Great cd
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This product is five star rock and roll.
Verified purchase: No
Pilgimage was Wishbone Ash's second album in 1972, following on from their self-titled debut. That first album had classic songs and some other decent songs (Phoenix, Blind Eye, Errors of My Ways, Queen of Torture). Pilgrimage is very different. It starts well with 'Vas Dis', which I understood was a cover (although there are no songwriting credits on this version). A strange tune with no lyrics, just a form of scat singing but it worked well on stage and was resurrected in the live show in the 90s. The second track is another instrumental 'The Pilgrim', which at 8 1/2 minutes is too long. Composed of a number of different passages and some more scat 'da, da, da' singing. To my ears, the passages are all extended too far and the sequence of the tracks means that 13 minutes into the album there has not been a single intelligible word. Then comes 'Jailbait', the first song with lyrics. It remained part of the live show into the 80s (sung by Ted Turner on stage) but was not a classic. This CD release also includes a bonus live version of 'Jailbait' from the 'Live in Memphis' EP. Another pair of instrumentals, 'Alone' which is reminiscent of one of the themes on the later 'New England' album (yes, I know it should be the other way round) and 'Lullaby' before the second song 'Valediction'. None of these tracks leave a lasting impression. The original album closes with a ten minute live version of 'Where Were You Tomorrow' from Leicester De Montfort Hall in 1971. Again the song is too long; it might have worked if the album had been better balanced but the only track that really has much repeat value for me is the opener. There are no classics on this album. How did Wishbone Ash come from this to 'Argus'? Their next album 'Argus' is one of the all-time great albums, with four truly classic songs and three that are merely great. In fact it was so good that the addition of a bonus track (No Easy Road) to the CD version actually detracted from the overall quality. 'Pilgrimage' has some value as an historical view of the band and I intend to keep this in my collection but it probably won't be played that often.Read full review
All you could ever want from a great british band, with some superb instrumental tracks. I have seen the band play this live in the early seventies and you would not be disapponted if you went to see them play. Plenty of good examples of their work out there, personally I prefer their earlier work and would encourage anybody to listen to this album and recommend they try the other early albums before moving on to later work. You have a 30year career record to explore, so enjoy and come back for more.
amazing album the bonus live track wasn't really needed but overall brilliant stuff 'Jailbait' is a great track
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