Search - Wishbone Ash :: Locked in/New England

Good Material, Bargain Basement Quality

Mad Mau | Oklahoma City | 07/28/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The liner notes are virtually nonexistent and the mastering is certainly nothing to crow about, but this CD was worth the price I paid ($12.99 at the local music store). You get two albums for the price of one; Locked In being an uneven but worthwhile effort and New England, the crown jewel in "Boneland". Wishbone Ash was generally weak with their vocal presentations, but man oh man, their guitar work was inspired by the Gods. So yeah, go ahead and grab this CD if you can't otherwise get a copy of New England, imo the best Wishbone Ash ever put forth."

Weaker albums by Wishbone Ash

Matthew Schwarz | Bridgewater, nj United States | 06/20/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I had the earlier albums by the band and so when I saw this I picked it up. While the songs are OK, they lack the magic of the earlier albums - magic created by prog, metal, or folk-rock leanings, by harmony guitars and vocals, by great lead guitar, by epic and mythical leanings in the lyrics (particularly on Argus), by melodic up-front basslines, etc. What we're left with is generic 70s soft-rock, where the musicians mostly serve as a backing to weak vocals. Where the band had used harmony vocals to great effect on earlier albums, here they sing songs that a great singer might pull off but where the band's vocalists sound too light. The vocals work on the softer songs better, but I'm not so big a fan of that mid-70s soft rock sound! There are some good songs here, "Rest In Peace", "Runaway", "Outward Bound" - but they're not as excellent and distinctive as the band's earlier work."