars with a strong progressive/folk edge, Number the Brave saw the band adopt a straightforward hard rock sound, with occasional metal and AOR leanings, in an effort to keep up with the times. This is made evident by the opening hard rock cover of The Temptations’ “Get Ready”. Although Rare Earth’s soulful psych rock rendition will forever be the essential version, Wishbone Ash do a commendable job transforming this ’60s classic into a power-chord driven arena rock anthem, tailormade for the headbanging youth.
The boogie-ready shuffle of “Where Is the Love” throws things back to the ’70s, lying sonically closer to fellow English elder statesmen Status Quo than Wishbone Ash. That said, these boogie bangin’ nuances were nothing new for the Ash, dating as far back as certain cuts from their early output (i.e. “Jailbait”). While it was a dated sound by ’81, it still hit the spot with its honest to goodness attack. Speaking of attacks, how about “That’s That”? As the sole Wetton vocal and writing contribution on Number the Brave, “That’s That” leaves us longing for more, going full blown NWOBHM mode for a little over 3 minutes. Seriously, if you didn’t know better, you could be forgiven for mistaking it as a Diamond Head deep cut.
The oddball funk rock balladry of “Roller Coaster” is one of the weaker moments on this unsung classic, evoking shades of the radio friendly Locked In, and owing more to the spirit of ’76 than ’81. That said, there’s bound to be a hesher or two who can get down to it in all its unorthodox glory. Closing out side A is easily the strongest cut on here alongside “That’s That”, the title track. From a writing and arranging standpoint, “Number the Brave” is the closest you’ll get on this album to WA’s early ’70s heyday sonically, and it sure hits the spot. It’s an epic hard rock masterpiece, immersing us with atmospheric synths, picturesque lyricism, and impeccable guitar work.
As we flip over to side B, we’re, ahem, treated to yet another funk rocker, “Loaded”. Powell’s vocals on this one are almost rap-like in delivery, which leaves this maniac longing for “Roller Coaster”, but I digress. Like I’ve stated already, the highlights on this album are so great that it quickly washes away the sour taste of any potential blunders, with one such highlight being “Underground”. This too is an outlier for WA, all things considered. If “That’s That” was a foray into the blistering NWOBHM netherworld, “Underground” is a valiant attempt at a hypnotic AOR ballad reminiscent of what we’d expect from Pat Benatar or Fleetwood Mac. It’s odd and unusual, but for all the right reasons. Those guitars are utterly dreamy.
“Rainstorm” keeps the ’80s AOR vibe going. By this point in the album, I could see how many with their heads stuck in the ’70s would find themselves disillusioned. Heck, perhaps even Turner himself was if this was the direction the band was headed. Yet the AOR nerd in me is enamored by cuts like “Rainstorm” and “Underground”, absolutely in love with the atmosphere of these songs. The bouncy “Kicks On the Street” fuses the AOR maneuvers that dominate Number the Brave with a lethal metallic bite, the metal in this case sounding less NWOBHM inspired and more like the proto-metal of the early ’70s. Talk about a head trip!
Closing it all out is the fierce “Open Road”, which really brings all the elements of this album into one unrelenting closer. We’ve got AOR hooks, metallic attitude, and a funked up rhythm section, all rearing their ugly heads to create something we know today as Wishbone Ash circa ’81. Sure, it’s a different beast than the one who penned “Warrior” and “The King Will Come” less than a decade earlier, but it’s still Ash nevertheless, twin guitar mania and all.
Despite its best intentions, Number the Brave failed to connect with younger generations the way output from Wishbone Ash’s peers did in 1981. As fast as he entered the fold, Wetton departed, moving on to greener pastures in the form of Asia. As for Wishbone Ash, well, they continued to do what they did best: Tour and record, which is what they still do to this day. Perhaps a glance at this essay would inspire Powell to revisit some of these bangers (or at the very least, the title track) on the concert stage? One can only hope! Until then, I implore those both skeptic and faithful to immerse yourselves in a TRUE cult classic affair.